Maybe Sugar IS the Devil - US Goverment Diet Recommendations

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    Titan1986 wrote: »
    Its really SAD to see (with all the information available today just a few clicks away) that some people still try to convince themselves that sugar can be good for you. There is absolutely nothing good about sugar in any form, we can tolerate loads of sugar yes, glucose is after all "biological fuel" but we should not be eating anything at all with sugar on the ingredients list.

    This is the food industry that has been cleverly programming society for years and has got us all hooked on the stuff, all they need to do is keep adding sugar to all their new products and keep us addicted so we can keep buying more of their crap products, happy to say I'm 5 years clean, Had a few relapses perhaps every now and then (cough cough Christmas cough cough) but I know I'm never gonna be a full on addict ever again. Good luck to all of you.

    I Vote for Banning Sugar!

    http://www.naturalnews.com/047495_sugar_saccharin_addiction.html

    While it's a whole another topic, there hasn't been any human studies that suggest sugar is addictive, but there is some studies that would promote hyperpalatable foods are the problem (we like foods with sugar, salt and fat).

    And while we don't need to eat sugar, there are benefits from it from a training perspective (especially endurance athletes) and from a psychological perspective). Having a cookie, a muffin, or whatever helps me stay on track and helped me obtain a healthy weight.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Titan1986 wrote: »
    Its really SAD to see (with all the information available today just a few clicks away) that some people still try to convince themselves that sugar can be good for you. There is absolutely nothing good about sugar in any form, we can tolerate loads of sugar yes, glucose is after all "biological fuel" but we should not be eating anything at all with sugar on the ingredients list.

    This is the food industry that has been cleverly programming society for years and has got us all hooked on the stuff, all they need to do is keep adding sugar to all their new products and keep us addicted so we can keep buying more of their crap products, happy to say I'm 5 years clean, Had a few relapses perhaps every now and then (cough cough Christmas cough cough) but I know I'm never gonna be a full on addict ever again. Good luck to all of you.

    I Vote for Banning Sugar!

    http://www.naturalnews.com/047495_sugar_saccharin_addiction.html

    Ok, I will bite. Why is sugar bad for you? What negative health impacts will a person who does not have a medical reason to restrict sugars, suffer from, if they eat sugar within the guidelines outlined by the WHO?
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    Titan1986 wrote: »
    Its really SAD to see (with all the information available today just a few clicks away) that some people still try to convince themselves that sugar can be good for you. There is absolutely nothing good about sugar in any form, we can tolerate loads of sugar yes, glucose is after all "biological fuel" but we should not be eating anything at all with sugar on the ingredients list.

    This is the food industry that has been cleverly programming society for years and has got us all hooked on the stuff, all they need to do is keep adding sugar to all their new products and keep us addicted so we can keep buying more of their crap products, happy to say I'm 5 years clean, Had a few relapses perhaps every now and then (cough cough Christmas cough cough) but I know I'm never gonna be a full on addict ever again. Good luck to all of you.

    I Vote for Banning Sugar!

    http://www.naturalnews.com/047495_sugar_saccharin_addiction.html

    Yea+i+don+t+think+so+op+_2099be4c0e4c607bdefc976507c0ffd3.gif
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    tomteboda wrote: »
    The whole point of the government guidelines can be summarized in the following manner.

    PART 1: THE HISTORY
    • Americans are too fat
    • Americans are too fat because they eat too much food
    • Americans eat too much food because food is cheap and tastes good
    • American food tastes good because it has sugar, salt and fat in it
    • If we make American food taste bad, Americans will eat less
    • If Americans eat less they will not be so fat.

    PART 2: THE PRESENT
    • We tried to get Americans to give up fat
    • Decades of public promotion of low-fat diets worked to get Americans to eat less fats
    • Americans compensated for low-fat diets with more sugar and salt
    • Americans are still eating way too much food.
    • Therefore American food still tastes too good, even though it's low-fat.

    PART 3: THE FUTURE
    • What makes American food taste good? The sugar and salt.
    • Let's get Americans to give up their sugar and salt.
    • Then American food will taste bad
    • And Americans will quit eating too much
    • And they won't be so fat.

    I look at it from the standpoint that a lot of people should reduce the amount of added sugar and salt in their diet, not that they need to cut it all out.

    Exactly. The real problem is that too many people see everything in black and white. No middle ground. "cut back" = "give up". "limit" becomes "avoid".

    Maybe government sponsored vocabulary refresher courses would solve all our dietary problems. ;)
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    joinn68 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    It is unreal how much sugar we use today.

    We? I think it's pretty clear that you can't generalize.

    I didn't eat large amounts of sugar when getting fat. It wasn't something I grew up with or adopted. I did eat some added sugar, because sugar (combined with fat and other things) is often part of a tasty pie or cookie or ice cream or even rhubarb sauce and not evil. Never been insulin resistant, never had other diet-related health issues, lost the weight eating as many carbs as I wanted and never once drinking lots of oil or butter in some coffee (plus, coffee tastes best black).

    Take the "we" as in "we as a society". Just because YOU personally don't doesn't make it less unreal

    If you buy packaged goods look at the sugar added to random foods : ketchup is an obvious example, dressings, some savory snacks, coleslaw mentioned by @GaleHawkins

    I don't eat a lot of sugar. I strongly don't have anything against sugar either. I don't even track it on MFP tbh.

    You know, most of the sugar in ketchup comes from the tomatoes.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Very reasonable guidelines.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    alyurete wrote: »
    it should be no added sugar at all... that's what fruit is for

    doesn't fruit contain sugar?

    Yes, that's why we don't need to add sugar.

    Does the same go for natural and added fats?

    Not sure what you mean, but I would not assume a rule for one food applies to all. So I think, no?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Very reasonable guidelines.

    Agreed. It translates to about 10tsp per day of added sugar which seems pretty darn doable.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Titan1986 wrote: »
    Its really SAD to see (with all the information available today just a few clicks away) that some people still try to convince themselves that sugar can be good for you. There is absolutely nothing good about sugar in any form, we can tolerate loads of sugar yes, glucose is after all "biological fuel" but we should not be eating anything at all with sugar on the ingredients list.

    This is the food industry that has been cleverly programming society for years and has got us all hooked on the stuff, all they need to do is keep adding sugar to all their new products and keep us addicted so we can keep buying more of their crap products, happy to say I'm 5 years clean, Had a few relapses perhaps every now and then (cough cough Christmas cough cough) but I know I'm never gonna be a full on addict ever again. Good luck to all of you.

    I Vote for Banning Sugar!

    http://www.naturalnews.com/047495_sugar_saccharin_addiction.html

    sugar addiction has never been proven in human trials.

    yes, sugar can be a part of a healthy diet as long as one is hitting micro nutrient goals and is within their calorie allotment.

    So I assume that you do not eat bread, vegetables, fruits, etc, because sugar is bad? Are you also calling for a ban on fruit and vegetables, because "sugar is bad"?
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    alyurete wrote: »
    it should be no added sugar at all... that's what fruit is for

    doesn't fruit contain sugar?

    Yes, that's why we don't need to add sugar.

    Does the same go for natural and added fats?

    Not sure what you mean, but I would not assume a rule for one food applies to all. So I think, no?

    There's fats in avocados, nuts etc. so no need to add oil to your steak. That's the same logic is what I'm saying.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    alyurete wrote: »
    it should be no added sugar at all... that's what fruit is for

    doesn't fruit contain sugar?

    Yes, that's why we don't need to add sugar.

    Does the same go for natural and added fats?

    Not sure what you mean, but I would not assume a rule for one food applies to all. So I think, no?

    There's fats in avocados, nuts etc. so no need to add oil to your steak. That's the same logic is what I'm saying.

    Are you saying 5 to 6 tablespoons of coconut oil eaten daily probably isn't needed?
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Also please cite a source on your claim that zero carbs are required for good health....

    The US Institutes of Medicine were unable to identify a minimum requirement for carbohydrates, or an optimum. https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/DRI/DRI_Energy/energy_full_report.pdf p275.

    that was not my question ..

    you asked for evidence. They couldn't find any, so I'm not trying.

    I asked that poster to support their statement that zero carbs are required for good health …your "study" does not appear to address that and I did not ask about minimum requirements.

    There are actually two statements.. 1. Are cabs necessary (maybe because I have seen some research that suggest some level of carbs is required. I believe @stevecloser posted it previously) and 2. Are the required for good health. The latter, I think many of us would agree that carbs are beneficial as veggies/carbs have a lot of nutrients that support health.

    I don't think that was me.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Also please cite a source on your claim that zero carbs are required for good health....

    The US Institutes of Medicine were unable to identify a minimum requirement for carbohydrates, or an optimum. https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/DRI/DRI_Energy/energy_full_report.pdf p275.

    that was not my question ..

    you asked for evidence. They couldn't find any, so I'm not trying.

    I asked that poster to support their statement that zero carbs are required for good health …your "study" does not appear to address that and I did not ask about minimum requirements.

    a) it isn't a study, it's an expert report rather than randoms on the internet
    b) it addressed the question of an optimum - it disagrees with the idea that zero are optimal because it couldn't identify an optimum - be it zero or another number.

    Did the statement mean "there are no carbs that are required for good health" or "for good health you require zero carbohydrate intake" I wonder.

    so you admit that you are defending a statement that you do not understand?
  • pegastarlight
    pegastarlight Posts: 26 Member
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    I'm sure there are plenty of people in the US susceptible to added sugars, but the issue with a lot of these sorts of studies is they don't take into account individual dietary needs. That said, when looking at ALL sugars, I eat anywhere between 76 to 232 of my calories from sugar (diet with 1930). But that's including fruits. So I'm not too concerned personally if it is true. Added sugar is a pretty rare thing for me. I like spicy foods more than sweet and beer over soda.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    Very reasonable guidelines.

    Agreed. It translates to about 10tsp per day of added sugar which seems pretty darn doable.

    Absolutely. If one truly IS moderating, it should be pretty doable. I have much less, but that's my preference.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Titan1986 wrote: »
    Its really SAD to see (with all the information available today just a few clicks away) that some people still try to convince themselves that sugar can be good for you.

    None of the information supports the idea that all sugar or any amount of sugar is bad for you, and the evidence that it's bad apart from the role in weight gain (calories) is weak -- the best evidence of that is related to high consumption of sugar-added (HFCS) drinks.
    There is absolutely nothing good about sugar in any form, we can tolerate loads of sugar yes, glucose is after all "biological fuel" but we should not be eating anything at all with sugar on the ingredients list.

    This is absurd. As you note, sugar is fuel and it's prevalent in foods that are very good for us, like vegetables, fruits, dairy. Indeed, it's in breast milk.
    This is the food industry that has been cleverly programming society for years and has got us all hooked on the stuff, all they need to do is keep adding sugar to all their new products and keep us addicted so we can keep buying more of their crap products, happy to say I'm 5 years clean

    Anyone who buys food because they can't resist the "food industry" is pathetic, sorry. And I'm not hooked on food industry items -- most of the stuff referred to doesn't even taste good to me. Doesn't mean I don't like some foods with sugar, like my homemade apple pie or, you know, a clementine or brussels sprouts.
  • Titan1986
    Titan1986 Posts: 6 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Titan1986 wrote: »
    Its really SAD to see (with all the information available today just a few clicks away) that some people still try to convince themselves that sugar can be good for you. There is absolutely nothing good about sugar in any form, we can tolerate loads of sugar yes, glucose is after all "biological fuel" but we should not be eating anything at all with sugar on the ingredients list.

    This is the food industry that has been cleverly programming society for years and has got us all hooked on the stuff, all they need to do is keep adding sugar to all their new products and keep us addicted so we can keep buying more of their crap products, happy to say I'm 5 years clean, Had a few relapses perhaps every now and then (cough cough Christmas cough cough) but I know I'm never gonna be a full on addict ever again. Good luck to all of you.

    I Vote for Banning Sugar!

    http://www.naturalnews.com/047495_sugar_saccharin_addiction.html

    sugar addiction has never been proven in human trials.

    yes, sugar can be a part of a healthy diet as long as one is hitting micro nutrient goals and is within their calorie allotment.

    So I assume that you do not eat bread, vegetables, fruits, etc, because sugar is bad? Are you also calling for a ban on fruit and vegetables, because "sugar is bad"?

    Spot on! I dont eat bread, pasta, don't drink milk, pretty much any form of sugar and yes I stay far away from sugary vegetables and fruits, you cant really pull sugar out of vegetables and you cant go without eating vegetables so I guess you got me there, I eat sugar in vegetables and some fruits.

    Sugar addiction hasn't been proven in human trials because any study that threatens the food industry is shutdown before it can even make it to public eye, most people are so dam clueless how addicted they are, just look next time you go shopping how much sugar is in the trollies, on the shelves, it's everywhere.

    when the body doesn't have enough sugar in the blood it has many ways of producing sugar from fats and even proteins, I'm very active and fit, concious of what goes into my body and how I exercise, I've never needed sugars even when running the 10K charity races I attend 3-4 times per year.

    The real lie you have been programmed to believe is that sugar can be good for you. why dont you try go zero sugar for a couple weeks and see how you feel, when you try raise arguments promoting sugars trust me I know what you are going through, I was there once, its the addiction talking, kick it and you'll feel a million times better, you wont need to watch your weight and your body will look after itself.

    Or just ignore my advice and convince yourself that sugar is ok, and that these food giants are looking out for your health and not just worried about profits and shareholders, convince yourself that you are doing great just the way you are, I suspect that most if not all people suffering from some form of metobolic disease thought the same thing before they were diagnosed, Nobody is going to care about your health over their profits or the economy. Take some responsibility and read books, (you can start with "Pure, White and deadly"), the information is all over the web, you want to be truly healthy and live a long disease free healthy life then there's nothing stopping you.

    If you want to keep eating sugar becuase it tastes nice and makes you feel good then go ahead, but thats all you eating it for, but just know it comes at a hefty price in the long term.

    Sorry for stepping on people toes here, I dont post on these forums I just saw this post and it pains me to see how addicted society is to this stuff, thought even if I help 1 person move to the path of kicking the habit it would be worth this post. good luck guys, wish you all a long and healthy life :smile:
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    Very reasonable guidelines.

    Agreed. It translates to about 10tsp per day of added sugar which seems pretty darn doable.

    Absolutely. If one truly IS moderating, it should be pretty doable. I have much less, but that's my preference.

    What I found most objectionable about the article was that it suggested that it would be so difficult for most people. Even the article itself didn't support that conclusion -- basically, if you look at the stats about sodas it seems like many people who are above the recommended limit could go below it just by cutting out or way down on soda or energy drinks and given averages that probably others are likely to be below it already.

    And that's without even focusing on sugary cereals or packaged sweets, which a lot of people could probably easily cut down on.

    I really don't think anyone is consuming huge quantities of sugar without being well-aware of it and how they are doing it. That doesn't mean they've thought through how much they are eating -- the amount in a soda or energy drink is pretty shocking, same with a bowl of many cereals (glad I don't care for these products) -- but that's because people often prefer to eat mindlessly. (I sometimes actively avoided looking at calories posted when I was fat, since I knew they'd make me feel bad about eating what I wanted to eat.) That people don't know that a donut has sugar (or whatever) is of course not true.

    (On the other hand, given discussions at MFP, I am starting to think that many assume a donut is purely "carbs" and lacks any fat at all, which is also absurd.)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    joinn68 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    It is unreal how much sugar we use today.

    We? I think it's pretty clear that you can't generalize.

    I didn't eat large amounts of sugar when getting fat. It wasn't something I grew up with or adopted. I did eat some added sugar, because sugar (combined with fat and other things) is often part of a tasty pie or cookie or ice cream or even rhubarb sauce and not evil. Never been insulin resistant, never had other diet-related health issues, lost the weight eating as many carbs as I wanted and never once drinking lots of oil or butter in some coffee (plus, coffee tastes best black).

    Take the "we" as in "we as a society". Just because YOU personally don't doesn't make it less unreal

    If you buy packaged goods look at the sugar added to random foods : ketchup is an obvious example, dressings, some savory snacks, coleslaw mentioned by @GaleHawkins

    I don't eat a lot of sugar. I strongly don't have anything against sugar either. I don't even track it on MFP tbh.

    You know, most of the sugar in ketchup comes from the tomatoes.

    Tomatoes are nature's Twinkie.
  • joinn68
    joinn68 Posts: 480 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I think there's a myth that people eat loads of calories from sugar "hidden" in foods they don't expect. It's similar to the idea that people gobbled down Snackwells thinking they were low cal and health-promoting (as opposed to just sad-sounding). It's also self-serving (and promoted by Katie Couric and Lustig, etc.), because of course it's nicer* to think that you were tricked by BigFood into becoming fat rather than you chose to eat lots of obviously high cal foods, even if all BigFood foods have labels, of course.

    When it comes to something like ketchup or ranch dressing, it's silly, the calories from sugar are tiny (and even as a ketchup hater I don't get people claiming to be ignorant of the fact there's sugar in ketchup -- it's sweet!). It's more true if you look at how calories in things like sweetened cereal increased over the years, but again you'd have to be engaged in a serious self-delusion project to claim that the sugar in cereal is "hidden" even apart from the label.

    So I personally agree with you. People with health issues of course may find that there's more sugar in things than they realized and be frustrated. I doubt people really eat huge amounts of calories from "hidden" sugars, though -- and the claim that half of sugar comes from soda, etc. (SO not hidden) seems to back that up.

    *Nicer for some. I'd rather admit I overate than claim to be too stupid to read a label, personally.

    @WinoGelato this answers your question too, at least from me:

    IF I was buying packaged goods OR tracking sugar, I wouldn't worry about sugar content anyway, since MFP allows to track sugar. I don't even track sugar so obviously... I was making an oft made point without having a count of the sugar content in those foods :(