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Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

aeon.co

41–50 of 221 posts

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#41
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is _no_ amount of butter (or fat, in general) that you can eat that will make you gain weight, provided there is no sugar in your diet. You will physically not be able to eat more than your body can deal with, this is because fat, unlike sugar, triggers the i-am-full hormones which make food impossible to eat.

No, that is plain wrong. Calories count, no matter where they are from. Ketogenic diets might increase your metabolism and reduce your appetite and hunger, which makes weight loss easier, but you'll still gain weight if you eat too many fat calories each day. Even if you cut out carbs entirely.

"Calories count, no matter where they are from."

This is the exact point the article is proving wrong.

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#43
post #10

I would like to share an anecdote. In March 2016, I was weighing 96 kilograms (211.64 pounds). I made just one change during that time which is to stop having anything with sugar. I continued to take other natural sweeteners like jaggery and honey. The rest of my diet remained the same and my activity level remained the same ( I work in IT as a network engineer in a desk job) In October 2016, I was weighing 72 kilos…

Oddly enough, I can share an anecdote too. After a health scare, I decided to change my diet. I didn't think that I was self disciplined enough to count calories, so I arbitrarily eliminated certain things from my diet, most notably butter. My exercise didn't change much: Cycling to work every day. I got a new bike, but it didn't make me go that much faster. Within a few months, I went from 175 to 150 pounds (about 7…

Before assigning top much blame on butter, remember that being on any diet, including e.g. taking only placebo diet pills, will lead to improvement. When you are on a diet you are on a diet you pay attention to what you are eating, and that helps in itself. This is probably why there are so many kinds of diet - most diets work.

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#45
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oddly enough, I can share an anecdote too. After a health scare, I decided to change my diet. I didn't think that I was self disciplined enough to count calories, so I arbitrarily eliminated certain things from my diet, most notably butter. My exercise didn't change much: Cycling to work every day. I got a new bike, but it didn't make me go that much faster. Within a few months, I went from 175 to 150 pounds (about 7…

> So it probably was a reduction in carbs No, it was a reduction in calories, quite simply. If anything, butter is very heavy on fats and low on carbs...

> It took more than a year before I could enjoy a piece of toast without anything on it.

Sounds like in his particular case, reducing fat (butter) also reduced carbs (toast).

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#46
If you prefer audio the author appears in Sam Harris' podcast in a long interview abd speaks about this subject.

#74 — What Should We Eat? Waking Up with Sam Harris Duration: 2:07:24 Published: Sat, 06 May 2017 20:30:08 +0000 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/wakingup/Waking_Up_74_Gary_Taubes....

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Gary Taubes about his career as a science journalist, the difficulty of studying nutrition and public health scientifically, the growing epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the role of hormones in weight gain, the controversies surrounding his work, and other topics.

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#47
post #23

So I wonder... is the effect of sugar on your body permanent, building up over time? Or would stopping the intake of refined sugars restore your system?

There is be a cliff, over which the damage is permanent. If you change habits soon enough, then we know many avoid it the permanent damage altogether. This is due to the beta cells in the pancreas; destroy to many, and go below a critical threshhold, then they don't seem to be repaired/regenerated enough forever more.

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#48
post #23

So I wonder... is the effect of sugar on your body permanent, building up over time? Or would stopping the intake of refined sugars restore your system?

The worst effects of excessive Insulin, non alcoholic fatty liver and insulin resistance (which becomes type 2 diabetes after some time) can be reversed pretty easily by cutting sugar, fasting or a diet with extremely low levels of carbohydrates (Ketogenic Diet). Check Dr. Jason Fung and Robert Lustig on youtube. They both have done a great deal of research about the topic and have published very interesting material…

++++Dr Jason Fung

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#49
post #28
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If butter is the only thing you removed from your diet, you must have been eating an incredible amount of it?!

No, butter makes the other stuff more delicious, making you eat just a little more each time.

I don't know why @gras's comment in this thread is marked as dead, but I agree with them.

Reposting the question from the comment:

> Doesn't fat make food more satisfying, making you feel fulfilled sooner?

Re: Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes

#50
post #10

I would like to share an anecdote. In March 2016, I was weighing 96 kilograms (211.64 pounds). I made just one change during that time which is to stop having anything with sugar. I continued to take other natural sweeteners like jaggery and honey. The rest of my diet remained the same and my activity level remained the same ( I work in IT as a network engineer in a desk job) In October 2016, I was weighing 72 kilos…

That's a remarkable effect. How much sugar were you consuming before you altered your diet? What were the main sources of sugar in your diet?
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