My name is Jennifer and I am a Sugar Addict

[noirem]

Sam recently pointed a link to "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" presented by Dr. Robert Lustig, a 90-minute talk where he argues that HFCS is no worse than sugar because they're both toxins, that "a calorie is not a calorie" because sucrose/fructose are metabolised differently than glucose, that sucrose/fructose differs only from ethanol (a toxin) in that

Comments

[teknomantik]

I'd tend to be wary of anyone tossing around the words 'toxin' and 'poison' in this context too readily. Medically, the words don't mean much, so they're generally used more for shock effect (and in this context it seems to smack of conspiracy theory). It's just unwise to oversimplify, as many people seem to do, into something as simple as 'sugar bad

[noirem]

He discusses the biochemistry in the talk. Try watching it.

[anonymous]

Sugar is lots of carbohydrates put together, so it seems to me that if it's a toxin then so are breads and pasta etc. Having said that, there is certainly such a thing as too much sugar and if you want to cut down on sugar that could have a number of good results.

[noirem]

breads and pasta contain glucose, which is different from sucrose and fructose. That was the point of the talk.

[sylphbranching]

I hardly think anyone will argue that it's ok to substitute pure sugar (eg. marshmallows, jelly beans or easter peeps) in lieu of a bowl of pasta with bread, or to eat only fruit for a meal.

However, that doesn't mean fruit is bad. We do need some sugars in our diet, just as we need some salt in our diet--- just not as much as most people in the first world eat. Also many foods that have fructose, like fruits, also have other health benefits such as vitamins and minerals.

Obviously it's detrimental to eat too much sugar, even good kinds such as the carbs found in pasta and veggies. It's healthiest to offset those by balancing them with proteins in most meals. That bowl of pasta with bread is only going to give you certain types of energy, but if you add some sausage or ground beef, or soy products, you'll get a more balanced meal. That way you get the quick-metabolizing energy from the sugars as well as the slow-metabolizing energy that come from different proteins.

[sylphbranching]

Also-- that drunk feeling you're talking about? There's a reason it's called sugar high, and then sugar crash. But you can get that by eating too many carbs as well as candy-sugar--that bowl of pasta is also going to cause a sugar crash and you'll need to eat more, or faster, or experience a low point of energy after the body metabolizes the glucose. That's why you want to balance the diet with protein intake.

And I'm not suggesting meat as the only source of protein. There are many veggie and grain foods that offer healthy amounts of protein such as beans, lentils, and brown rice. Together, lentils and brown rice offer a full range of proteins, meaning all the different kinds of protein you need.

[silverstreak]

I believe we need to do something about all of the Dihydrogen Monoxide that is threatening to destroy our life as we know it.

[ribbin]

THANK YOU! dHmO has been doing a number on people for centuries, and with global warming there's more and more of it in the air! Why the hell doesn't the news carry this story? Not even Fox will touch it!

[noirem]

Agree or disagree, that's fine. Mockery, however, is not appreciated.

[silverstreak]

Not meant to be mockery. I apologize. Just tossing humor into the situation as I often do. Mea culpa.

[veryloki]

I gave up sugar a couple months ago as an experiment, and have been very happy with the results.

[noirem]

How are you doing with avoiding HFCS? How much sugar did you eat before?

[veryloki]

The more technical definition of what I gave up is "Any processed food that has a concentration of fructose (or sucrose) higher than the similar food (if any) in its original state. Or any food that contains such an ingredient." So, apples are fine, but apple juice is out. Sugar is out, maple syrup is out. All donuts, cakes, and pastries are out. Soda is out. HFCS is definitely out. I'm not sure about where honey falls in this definition, but the issue has yet to come up

Pears

[serendipity17]

I haven't watched the video yet either, but I did take university-level biochemistry. In the last week or so, I ran across a similar discussion (and now I'm contemplating pulling the processed sugary foods out of my cupboard, leaving only white/brown/icing/honey for baking, and drinking more tea unsweetened). Poison or not, I've got diabetes in my genetic heritage, and polycystic ovarian syndrome shares some symptoms with type-2 diabetes