Sugar as evil

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    kathyk519 wrote: »
    and it is hard to cut back on since it is in everything - read your labels and you will see.

    I never understand why people claim this, although I blame Katie Couric. It's extremely easy to cut back. I read labels and log my food, and have never been surprised by something containing sugar when I expected it not to. I don't eat a ton of pre-packaged foods with labels, though, and I have always read my labels so I knew what was in the ones I buy. But if we are to focus on "most people," while it's nice to fret about some sugar in pasta sauce just for fun (I don't understand buying jarred pasta sauce personally, but I confess to being obnoxious and judgmental on occasion), chances are that anyone really eating excess sugar could tell you pretty easily how to reduce the sugar he or she is eating (eat fewer cookies or drink fewer sodas, perhaps).
  • kathyk519
    kathyk519 Posts: 197 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    Hm. I've seen obesity linked to cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I think we underestimate the effects of chronic stress and cortisol. But I don't see sugar listed as a cause. Source?

    Journal of the American Medical Association...

  • Eudoxy
    Eudoxy Posts: 391 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    Hm. I've seen obesity linked to cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I think we underestimate the effects of chronic stress and cortisol. But I don't see sugar listed as a cause. Source?

    She was hardly out of left field with her comment, not sure why someone laughed at her. A quick google search showed many recent articles on this.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/02/03/more-evidence-that-sugar-is-harming-our-hearts/
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Eudoxy wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Hm. I've seen obesity linked to cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I think we underestimate the effects of chronic stress and cortisol. But I don't see sugar listed as a cause. Source?

    She was hardly out of left field with her comment, not sure why someone laughed at her. A quick google search showed many recent articles on this.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/02/03/more-evidence-that-sugar-is-harming-our-hearts/

    I have reverse my heart disease eating sugary things, explain that??
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Her comment struck me as non responsive to the OP's question (should I eat fruit if at my sugar limit?) and also not really responsive to the discussion to this point, so sort of out of the blue. I admit I always find it weird when someone comments in a way that seems to suggest they haven't read the prior comments or are choosing just to ignore them.

    I am actually interested in a response to the bit I commented on.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Eudoxy wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Hm. I've seen obesity linked to cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I think we underestimate the effects of chronic stress and cortisol. But I don't see sugar listed as a cause. Source?

    She was hardly out of left field with her comment, not sure why someone laughed at her. A quick google search showed many recent articles on this.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/02/03/more-evidence-that-sugar-is-harming-our-hearts/

    article on forbes that does not even link to the full text study ...

    All it says is that it is a review of studies and does not even list the activity levels, age, gender, etc of said reviewed studies participants..

    so I am going with a no on this one..

    yea, if you are obese/overweight/out of shape and tend to get a majority of your calories from sugar then I can see the link.

    I don't think anyone on this forum is suggesting getting a majority of your calories from sugar....

  • Eudoxy
    Eudoxy Posts: 391 Member
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    Serah87 wrote: »
    Eudoxy wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Hm. I've seen obesity linked to cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I think we underestimate the effects of chronic stress and cortisol. But I don't see sugar listed as a cause. Source?

    She was hardly out of left field with her comment, not sure why someone laughed at her. A quick google search showed many recent articles on this.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/02/03/more-evidence-that-sugar-is-harming-our-hearts/

    I have reverse my heart disease eating sugary things, explain that??

    There are many things that cause heart disease (just losing weight is often the best thing), I was just pointing out that excess sugar has been linked. I don't even know if it's true, but it's reasonable of her to mention and question it I think.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I never had issues with high cholesterol, even when I obeist.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    So are you saying sugar leads to high cholesterol??
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    Serah87 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    So are you saying sugar leads to high cholesterol??

    Um, no I didn't say anything even close to that. ???
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    I think for most it would be (I personally find fat more satiating, and that includes saturated fat), but the point is that focusing on one macronutrient and all foods containing it, so that "no sugar!" or "no fat!" become markers of healthiness independent of anything else about the product--see the Walden Farms discussion--is really a distraction from what you ideally should focus on to have a healthy diet overall.

    For example, the number of people convinced that eating fruit might be unhealthy or that sugar should ideally be eliminated isn't all that different from people thinking Snackwells are some kind of health food.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Serah87 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    So are you saying sugar leads to high cholesterol??

    Um, no I didn't say anything even close to that. ???

    Well, Lemurcat was talking about cholesterol, so I was wondering.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    Serah87 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    So are you saying sugar leads to high cholesterol??

    Um, no I didn't say anything even close to that. ???

    Okay, I get where the question came from now (after re-reading). Of the two - overeating fat, overeating sugar - I'd say sugar would likely have a more negative affect on cholesterol for most people.
  • Eudoxy
    Eudoxy Posts: 391 Member
    edited March 2015
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    Eudoxy wrote: »
    Serah87 wrote: »
    Eudoxy wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Hm. I've seen obesity linked to cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I think we underestimate the effects of chronic stress and cortisol. But I don't see sugar listed as a cause. Source?

    She was hardly out of left field with her comment, not sure why someone laughed at her. A quick google search showed many recent articles on this.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/02/03/more-evidence-that-sugar-is-harming-our-hearts/

    I have reverse my heart disease eating sugary things, explain that??

    There are many things that cause heart disease (just losing weight is often the best thing), I was just pointing out that excess sugar has been linked. I don't even know if it's true, but it's reasonable of her to mention and question it I think.

    And that leads to the same argument again, what is excess? How does training and lifestyle impact that marker that would make something excess? Context. No one likes to apply context.


    Training and lifestyle would make a big difference, I think. More activity would allow for more (maybe a lot more). What is excess in grams is debatable and will never be exact, but I think we all pretty much agree there is such a thing and a consensus was reached by most -

    "The big picture solution is in managing total caloric balance with a predominance of minimally refined foods and sufficient physical activity". -Alan Aragon

    He says probably around 50g? I think in added, others say more, others less, and yeah some say none (not me).

    Edited to fix quotes
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    Surely you should limit both?

    This too, for me anyway.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I would question whether limiting sugar and especially added or refined sugars would not be more helpful in a diet than limiting fat.

    I think for most it would be (I personally find fat more satiating, and that includes saturated fat), but the point is that focusing on one macronutrient and all foods containing it, so that "no sugar!" or "no fat!" become markers of healthiness independent of anything else about the product--see the Walden Farms discussion--is really a distraction from what you ideally should focus on to have a healthy diet overall.

    For example, the number of people convinced that eating fruit might be unhealthy or that sugar should ideally be eliminated isn't all that different from people thinking Snackwells are some kind of health food.

    Maybe. But I don't see many posts from people convinced that fruit is unhealthy.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Serah87 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    On other matters, there has been discussion about the continued medical warnings about excess sat fat (for similar reasons) and some of the same people who are anti sugar were dismissive on the grounds that they have no cholesterol issues. I'm sympathetic to that--I also have never had any cholesterol issues, and I suspect the biggest positive thing many could do is lose weight anyway--but you'd think more people would get that a lot of the sugar paranoia is basically identical to the fat paranoia of old, and unlikely to be any more helpful.

    This point was made by another poster early on in the thread.

    I never had issues with high cholesterol, even when I obeist.

    Neither did I, nor with insulin resistance, for that matter. I might have if I'd stayed fat longer, but I'd never had any bad test results when I decided to lose weight.

    Quite often people who lose by any diet improve their test results, though.