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Is Sugar Really Toxic?

blogs.scientificamerican.com

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Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#21

Post by hristov »

aethertap wrote: post #10
amerika_blog wrote: post #3

I really hope not. I love sugar. It's also the only stimulant I can mete out in small doses that will keep me going without obliterating my concentration, as caffeine tends to do (disclaimer: I haven't tried cocaine).

I read about some research* regarding ego depletion and its relationship to blood glucose levels that was pretty interesting. Basically, they did a study with two groups of people. Both were asked to do some challenging problems requiring concentration, then both were given lemonade. One group's lemonade was sweetened with glucose, and the other with some artificial sweetener. The two groups were then asked to do mor…

Glucose is not really an issue. Fructose is the problem. Unfortunately almost all sugar used as a food and drink additive today includes significant amounts of fructose. Glucose is not that sweet by itself so it is rarely used as sweetener in real life.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#22

Post by brianbreslin »

astrange wrote: post #4
mullingitover wrote: post #2

Sola dosis facit venenum. I didn't pay attention to my weight for a couple years, ate a lot of sweets and drank a lot of beer. Before I knew it I'd gained 30 pounds, and had a minor freakout. I decided to do three things--weigh myself every morning, stop eating sugar except for from fruit, and stop drinking. I ended up shedding 30 pounds in 90 days, and have kept it off for a full year. I didn't exercise or count cal…

Most of your changes could be explained just by calories. Beer is quite high calorie since it has so many carbs, and eating nuts satiates you faster so you end up eating less. Alcohol itself doesn't affect weight much, though IIRC fat isn't metabolized well together with it. But it can improve your lifespan: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9481115

Not really. Assume he cut out 300 calories a day of beer. So a pound of fat is 3600 calories roughly. By just cutting out beer he would need 12 days to lose 1 lb. not the rate he was losing which was 1/3lb per day. Many studies have shown pure caloric deficits do not lead to rapid weight loss.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#23

Post by brianbreslin »

rfnslyr wrote: post #6

Man. Sugar is the worst. Take it from me. I moved to the city the moment I turned 18, I didn't know much about cooking. Back in the 'burbs you'd be lucky to live within 10km of a grocery store. Downtown however, totally different story. I went NUTS with sweets and pizza. I gained over 100 lbs in just under half a year. I was eating around 10k calories a day. I then stuck to only these foods and have only been eating…

How has your weight loss progressed since the dietary change?

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#24

Post by pedalpete »

rfnslyr wrote: post #6

Man. Sugar is the worst. Take it from me. I moved to the city the moment I turned 18, I didn't know much about cooking. Back in the 'burbs you'd be lucky to live within 10km of a grocery store. Downtown however, totally different story. I went NUTS with sweets and pizza. I gained over 100 lbs in just under half a year. I was eating around 10k calories a day. I then stuck to only these foods and have only been eating…

I cut out most sugar years ago, I think by not 'seasoning', you may be doing yourself a dis-service. Sugar isn't the only seasoning. There are lots you can do with herbs, oils and citrus (just stay away from vinegars which are often high in sugar).

For those who want to try restricting their diet to be more healty, a simple trick is to only shop on the outer isles of the grocery store. In more stores, you'll have the produce along one one, meats and fish along another, and then dairy and cheese along another.

Sadly, the bakery is also along a wall, so just be smart enough to avoid that one, and don't be tricked by bread, most of it has a significant amount of sugar.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#25

Post by hristov »

jacques_chester wrote: post #20

Net caloric balance is still the best long term predictor of average body mass, regardless of dietary macronutrient composition. http://examine.com/faq/what-should-i-eat-for-weight-loss.htm... In turn, obesity is a strong predictor of many diseases, regardless of other factors. In individual cases unobservable "noise" can affect the rate of gain or loss vs the estimated rate given by subtracting an estimate (calories…

The problem with refined fructose is that it contributes to you eating more because the liver cannot process it properly and does not send the "i am full" signals to the brain. Thus, it is in fact the reason why people have higher net caloric intake.

US style food is being exported all over the world. Sodas are sold all over the world. Obesity around the world is generally correlated to the level at which US style food culture is adopted.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#27

Post by grannyg00se »

"Enzymes in the intestine split sucrose into fructose and glucose within seconds, so as far as the human body is concerned sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup are equivalent."

I'm not an expert by any means, but from what I recall that point is still widely contested.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#28

Post by greghinch »

The article takes the long winded approach to point out the rational argument about how to combat obesity that's been obvious all along: moderation. Laying the blame on sugar in general is a panacea; the problem more has to do with how efficiently sugar delivery has been engineered. Processed foods have made it so that you can eat a relatively small quantity of matter and get a huge amount of sugar (and fat).

Want to get healthy and lose weight? Cut the processed foods. If it comes in a box, don't buy it. If there are ingredients you have trouble pronouncing, don't buy it. Your body has evolved to know when you've had enough food (slowing down your eating will help too). But those foods that are designed in a lab have sugar and other "bad" stuff in disproportionately high amounts, so by the time you've eaten enough to feel full, you've eaten way too much.

TL;DR: stop eating so much, fatty

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#29

Post by hippich »

mullingitover wrote: post #2

Sola dosis facit venenum. I didn't pay attention to my weight for a couple years, ate a lot of sweets and drank a lot of beer. Before I knew it I'd gained 30 pounds, and had a minor freakout. I decided to do three things--weigh myself every morning, stop eating sugar except for from fruit, and stop drinking. I ended up shedding 30 pounds in 90 days, and have kept it off for a full year. I didn't exercise or count cal…

I doubt excluding sugars from your diet made a difference, or excluding alcohol alone did it. Beer in general do not have that many calories, it is usually junk food accompanied beer is what adding a lot of calories and fat.

^^^ IMHO, since there is a chance you were consuming pound of sugar and six-pack of beer daily :)

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#30

Post by Fargren »

hristov wrote: post #25
jacques_chester wrote: post #20

Net caloric balance is still the best long term predictor of average body mass, regardless of dietary macronutrient composition. http://examine.com/faq/what-should-i-eat-for-weight-loss.htm... In turn, obesity is a strong predictor of many diseases, regardless of other factors. In individual cases unobservable "noise" can affect the rate of gain or loss vs the estimated rate given by subtracting an estimate (calories…

The problem with refined fructose is that it contributes to you eating more because the liver cannot process it properly and does not send the "i am full" signals to the brain. Thus, it is in fact the reason why people have higher net caloric intake. US style food is being exported all over the world. Sodas are sold all over the world. Obesity around the world is generally correlated to the level at which US style fo…

Fortunately, in most of the world sodas use sugar instead of syrup. So it's not as bad as it could be.
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