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Is Sugar Really Toxic?

blogs.scientificamerican.com

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Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#31

Post by hippich »

greghinch wrote: post #28

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…

Or instead of not eating boxed food, just do a research how much "bad stuff" in it and divide accordingly to meet your calories and nutrients target for a day.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#32

Post by yen223 »

Fargren wrote: post #30
hristov wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Isn't syrup just water with sugar? How is that worse?

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#33

Post by wnevets »

is sugar toxic? Maybe, maybe not. I dont know.

What I do know is a diet low in sugar reduces cravings by a lot. Its a lot easier to lose weight when you don't feel hungry all the time.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#34

Post by mullingitover »

brianbreslin wrote: post #22
astrange wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I figured the same thing--I definitely didn't feel like I was cutting calories in any way. I took up drinking lots of whole milk, eating bacon, and at my desk I'd eat a whole 12-ounce coffee cup full of mixed nuts (still do, in fact) each day at work. I didn't even cut carbs, I ate pizza and pasta pretty regularly. The only thing I did was aggressively eliminate refined sugars and beer from my diet.

I'm curious if gut fauna could be a factor.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#35

Post by grannyg00se »

hippich wrote: post #31
greghinch wrote: post #28

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…

Or instead of not eating boxed food, just do a research how much "bad stuff" in it and divide accordingly to meet your calories and nutrients target for a day.

How the hell do you do that? I find this problem with a lot of diet methods. It's complicated as well as difficult.

Plus, when you're consuming the "bad stuff" it's even more difficult because of their interactions within the body.

If you can manage to research and control "bad stuff" in your diet and that works, go ahead. But why have them in there at all messing everything up?

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#36

Post by 13lur »

The ironic part about the hour and a half talk "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" is that all the people who it could help the most all have sugar-induced ADD and won't be able to sit through it to understand it...

Anyways I hope this recent bump from HN allows Dr. Lustig to make the talk-show rounds again.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#37

Post by jmduke »

hippich wrote: post #29
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 :)

Beer usually hovers around the 150-200 calorie mark per bottle. If you're putting away a six-pack every weekend, that adds up very quickly.

(Which is not to say that you'll magically lose weight if you stop drinking, or that it's impossible to lose weight if you're drinking every week.)

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#38

Post by [deleted] »

grannyg00se wrote: post #35
hippich wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or instead of not eating boxed food, just do a research how much "bad stuff" in it and divide accordingly to meet your calories and nutrients target for a day.

How the hell do you do that? I find this problem with a lot of diet methods. It's complicated as well as difficult. Plus, when you're consuming the "bad stuff" it's even more difficult because of their interactions within the body. If you can manage to research and control "bad stuff" in your diet and that works, go ahead. But why have them in there at all messing everything up?

[deleted]

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#39

Post by greghinch »

hippich wrote: post #31
greghinch wrote: post #28

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…

Or instead of not eating boxed food, just do a research how much "bad stuff" in it and divide accordingly to meet your calories and nutrients target for a day.

It's as much about habit-forming as anything. If you just stop buying food that comes pre-packaged, you force yourself to make new food-buying habits that will trend towards healthier meals.

Re: Is Sugar Really Toxic?

#40

Post by ekianjo »

yen223 wrote: post #32
Fargren wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Isn't syrup just water with sugar? How is that worse?

He's referring to fructose syrup. To replace sugar, which is more expensive.
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