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High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

ucl.ac.uk

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Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#41

Post by shlant »

shirro wrote: post #39
cageface wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He backs up all his claims with extensive citations from recent, peer reviewed studies. The link between meat and heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer is very well established now. Anecdotally, keto diet did absolutely nothing for me except make me feel even worse, whereas I’ve noticed dramatic improvements in mood and health after three weeks of a purely plant based diet.

The site is very good at sourcing articles and it is an excellent resource as long as you realise he is probably ethically inclined not to promote any study which might increase the suffering of animals. I don't think that makes him a bad person or the website valueless but it is hard to argue it does not have a strong ethical vegan bias. At the moment I would claim that overconsumption of highly processed, mostly pl…

> Meat consumption is falling in many places but obesity and related diseases are still getting worse.

I can use that same logic to say that sugar and carbohydrate consumption has gone down while obesity has continued rising:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0OuoFyJtZuI/VkofY-qgeOI/AAAAAAAAbb...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fUv755XU-3g/Vkof8Eln2WI/AAAAAAAAbb...

The main problem is still OVERCONSUMPTION of highly processed and hormone filled foods

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#42

Post by ekidd »

acchow wrote: post #16

How much longer until we stop pretending that population correlation studies is science?

This sounds like a snarky remark, but it does have a point. Many large-scale nutrition studies rely on surveying thousands of people about their diet and lifestyles.

Unfortunately, this works best for detecting very dramatic health effects, like the link between smoking and lung cancer. For smaller health effects, any meaningful signal in the data can be overwhelmed by other correlations. One famous example is hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women: https://www.med.uottawa.ca/sim/data/EBM_Study_Bias_e.htm

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#43

Post by Regist »

skylark wrote: post #37
Regist wrote: post #24

Seems like a pretty worthless study that indicates almost nothing. Lazy journalists, who are honestly worse than worthless, pick these lame correlation studies up and propegate weird misconceptions about increasing "risk factors". It's intellectually dishonest to even call the correlation increased "risk" when the cause of the link cannot be feasibly confirmed. The sane assumption from this study is that depression o…

I think you worded it a bit strongly, but I tend to agree with you. Science: Aspartame consumption is correlated with weight gain. Journalists: Does aspartame cause weight gain? Readers: Aspartame causes weight gain. I know it's up to the readers to draw the correct conclusions, but it feels a little bit dishonest for journalists to "let the cards fall where they may" so to speak.

You're right my comment was a bit brusque. By "worse than worthless" I meant actively detrimental to the public's knowledge.

Personaly I'm just getting a bit tired of sloppy journalism causing me to waste time with these bait pieces. IMO journalists are the ones who are supposed to be wading through the crap to find me the valuable information instead of shoveling the crap onto me.

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#44

Post by cageface »

shirro wrote: post #39
cageface wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He backs up all his claims with extensive citations from recent, peer reviewed studies. The link between meat and heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer is very well established now. Anecdotally, keto diet did absolutely nothing for me except make me feel even worse, whereas I’ve noticed dramatic improvements in mood and health after three weeks of a purely plant based diet.

The site is very good at sourcing articles and it is an excellent resource as long as you realise he is probably ethically inclined not to promote any study which might increase the suffering of animals. I don't think that makes him a bad person or the website valueless but it is hard to argue it does not have a strong ethical vegan bias. At the moment I would claim that overconsumption of highly processed, mostly pl…

I always thought that heart disease was something I might one day have to worry about but could ignore in the meantime while I enjoy eating what I want. But I'm only 46 now and over the last year I've been experiencing increasing tightness and discomfort in my chest and strong heart arrhythmia. That's what motivated me to take a closer look at my diet. After only three weeks of eliminating animal products from my diet those symptoms have disappeared.

As for growing obesity, there is a lot of evidence that points to toxins in our food as an important factor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQBdS9cN0I

Most of these toxins are concentrated in animal products.

People are also eating a lot more cheese which contributes to obesity:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/now-is-th...

Of course refined carbohydrates and sugars are also a big problem and they should be scrupulously avoided.

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#45

Post by zz00vv »

shirro wrote: post #22
cageface wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even organic meat and fish has a lot of downsides. Animal fat and protein is not good for us. Check the videos at nutritionfacts.org for details.

nurtitionfacts.org is run by Michael Greger who is a vegan animal welfare crusader. Many of the articles have a factual basis but there is cherry picking to promote animal free diets so it is not an unbiased source.

This is an ad hominem and quite unfair. Michael Greger states himself that he does not like the term veganism, and he also writes that it was the health benefits of a plant based diet that led him to promote that diet. To call him a "vegan animal welfare crusader" is a bit hyperbolic to say the least.

From Greger's book How Not to Die he writes in the Introduction to Part 2:

> From a nutrition standpoint, the reason I don’t like the terms vegetarian and vegan is that they are only defined by what you don’t eat. When I used to speak on college campuses, I would meet vegans who appeared to be living off french fries and beer. Vegan, technically, but not exactly health promoting. That’s why I prefer the term whole-food, plant-based nutrition. As far as I can discern, the best available balance of evidence suggests that the healthiest diet is one centered on unprocessed plant foods. On a day-today basis, the more whole plant foods and the fewer processed and animal products, the better.

And from the Preface of How Not to Die he writes:

> True, I have biases of my own to rein in. Although my original motivation was health, over the years, I’ve grown into quite the animal lover. Three cats and a dog run our household, and I’ve spent much of my professional life proudly serving the Humane Society of the United States as the charity’s public health director. So, like many people, I care about the welfare of the animals we eat, but first and foremost, I am a physician. My primary duty has always been to care for my patients, to accurately provide the best available balance of evidence.

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#46

Post by iamt2 »

cageface wrote: post #28
shirro wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nurtitionfacts.org is run by Michael Greger who is a vegan animal welfare crusader. Many of the articles have a factual basis but there is cherry picking to promote animal free diets so it is not an unbiased source.

He backs up all his claims with extensive citations from recent, peer reviewed studies. The link between meat and heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer is very well established now. Anecdotally, keto diet did absolutely nothing for me except make me feel even worse, whereas I’ve noticed dramatic improvements in mood and health after three weeks of a purely plant based diet.

> The link between meat and...diabetes...is very well established now.

There is a group of Type 2 diabetics in remission who are doing just fine on meat-based and keto-based diets, with no medication. If meat was a causal contributing factor to diabetes, I wouldn't expect to see that. We do eat a lot of leafy greens, it isn't like all-meat-all-the-time. But fresh meat, simply prepared, eaten to the protein macros appropriate for your body, does nothing to exacerbate these already-diagnosed Type 2 patients from going back into Type 2.

A contributing factor to diabetes is surplus calories creating excess body fat. You can do that with meat, vegetables, fruit, and breads. Harder to do with vegetables if you eat the veggies raw; if you eat only leafy greens for vegetables, I'd say it is nearly impossible.

There are vegan/vegetarian Type 2 patients, but I have yet to run across one in remission on no medication, for two years or longer, so they might be rare. It is much harder to get your proteins while carb restricted to manage blood sugar levels, eating only vegetables; I'm sure there are vegetarian Type 2's in remission out there, likely using soy-based products and protein powder to get their protein, it's just not as popular a method of going into remission.

Personally, I switched to preparing meals using as unprocessed as possible foods. If I could eat raw beef (like a tartare), I would; I don't because it is too time-consuming to prepare. This rules out tofu and other soy-based products, and protein powders as well, for me personally. I can manage to build muscle and keep my blood sugar markers in a normal non-diabetic range as long as I keep my daily net carbohydrate intake to 20g or less. If you are familiar with vegetarian diets and can suggest a way for me to switch to a vegetarian approach that observes that, supports about 2500 calories per day, and is made from unprocessed ingredients, then please let me know, thanks.

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#47

Post by cageface »

iamt2 wrote: post #46
cageface wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He backs up all his claims with extensive citations from recent, peer reviewed studies. The link between meat and heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer is very well established now. Anecdotally, keto diet did absolutely nothing for me except make me feel even worse, whereas I’ve noticed dramatic improvements in mood and health after three weeks of a purely plant based diet.

> The link between meat and...diabetes...is very well established now. There is a group of Type 2 diabetics in remission who are doing just fine on meat-based and keto-based diets, with no medication. If meat was a causal contributing factor to diabetes, I wouldn't expect to see that. We do eat a lot of leafy greens, it isn't like all-meat-all-the-time. But fresh meat, simply prepared, eaten to the protein macros app…

Avoiding processed foods, both animal and plant, is a good idea.

But the links between diabetes and animal products are pretty well established:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/why-is-meat-a-risk-factor-f...

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/diabetes-as-a-disease-of-fa...

You might want to have a look at this book too:

https://www.amazon.com/Neal-Barnards-Program-Reversing-Diabe...

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#48

Post by zz00vv »

iamt2 wrote: post #46
cageface wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He backs up all his claims with extensive citations from recent, peer reviewed studies. The link between meat and heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer is very well established now. Anecdotally, keto diet did absolutely nothing for me except make me feel even worse, whereas I’ve noticed dramatic improvements in mood and health after three weeks of a purely plant based diet.

> The link between meat and...diabetes...is very well established now. There is a group of Type 2 diabetics in remission who are doing just fine on meat-based and keto-based diets, with no medication. If meat was a causal contributing factor to diabetes, I wouldn't expect to see that. We do eat a lot of leafy greens, it isn't like all-meat-all-the-time. But fresh meat, simply prepared, eaten to the protein macros app…

> There is a group of Type 2 diabetics in remission who are doing just fine on meat-based and keto-based diets

But how are their arteries looking?

> but I have yet to run across [a vegetarian/vegan] in remission on no medication, for two years or longer, so they might be rare

How many have you run into? How strictly were they following a whole-food plant-based diet? What is your sample size?

Scientifically speaking, the movie "What The Health" summarizes the facts succinctly:

Low Fat, Plant-Based Diet is More than Twice as Powerful at Controlling and/or Reversing Diabetes, than the ADA Diet Recommending Meat and Dairy

See http://www.whatthehealthfilm.com/facts/ for a list of citations supporting that statement.

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#49

Post by [deleted] »

scottLobster wrote: post #12

Related: Ketogenic Diets are used to treat medication-resistant epileptic seizures. http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy... There's also substantial evidence that the ketogenic diet is useful for treating other mental disorders: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-fat...

[deleted]

Re: High refined sugar intake linked to a 23% higher risk of mental disorders

#50

Post by joshuas »

keenerd wrote: post #6

Conversion to dumb american: 16 teaspoons of sugar per day was considered high. (If you don't enjoy cooking from scratch, try a mass-based recipe instead of a traditional volume-based recipe. It is so much faster and more convenient.)

Thanks, all my teaspoons are stainless steel. I only have 8 though, so it probably evens out.
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