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Is Sugar Killing Us?

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Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#151

Post by croon »

WA wrote: post #104
neals wrote: post #70

I've really cut down on sugar from august to november. I didn't really notice anything except loosing a lot of weight (mind that I already was under weight, but I should probably build some muscle anyway) So in comes December. And there is candy and chocolate everywhere. In just a single week our house filled up with it and here I am, stuffing my face full of sugar. I think the struggle just goes on, right?

I cut sugar for 40 days in April and lost weight, too (having normal weight). After a while, I was back to old habits. Thought about trying the same thing in mid-November. Worked alright. Then came December and while I'm eating a cookie here and there, it's way less than previous years. I think the struggle just goes on, right? To some extend: Yes. But something flipped in my head this time. The struggle is less seri…

I think you hit the nail here.

For the last half a decade I've tried most things in both nutrition and training. While I'm back to a moderate regiment now, both diet and training, not abstaining from anything I think the key takeaway is not of one diet to rule them all, but merely what insights each brings.

From doing LCHF I realized how hunger is altered by carbs.

From doing IF I realized how hunger is altered by ghrelin, and how it's very much trainable (in the span of about two weeks). Also how "real" hunger feels versus "fake" hunger, and that the feeling of hunger is completely harmless and can really sharpen your focus.

How neither is particularily easy on your social life.

Etc, etc. Even if I'm back to a "regular" diet now, I have a much better understanding of the things I eat, and can make more informed decisions, both on content, portion size, and meal times.

Everyone should try everything (if time permits). Never be afraid of exploring outside your comfort zone.

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#152

Post by calvano915 »

lucisferre wrote: post #147
calvano915 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are costs to gluconeogenesis (glucose via protein catabolism), kidney issues to name one (deamination producing ammonia). The body does not synthesize glucose from fatty acids (beta-oxidation occurs producing aceytl-coA in the mitochondria, thus producing energy, but aceytl-CoA cannot be converted upwards in the pathway to glucose). A small amount of glucose can/does get created from glycerol. Nutrition recomme…

So you're saying HN comments are not a good source of my daily nutritional information?

:) Like everything else in life, nutrition as a science is incredibly more complicated than we want to believe or describe. A seriously good place to start is MyPlate (their nutrition AND physical activity recommendations).

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#153

Post by justinator »

calvano915 wrote: post #149
justinator wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can almost think of, "inflammation" as a synonym for, "detrimental reaction". The inflammation is going to be a wholly different thing, depending on what you're talking about. But it usually causes response in the body that then becomes a different, chronic problem. Example: too much sugar -> inflammation of arteries (because reasons) -> buildup of cholesterol -> heart attack. It's not the sugar that cause the he…

Inflammation = immune response, and isn't always detrimental (immune response to a foreign body, or healing from trauma are good responses) but can be a bad thing (arthritis from antibody complexes, or artery inflammation as we are focusing on for this discussion). Otherwise the parent's comment is pretty on point.

Inflammation = immune response, and isn't always detrimental

Yeah, you're right. I would say that one theory is that chronic inflammation can lead to Bad Things, but this is just areas of research at the moment and it's as diverse as types of inflammation.

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#155

Post by ubercore »

csommers wrote: post #129
TACIXAT wrote: post #111

I'm celiac, so my body has some crazy responses to food. I get withdrawal symptoms from a couple of foods and have cut them out because of it. Sugar was the most recent. When I stop eating it I get a sinus headache, I get the shakes (like drinking too much caffeine), and if it's bad, I throw up. What blew my mind in giving up sugar was that I lost 5 lbs. I'm was lean at 155 lbs and 6'1, I dropped below 150 now. It re…

>What blew my mind in giving up sugar was that I lost 5 lbs. I'm was lean at 155 lbs and 6'1, I dropped below 150 now. It really opened my eyes to how much sugar is converted to fat. Pretty much all water weight.

I don't know enough to dispute this, but I'm curious what makes you so certain?

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#156

Post by leshow »

spilk wrote: post #124

Article is paywalled, but anecdotally, last year I inched past that magic A1C reading where the doctor tells you you are Type 2 Diabetic. I switched to a low-carb/high-fat diet ( https://reddit.com/r/keto ) and fairly rapidly lost 30 pounds while eating things like avocados, eggs, cheese, butter, coconut oil and bacon. Several months of this diet and my A1C has dipped back to almost-normal, not even "pre-diabetic" le…

almost eliminating one of three macro nutrients probably led you to consume far fewer calories. the reduction is calories is what causes weight loss, this is not a magic effect of consuming less sugar.

your body will not lose weight without a reduction in caloric intake, that you successfully lost weight is proof that your new diet was a caloric deficit.

i'm glad you had such success, i just wanted to point out to other readers that there's nothing magic about low carb diets.

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#157

Post by jacamat »

amelius wrote: post #123
gtrubetskoy wrote: post #106

What's interesting is that most of the population of this planet does not even realize that glucose is not the only source of energy and that we can be powered entirely by beta-hydroxybutyrate (which comes from fats); our carbohydrate requirement is zero because our body can synthesize all the glucose it needs. Here is a pretty good and scientific talk about what is happening (warning > 1 hour long): https://www.yout…

I didnt' watch the video yet. But do you need to be "in ketosis" to benefit from this energy source? How difficult is it to incorporate this in your diet? And is it expensive?

I did Keto for a month in September. It requires a good deal of self-control to stick to it (you'll quickly realize that only about 1% of the grocery store is food you can eat on Keto - resisting that temptation constantly is a trial) but it's not particularly expensive. You do have to be "in ketosis" to get the full benefits of Keto, but I've also found that just sticking to a low carb diet (under 100 carbs p/d) is a good start to ease into it. For Keto you will need to stay under 50...some people stay under 20.

I lost about 15 lbs during the process and my diet mostly consisted of salads with lots of chicken + cheese + high fat dressing. I was a vegan before I switched to Keto so eating my veggies was not difficult, but some of my friends struggled to keep a "healthy" diet during the process.

The most difficulty you will have doing Keto is your own self-control. Finding recipes & food to buy is easy.

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#158

Post by croon »

greywolve wrote: post #21
taeric wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shifting from one culprit to the next would merely further a witch hunt. I in no way want to suppress the search for evidence in this. However, evidence is pretty high that we could cut sugar and have zero negative effects. The largest cut would be in what people are drinking nowdays. (It is truly baffling to see how much sugar the average person consumes from soda.) Consider, unless you are drinking multiple glasses…

Sugar is just an empty calorie, there's plenty of studies that also show that it has no real net negative effect. The problem is when your diet consists primarily of empty calories, then obviously you are going to have health problems, from lack of nutrients. If your diet is nutrient rich, a bit of extra sugar will not do anything bad.

Sorry, but you are the one that tripped the final wire for me:

What exactly is an "empty calorie"? What metric is it low on? It has calories. What is it empty of?

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#159

Post by calvano915 »

greensoap wrote: post #146
calvano915 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While keto seems promising in the short term, there isn't much data to validate whether it would be best for "most people". There is a definite concern long term with organ failure associated with ketoacidosis.

I don't think you are right. The long term impact of ketogenic diets have been study, especially in kids that have been on them for 10+ years to control seizures. ( https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e... )

"Most people" don't have issues with seizures. The children studied were receiving medical nutrition therapy from experts, thus having several blood markers checked constantly and having precise diets formulated and adjusted to their individual and changing needs. Ketoacidosis may be a low likelihood, but there is definite concern. The article linked also mentions "However, side effects, such as slowed growth, kidney stones, and fractures, should be monitored closely." If we just start telling everyone to go keto, there is a high probability for harm (both known and unknown) in some percentage of the population.

Re: Is Sugar Killing Us?

#160

Post by orasis »

ubercore wrote: post #155
csommers wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What blew my mind in giving up sugar was that I lost 5 lbs. I'm was lean at 155 lbs and 6'1, I dropped below 150 now. It really opened my eyes to how much sugar is converted to fat. Pretty much all water weight.

I don't know enough to dispute this, but I'm curious what makes you so certain?

Its super common for people to dump a bunch of water weight after cutting inflammatory foods from their diet. Inflammation is, in part, water retention in that area.
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