Why the hate on Sugar?

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Replies

  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    awasko1218 wrote: »
    I wonder if it is because when you eat sugar, you want to eat more sugar....and then more sugar to feel like you got your fix...and then MORE, coupled with the fact that the average american eats a lot of processed food, and hidden in processed foods is sugar? So it isn't necessarily the SUGAR that makes people unable to lose weight, but the processed sugar hidden in food that you don't think should even contain sugar that makes you crave more of it, which ruins your willpower, and then you just give up and eat the whole box of chex mix? Er, I mean, not that that's ever happened to me.... Just saying.

    I am skeptical about this epidemic of people eating some ketchup or jarred pasta sauce and then getting a huge jones for cake, but who knows. Lucky for me I dislike ketchup and make my own marinara. (Have never gone nuts for sugar after some smoked salmon, though, which typically also has the "hidden" kind, since it's part of the common process.)

    I think most people want to eat another cookie because they think cookies taste good, but I suppose that's too simple?

    funny these binges never involve fruits or vegetables...

    Or sugar out of the bowl, even.

    Or pixie sticks or maple sugar cookies either. For my non-Canadian friends you don't know what you are missing with the maple sugar cookies! Just saying...
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,201 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    awasko1218 wrote: »
    I wonder if it is because when you eat sugar, you want to eat more sugar....and then more sugar to feel like you got your fix...and then MORE, coupled with the fact that the average american eats a lot of processed food, and hidden in processed foods is sugar? So it isn't necessarily the SUGAR that makes people unable to lose weight, but the processed sugar hidden in food that you don't think should even contain sugar that makes you crave more of it, which ruins your willpower, and then you just give up and eat the whole box of chex mix? Er, I mean, not that that's ever happened to me.... Just saying.

    I am skeptical about this epidemic of people eating some ketchup or jarred pasta sauce and then getting a huge jones for cake, but who knows. Lucky for me I dislike ketchup and make my own marinara. (Have never gone nuts for sugar after some smoked salmon, though, which typically also has the "hidden" kind, since it's part of the common process.)

    I think most people want to eat another cookie because they think cookies taste good, but I suppose that's too simple?

    funny these binges never involve fruits or vegetables...

    Or sugar out of the bowl, even.

    Or pixie sticks or maple sugar cookies either. For my non-Canadian friends you don't know what you are missing with the maple sugar cookies! Just saying...
    I find maple sugar cookies nauseatingly sweet.

  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    edited January 2015
    For years weight loss "experts" have said to cut the sugar, what is the reason behind this? It is only 16 calories per tsp and tastes great. Why is it the enemy? I can't stand most sugar substitutes and can't pronounce the chemicals in them.

    Statistics show that the average American based on a 2000 calorie diet eats more than 500 calories a day of sugar. That's 25 % or more of their intake.
    While sugar in itself is not bad, most people deprive themselves of the nutritional values that the sugar does not have. It plays almost no roll in weight loss but can play a role for those who seek generally better health.
    When we talk about sugar we need to differentiate between weight loss ( where as long as we eat at a deficit sugar plays no role ) and general health. Many people either confuse those, or lump them together.

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    awasko1218 wrote: »
    I wonder if it is because when you eat sugar, you want to eat more sugar....and then more sugar to feel like you got your fix...and then MORE, coupled with the fact that the average american eats a lot of processed food, and hidden in processed foods is sugar? So it isn't necessarily the SUGAR that makes people unable to lose weight, but the processed sugar hidden in food that you don't think should even contain sugar that makes you crave more of it, which ruins your willpower, and then you just give up and eat the whole box of chex mix? Er, I mean, not that that's ever happened to me.... Just saying.

    I am skeptical about this epidemic of people eating some ketchup or jarred pasta sauce and then getting a huge jones for cake, but who knows. Lucky for me I dislike ketchup and make my own marinara. (Have never gone nuts for sugar after some smoked salmon, though, which typically also has the "hidden" kind, since it's part of the common process.)

    I think most people want to eat another cookie because they think cookies taste good, but I suppose that's too simple?

    funny these binges never involve fruits or vegetables...

    Or sugar out of the bowl, even.

    Or pixie sticks or maple sugar cookies either. For my non-Canadian friends you don't know what you are missing with the maple sugar cookies! Just saying...
    I find maple sugar cookies nauseatingly sweet.

    Same thing with maple sugar candy.

  • freechewy
    freechewy Posts: 111 Member
    Sugar in processed food is not good for you. Do research. I work in a health care company that has a program for people with Type 2 Diabetes. The research is pretty compelling. Refined sugar is not good for your body same with the sugar that is added to "lowfat" foods. Fruit sugar is different.

    I love me some chocolate but I eat it in moderation.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    freechewy wrote: »
    Sugar in processed food is not good for you. Do research. I work in a health care company that has a program for people with Type 2 Diabetes. The research is pretty compelling. Refined sugar is not good for your body same with the sugar that is added to "lowfat" foods. Fruit sugar is different.

    I love me some chocolate but I eat it in moderation.

    LOL well the fruit sugar is better than other sugar train is never late…

    sugar = sugar

    your body has no way to distinguish between sugar from fruit, and the sugar that is in my gelato ...
  • Khukhullatus
    Khukhullatus Posts: 361 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »

    LOL well the fruit sugar is better than other sugar train is never late…

    sugar = sugar

    your body has no way to distinguish between sugar from fruit, and the sugar that is in my gelato ...

    Thanks for this. I'm always blown away how many people think that the source of a molecule changes what it does in the body.
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  • carrieous
    carrieous Posts: 1,024 Member
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
  • Laurieb126
    Laurieb126 Posts: 2 Member
    Watch "Fed Up". Sugar is considered a major culprit behind the obesity epidemic. It is also highly inflammatory in the body, and inflammation promotes disease. It isn't an either/or. It is a good idea to avoid both artificial sweeteners and limit added sugar that doesn't come naturally from fruits and vegetables.

  • Laurieb126
    Laurieb126 Posts: 2 Member
    Great answer. Sugar is poison to our bodies. I don't eat sugar or substitutes except stevia.
  • Unknown
    edited January 2015
    This content has been removed.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,201 Member
    freechewy wrote: »
    Sugar in processed food is not good for you. Do research. I work in a health care company that has a program for people with Type 2 Diabetes. The research is pretty compelling. Refined sugar is not good for your body same with the sugar that is added to "lowfat" foods. Fruit sugar is different.

    I love me some chocolate but I eat it in moderation.
    Your basic premise is flawed without context and dosage. It amazes me that institutions and companies like yours don't fully understand the nutritional landscape and this is pretty much nutrition 101.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Slasher09 wrote: »
    That all probably seems over-dramatic, but trust me....if anything I'm not even fully articulating what true binging is.

    I don't think it sounds over-dramatic. I think binging is a real thing, and I feel bad for those who suffer from binge eating disorder or any other severe eating disorder. But I (a) don't think it has much to do with the general discussion about sugar or obesity in the US; and (b) think it's more about emotional/psychological triggers than physical ones and would point out that even in your own discussion the foods you mention have as much fat as sugar, and NO ONE--contrary to the post I was responding to--binges on ketchup or the like, the "hidden sugars" (although they aren't hidden) that we are supposed to be all at the mercy of.

    I don't believe that sugar is what caused binge eating disorder and, indeed, I've heard accounts of binge eating from people who did not focus on sugary foods. The main foods do seem to be the ones generally considered "naughty" more often than not, and many of those ARE filled with both fat and sugar, but my suspicion is that the "naughty" label has more to do with it than the contents (other than them being tasty enough to be tempting in the first place and the whole cycle to develop). It is true that, as others pointed out, taking a nice bite of an apple has as much sweetness in it as a bit of cookie--and far more than some bread or pasta sauce or smoked salmon (that dreaded hidden sugar!)--and yet no one speaks of the blood racing in response to that. Part of that is that fruit here, just isn't, well, the forbidden fruit, probably.

    But if you reject my musings on the psychology behind binging that's totally your right. My broader point is that that has really nothing to do with whether sugar is causing American obesity due to its tremendous addictive power. I'm voting no. The 67% of Americans who are overweight aren't all suffering from serious binging disorders involving cookies and the like. Very few probably are. Lots and lots probably find cookies really tasty, though, and others might be more like I was and find the foods with fat and salt and such (cheese, ribs, steak, curry, French fries) overly tempting and thus need to reduce their intake.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you

    If it's so bad, clearly it should be extracted from apples before we eat them, to make them safe and all.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
    I think you answered the thread title right there.

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  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
    I think you answered the thread title right there.
    Great. You got chased out of the bulking section, now you gotta torture the rest of us out here?
  • hmcbride68
    hmcbride68 Posts: 72 Member
    Sugar touched me in a naughty place, then it apologized and said it would never do it again. But it did it again
  • GingerbreadCandy
    GingerbreadCandy Posts: 403 Member

    I am going to make the assumption I usually make in these cases, without however having any statistics at hand, in that these recommendations are applied to the average American/UK/German/Italian/whereveryouarefrom citizen and that the average citizen consumes too much sugar. Either in their food intake or through sugary drinks, without really aware of the calorie intake it provides.

    When not counting calories, things such as cutting out sugar, fat and pre-packaged foods are an easy way to decrease calorie intake without bothering with the mechanics behind it. It is the reason why raw vegan diets, for instance, generally result in a lot of weight loss. You simply aren't going to get as many calories from raw veggies and fruits as if you were eating steak and cheese every day. I say generally because even then, there is a possibility for weight gain if, say, you consume 30 bananas a day or 40 avocados or something like that.

    If you are monitoring and limiting your calorie intake and meeting macros and do not have any medical condition, then there is no real need to cut out sugar.
  • Jumping in here, I am on a very low carb high fat way of eating. Going back to May 2012, I was obese, and taking exercise class wasn't helping me get healthy.. I was ballooning out, eating a standard Canadian diet.. maybe a bit high in carbs. I was also EXTREMELY INSULIN RESISTANT, as in, pretty much off the charts... as a type 2 diabetic (I had pregnancy diabetes that went to type 2), my doctor was at a complete loss as to how to treat me medically. My meds weren't enough, I couldn't take other diabetic meds (bad reactions) and with insulin resistance so high, taking insulin shots wasn't an option either. I had just heard about the LCHF (low carb high fat), way of eating, and asked the doc to let me try for 3 months. He agreed. Three months later, the doctor's jaw figuratively hit the floor. On the LCHF way of eating, my insulin resistance went pretty much STRAIGHT DOWN. My blood sugars were stable and dropped a bit (thanks to meds). I have kept on with this way of eating, because for me, if I DID NOT do this, I'd probably be suffering a lot of diabetes related illnesses right now.

    Now, having said my testimony as far as cutting ALL carbohydrates, not everyone has to cut out sugar as drastically as I did. I would recommend that if you're diabetic, please, please consider doing a LCHF lifestyle. Diabetics simply CANNOT process sugar in their bodies, and ALL CARBOHYDRATES ARE SUGAR... at least, that's what the body processes carbohydrates into for fuel. And elevated blood sugars wreak havoc on the body. If you don't feed your body sugar, then your body CAN process what you eat without stressing it out.

    /rant/testimony/ wall of text
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
    I think you answered the thread title right there.
    Great. You got chased out of the bulking section, now you gotta torture the rest of us out here?
    What other explanation would be for why sugar gets so much hate?

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
    I think you answered the thread title right there.
    Great. You got chased out of the bulking section, now you gotta torture the rest of us out here?
    What other explanation would be for why sugar gets so much hate?

    Media fear mongering.
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  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
    I think you answered the thread title right there.
    Great. You got chased out of the bulking section, now you gotta torture the rest of us out here?
    He actually hasn't been chased out of the bulking section. He refuses to either learn or leave. His mentality displayed in the post you quoted is one of the biggest reasons he just won't succeed there.
    Ok fine. Pls take him back.
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  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    carrieous wrote: »
    because it has no nutritional value and is all bad for you
    I think you answered the thread title right there.
    Great. You got chased out of the bulking section, now you gotta torture the rest of us out here?
    He actually hasn't been chased out of the bulking section. He refuses to either learn or leave. His mentality displayed in the post you quoted is one of the biggest reasons he just won't succeed there.
    Ok fine. Pls take him back.

    NO
    :\

  • nature0721
    nature0721 Posts: 5 Member
    I have been substituting honey for sugar. I know it higher in calories than sugar. It natural and has lots of health benefits.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    nature0721 wrote: »
    I have been substituting honey for sugar. I know it higher in calories than sugar. It natural and has lots of health benefits.

    And the sucrose in honey is different than table sugar how again?
  • Unknown
    edited January 2015
    This content has been removed.
This discussion has been closed.