The bitter truth about sugar

[ms_maree]

It's addictive, potentially harmful and absolutely everywhere. But is sugar really a poison that should be kept out of vulnerable hands?

Recently an American doctor called Robert Lustig has been calling for laws that restrict sugar as if it were alcohol or tobacco. Like many people, I suspect, my initial reaction upon hearing this was: give me a

Comments

[mastadge]

For those interested, here's one of Lustig's lectures. It's 90 minutes long, but fascinating.

[ms_maree]

Cool thanks. I'll check it out.

[nicosian]

interesting. I tend to go for low-sugar stuff and find most food to be supersaturated with it, masking the actual flavors.

Mostly I notice it in the US, where the same counterparts to what we eat in canada is just gag inducingly sweet. Less so in other countries I've been. Sweets in other countries ( and oh do we indulge when we go travelling) have had less sugar-sweetness.

I don't consider sugar the evil, but I'd love to see less of it used so much, everywhere.

[ms_maree]

I found chocolates in America were super-super sweet compared to the ones in Australia to the point where I couldn't eat them. And breakfast cereals are way sweeter tasting, even corn-flakes was sweeter.

[nicosian]

yep. Every country I went to last year, oh, humans love sweets, but only the US/ and to some extent now canada does this, too much sugar!

I mean I had no idea baklava had flavor till I was in Tel Aviv, because here its soaked with sugar syrup, not a bit of honey or nuts. Huh. Like, i've been misled, YO. I don't know if its the north american demand for more sugar, or whether we've just been subtly programmed for ultrasweet stuff.

Eating when i travel in the US is kind of a challenge. The HFCS does unholy things to my guts so I'm constantly reading labels there.

[ms_maree]

I have found that fructose messed with my tastebuds - I went fructose free (other then fresh fruit, though I'm avoiding some high fructose fruits until I'm free for two months to make the detox easier).

Now I'm picking up nuance in savoury food I never picked up before. Wine OMG! White wine actually tastes better. Before it was like 'ugh no'. Now there is nuance, and flavour and the stuff on the back of the bottle makes sense now. It's weird, good weird, but weird.

[joshlymanftw]

Uuuuugh. In my office, we have a clientele that requires easily accessible snacks - so we ALWAYS have sugary stuff around. 100 calorie packs, sodas, candy, chocolate... it's SO HARD to not just run over to the cabinet and grab a mini-hersheys thing every time I need a pick me up. I've been eating SO. MUCH. SUGAR. since I started working there.

Has anyone here been successful in cutting out sugar, and if so, HOW did you do it?!?

[ms_maree]

I'm a month in being sugar free (specifically fructose free). I went cold turkey because I know I'd be deluding myself if I tried to cut it out gradually but I'm sure it's different for other people.

The first four days were hell. I got headaches, I couldn't sleep, I was irritable and I felt hungry all the time.

The next week it was okay, I still felt irritable but the headaches went away and I started sleeping. I know it takes about 3 to 4 weeks to really get over physical addiction, so I had to slog it out.

I found in the second week I wasn't hungry at all, so I had force myself to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. But then after that second week my appetite returned. I found I got really hungry, but when I ate I got full faster so I wasn't eating as much. Now I'm sleeping all through the night and no longer having broken sleep, my anxiety is far less and my PMS symptoms are practically non-existent.

But it's early days yet...so I'm still struggling with the chocolate cravings. I think I'll be fine if I do another

[hinoema]

When I get chocolate cravings i make my own chocolate/ cocoa with organic cocoa powder, whey protein (preferably goat milk whey) sweetened with stevia and a bit of healthful oil like coconut. It tastes great and is a great sugar free chocolate.

coping mechanisms

[ms_maree]

One of my coping mechanism (because I was also sitting next to a chocolate vending machine) was to bring nuts and berries to work (strawberries mostly). Every time I had a craving for chocolate I ate nuts and strawberries. I put the tin between myself and the machine and I refused to look at it. (ETA refused to look at the vending machines)

I also avoided the confectionary aisle in the supermarket.

[stevie_jane]

I think I'm maxed out on caring about the 'IF YOU EAT THIS YOU WILL DIE' list of woe. It's starting to feel like the only things not on the list are lentils, veg and wholegrain rice. I think just about everyone is probably sick of the flapping and concern trolling over the "Obesity epidemic! WITH ADDED DIABEETUS!" because while health matters people who don't have perfect health and/or access to and money for only the best kind of food don't need to be shamed because of it

[sitakhet]

Nah rice is grains and they're evil too now.

[entropius]

It's really about moderation and lifestyle. My PhD advisor is one of the healthiest guys I know: he's in his sixties, and he's in excellent health (he says that biking a 25-mile road that climbs a mile and a half is a "pleasant Saturday morning ride

[ms_maree]

Also, no, I don't remember a time when no-one was diabetic because I know history, and many people have had it in their family for generations

Yes, there are two types of diabetes, Type 1 is what people are born with, what you refer to above as being inter-generational. Genetically speaking their pancreas cannot convert food well.

The increase of diabetes is with Type 2. Type 2 is where people pancreas (the conversion bit of it anyway) is being destroyed by high levels of fructose they have in their bodies. People on the verge of getting Type 2 can avoid getting it if they limit their intake almost immediately. The problem is that sugar is addictive so its' extremely difficult.

[madman101]

welcome to reality