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Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

eurekalert.org

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Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#61

Post by dannyw »

bschwindHN wrote: post #19
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

The nice thing about reducing sugar is that after a while your taste buds realize how insanely over-sweetened many products are in the US. My current favorite example is bottled teas. When I was a kid I remember drinking Snapple, now I can't understand how I ever downed that stuff, it's like drinking syrup. If I'm lazy I'll get a bottle of unsweetened tea and mix it about 4-1 with sweetened tea. I get something that…

I witnessed a lot of Japanese exchange students happily purchasing a bottle of "green tea" in the states only to see a look of pure shock on their face as they tried it. It only takes a few weeks to get used to unsweetened tea but it's so much better for you, and honestly really refreshing. Oi Ocha and Ayataka green tea are my personal favorites. If the states had more of a vending machine culture (like Japan) with t…

You can also add a little bit of honey to tea to taste. Lovely to sip on, especially if you get some quality honey.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#62

Post by worik »

moneywoes wrote: post #47
james4k wrote: post #45

Should reduce sugars and oils. It seems that refined oils are just as damaging if not more than refined sugars.

Any alternatives? I’m guessing olive oil is a good substitute?

Beef fat. Truly delicious and very cheap.

Ahhh... But not in USA. It will be full of "get fatter" hormones(?)

I am not sure organically grown beef fat is available, or as cheep.

Where I live, where it is illegal to feed grow drugs to cattle, I do a lot of cooking with beef fat.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#63

Post by dannyw »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #60
o10449366 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Cereals, fruit juices, mainstream coffee (Starbucks, Dunkin, etc.), yogurt, baked goods... It's insane to me that society in the US has been conditioned to consume literally hundreds of grams of sugar for breakfast. If you need caffeine (which is a separate discussion), you don't need to consume what's essentially a frozen milkshake as the delivery vehicle.

> yogurt I don’t think unflavored yogurt has much sugar, does it?

No, but most yoghurt I see people buy are the sweetened kinds.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#64

Post by betwixthewires »

paraph1n wrote: post #59
betwixthewires wrote: post #46

I'd add salt to that. Americans consume way too much of these two ingredients. I cook some good stuff but I take it easy on the salt, it tastes better that way, and almost everyone that tries it says it needs more. I like sugar, I use a little bit in my coffee, tea, I like fruits and stuff. But I don't drink soda or eat pastries or candy (except in November). Knowing how much sugar I used to consume really baffles me…

Hold on a second, the linked research is about sugar. I've seen a lot of similar studies suggesting sugar consumption is a problem. Is salt consumption also unhealthy? I was under the impression that it's not.

From what I understand excess consumption causes increase in blood pressure and subsequent cardiovascular problems. Definitely nowhere near as dangerous as sugar, and you die without salt, not so with sugar, but Americans do consume too much of it.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#65

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

paraph1n wrote: post #59
betwixthewires wrote: post #46

I'd add salt to that. Americans consume way too much of these two ingredients. I cook some good stuff but I take it easy on the salt, it tastes better that way, and almost everyone that tries it says it needs more. I like sugar, I use a little bit in my coffee, tea, I like fruits and stuff. But I don't drink soda or eat pastries or candy (except in November). Knowing how much sugar I used to consume really baffles me…

Hold on a second, the linked research is about sugar. I've seen a lot of similar studies suggesting sugar consumption is a problem. Is salt consumption also unhealthy? I was under the impression that it's not.

Salt leads to high blood pressure:

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s...

When there’s extra sodium in your bloodstream, it pulls water into your blood vessels, increasing the total amount (volume) of blood inside them. With more blood flowing through your blood vessels, blood pressure increases. It’s like turning up the water supply to a garden hose — the pressure in the hose increases as more water is blasted through it.

Over time, high blood pressure may overstretch or injure the blood vessel walls and speed the build-up of gunky plaque that can block blood flow. The added pressure tires out the heart by forcing it to work harder to pump blood through the body. And the extra water in your body can lead to bloating and weight gain.

High blood pressure is known as the “silent killer” because its symptoms are not always obvious. It’s one of the major risk factors for heart disease, the No. 1 killer worldwide. Almost no one gets a free pass. Ninety percent of American adults are expected to develop high blood pressure over their lifetimes.

Did you know that sodium can affect your blood pressure even more dramatically if you’re sensitive to salt? Recent science explains that certain factors may influence how your blood pressure changes when you eat salt, such as:

Age Weight Race/ethnicity Gender Some medical conditions (like diabetes or chronic kidney disease) Even if you don’t already have high blood pressure, eating less sodium can help blunt the rise in blood pressure that occurs with age. It can also reduce your risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and even headaches.

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-s...

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#66

Post by james4k »

moneywoes wrote: post #47
james4k wrote: post #45

Should reduce sugars and oils. It seems that refined oils are just as damaging if not more than refined sugars.

Any alternatives? I’m guessing olive oil is a good substitute?

Olive oil is considered a better oil, but it doesn't mean you can have as much as you want.

It's surprising what you can cook and still get good results without oil. Not that I don't ever use oil, but a lot of times it doesn't actually add much to the dish.

Edit: You can for example saute veggies in water, maybe relying more on spices for flavor. And if you're really looking for some browning/charring, use dry heat from an oven or air fryer.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#67

Post by Dwolb »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

The nice thing about reducing sugar is that after a while your taste buds realize how insanely over-sweetened many products are in the US. My current favorite example is bottled teas. When I was a kid I remember drinking Snapple, now I can't understand how I ever downed that stuff, it's like drinking syrup. If I'm lazy I'll get a bottle of unsweetened tea and mix it about 4-1 with sweetened tea. I get something that…

Oh yeah. Try an elimination diet that zeroes out sugar and you’ll see how hard it is to find anything on grocery stores that doesn’t have an added sweetener.

Yogurt, bacon, sauces are all sweetened (outside of high end speciality brands). Eggs, raw meat, and raw vegetables are basically the only way to avoid sugar.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#68

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

moneywoes wrote: post #47
james4k wrote: post #45

Should reduce sugars and oils. It seems that refined oils are just as damaging if not more than refined sugars.

Any alternatives? I’m guessing olive oil is a good substitute?

For cooking, try avocado oil (available in any grocery market these days), not olive oil.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#69

Post by jbay808 »

bschwindHN wrote: post #19
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #9

The nice thing about reducing sugar is that after a while your taste buds realize how insanely over-sweetened many products are in the US. My current favorite example is bottled teas. When I was a kid I remember drinking Snapple, now I can't understand how I ever downed that stuff, it's like drinking syrup. If I'm lazy I'll get a bottle of unsweetened tea and mix it about 4-1 with sweetened tea. I get something that…

I witnessed a lot of Japanese exchange students happily purchasing a bottle of "green tea" in the states only to see a look of pure shock on their face as they tried it. It only takes a few weeks to get used to unsweetened tea but it's so much better for you, and honestly really refreshing. Oi Ocha and Ayataka green tea are my personal favorites. If the states had more of a vending machine culture (like Japan) with t…

When I first visited Japan, the wide variety of conveniently available unsweetened tea in vending machines was one of the things I really wished I could take back home with me.

Re: Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

#70

Post by sjwalter »

moneywoes wrote: post #47
james4k wrote: post #45

Should reduce sugars and oils. It seems that refined oils are just as damaging if not more than refined sugars.

Any alternatives? I’m guessing olive oil is a good substitute?

The parent comment "should reduce oils" is silly. Oils as a category are hugely important to good health. Presumably, eliminating the bad oils is the way to go.

The way I do it is to have a palette of base ingredients for each of fat, acid, and heat. You can create a lot of beautiful, artful meals with a very limited palette. My fat palette, for instance, is primarily rendered animal fats (pork lard, then beef tallow, then chicken fat, in order of frequency of use--we sautee and sear in, and even eat on toast, almost exclusively rendered animal fat). Then olive oil for finishing and occasionally cooking (e.g. some kinds of fish poached in olive oil is heavenly).

Acid palette is limes/citrus and rice vinegar.

Heat palette is certain peppers and some hot sauces.

All healthful ingredients that can be applied to endless proteins and veggie combos.

The standard American pantry of like a billion different spices and sauces and the United Nations of possible ethnic food types means invariably lots of preservatives and in general mediocre (at best) meals. No non-pro cook can crank out high-quality carne asada one day, then a penne vodka, then an injera platter.

But the answer is: Rendered animal fats are the best substitute, and the real answer is, don't eat processed bullshit food. (Aside: "Lab grown" branding is doing a great job tricking smart people into believing "highly-processed factory-made" is somehow healthy).

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