Sugar = Poison

ecaz

bump

seansquared

Not me, you will not find me saying I love any such things. I no longer eat peanuts or peanut butter as they are legumes and I won't eat muffins anymore either unless I make them and they will be made with either almond or coconut flour.

I loved your post on veggies being better than fruit, but I have to say the legume family is a spectacular source of protein and fiber. Feel free to avoid beans and nuts all you want, of course, but they can be very positive additions to one's diet.

donnamariemoon

bump :-)

LuckyLeprechaun

I try to stay away from HFCS because I do think it has something to do with the high rate of obseity in our country. But I also believe in the old saying "Everything in moderation." Too much of anything we put in our mouths will make us fat...PERIOD.

I don't believe that the fruit God gaves is poison...unless we add poison to it. Simple as that.

Well, if you look at it from that angle, why was the "fruit" on the forbidden tree? Maybe God was trying to tell us way back then that it is poisonous................

I don't believe in Everything in Moderation. There are many things the human body does not need in moderation.

really? fruit is bad? :noway: :laugh: how ridiculous.











There is nothing wrong with eating fruit. Or WHOLE GRAINS (GASP)



or HFCS.

or Splenda

or SUGAR

LuckyLeprechaun

I find the facepalm uncalled for, frankly, and not funny at all. Well into the middle ages cultivated fruit varieties were seen as something not entirely right, witness the huge number of medieval sagas and fairy tales that have people come to harm under grafted trees. The motif of the danger of grafted trees is found all over in European folklore. "Ympe Trees" are demon trees!. in "Sir Orfeo", the king of the underworld fetches Eurydice while she is sleeping under a grafted tree:

"Loke, dame, that tow be
to-morwe her vnder this ympe-tre,
and than thou schalt with ous go
and liue with ous euermo...."

of course

in the middle ages we believed a woman's uterus wandered around her body until it was time for her menses, and then made her crazy.

in the middle ages we believed tomatoes were [poisonous because they leached the lead out of the plates and gave lead poisoning.

in the middle ages we believed the earth was a flat disk.


I believe you see the glaringly obvious point, that we have cone a long way since the middle ages.

millermichellelea

Bump --- btw while in Italy they fed me fruit for breakfast every morning and figs were a plenty.....is it only US that eats fruit? What do they put on their toast in England is it not Jam?

Seriously I grow tired of everyone always slamming the US. We are a varied group as are all of you - each area is different and we are a melting pot so generalizing anything just doesn't work. Please stop the slams in the posts, if you dislike us that much --- just ignore us and leave well enough alone.

cjw6

Sugar isn't poison, thats daft.

Your body needs some sugar. In fact the only kind of fuel your brain can metabolise is glucose.

The problem is our (westernised) lifestyle. We have got used to everything being really sweet and companies like to get us to buy their products so they put sugar in virtually everything. Baked beans, chilli sauce, everything.

With yogurts etc, when they take out the fat, they just don't taste as good, so they compensate by putting in extra sugar.

The thing is, you can adjust your tastes quite easily, same as if you cut out salt- for the 1st few days things taste kind of bland, then you re-adjust and can do without the sugary foods quite easily.
Fruit is fine assuming you aren't eating kilos of it at a time- you get fibre and vitamins as well as some sugars and they can fill you up (unlike sweets/choc)- much better to have an apple than a chocolate bar!

I think everything (within reason) in moderation is the right approach. Better to have smaller portions of real (not processed) healthy tasty food than loads of 'low fat' or 'diet' snacks and colas etc.

Having said that- I'm dieting, so probably not so good at following my own advice!

cjw6

What have you got against legumes? They are a great protein source. Not saying eat loads of salted peanuts, but cutting a whole group of foods out is pretty much never a good idea. Cutting down is fine, but cutting stuff out completely can be detrimental to your overall health (not just weight)

Barneystinson

Sugar isn't poison, thats daft.

Your body needs some sugar. In fact the only kind of fuel your brain can metabolise is glucose.

The problem is our (westernised) lifestyle. We have got used to everything being really sweet and companies like to get us to buy their products so they put sugar in virtually everything. Baked beans, chilli sauce, everything.

With yogurts etc, when they take out the fat, they just don't taste as good, so they compensate by putting in extra sugar.

The thing is, you can adjust your tastes quite easily, same as if you cut out salt- for the 1st few days things taste kind of bland, then you re-adjust and can do without the sugary foods quite easily.
Fruit is fine assuming you aren't eating kilos of it at a time- you get fibre and vitamins as well as some sugars and they can fill you up (unlike sweets/choc)- much better to have an apple than a chocolate bar!

I think everything (within reason) in moderation is the right approach. Better to have smaller portions of real (not processed) healthy tasty food than loads of 'low fat' or 'diet' snacks and colas etc.

Having said that- I'm dieting, so probably not so good at following my own advice!

"In fact the only kind of fuel your brain can metabolise is glucose."

Important distinction here is that yes, some parts of the brain can only be fueled by glucose. However, what's not commonly cited by nutrition articles is that this glucose fuel source does not have to be dietary (i.e. consumed glucose from food sources). Your body can produce glucose for the brain through the process of glucogenesis where proteins (amino acids) are converted to glucose.

durangocal

Thanks for posting this video. It helps me be more armed in my quest to ban soda drinking for our boys when our family goes to restaurants! My new goal is for them to see soda as not something for a "special treat once in awhile" but something that is dangerous for our health and should be avoided completely. On a side note-today at the grocery store I was surprised to see how many "healthy" breads still contain HFCS.

baisleac

Everything FOOD-WISE that comes from the ground or had a mother is okay to eat in moderation. (unless it has venom....sorry I had to add that.

Actually... rattlesnake is quite yummy. Just don't eat the venom sacks, eat the meat. :bigsmile:

JillyCornwall

bump to read later

naturallykat

A topic which really interests me at the moment, as I have identified sugar as a cause of my overeating, so have cut right down.

I personally think that in nature, we wouldn't eat sugar all year round. We'd eat (natural) sugars in Autumn, when all the fruits and berries are ripe. And we would gorge on them because there would be a harsh winter ahead and we'd need to store those calores. So sugar = fill your boots in evolutionary terms.

deathtaco

smoke
cleaning supplies
air pollution
the SUN
BPA (in canned goods and plastic bottles)
High doses of vitamins
lead
arsenic
petroleum based products
alcohol
hydrogen peroxide
etc
etc
mercury

All these things are poisonous/harmful and contribute more to any health problems I have or will develop than having sugar will. So, I will enjoy ice cream, fruits, oats, vegetables, milk, yogurt, berries, chocolate, etc

To blame sugar as the root of all evils is unfair. Is HFCS bad? Sorta. Is sugar bad? In high amounts. But if you even have one beer it's probably worse for your body than a soda.

I

pickledlilli

bump

Altiv

Bump

sandybeach11

bump

runlorirun

Do I allow my kids sugar, pops and all that? You bet. Am I going to stop because someone said it's bad? NO. Why? I am mom, I do allow my kids these things in moderation, teaching them that exercise is a must in your daily life.

Whose fault is it if my kids get fat? Sugar or me? If I do not teach my children right amounts to eat, to stop eating when starting to feel full, to listen to their bodies and follow what it is saying then it is my fault.

I have seen fat kids on supposed all natural food diets. Why? Simply because they eat too much. I think our bodies need a certain amount of sugar, fats, and other stuff.

I have IBS so I have to watch my fat intake, at the same time if it gets too low, I know that if I eat 2 pieces of regular bacon it will help. Do I eat 4, 6, or 8 pieces? No, I eat the two that will aid me. Anymore than that and I am in extreme pain for days.

I have gastritis, one thing that affects it is granulated sugar. I avoid it, but HFCS is not a problem. I use Splenda instead of sugar. When I buy canned fruit I look for ones that are package in juices not syrup.

I know I gained weight from over eating, not from just sugar/fat things but anything. Did I really need that huge bowl of salad? No Did I really need a 8 oz steak and huge baked potato with sour cream and butter? No.

I think we, as a country, need to stop blaming things for making us obese and place it where it belongs, on the individual, on the parents allowing their 7, 8, 9 year old to order a Big Mac and large fry and huge pop. We are responsible for where we are! We are the ones putting the food into our bodies.

Grimmerick

I try to stay away from HFCS because I do think it has something to do with the high rate of obseity in our country. But I also believe in the old saying "Everything in moderation." Too much of anything we put in our mouths will make us fat...PERIOD.

I don't believe that the fruit God gaves is poison...unless we add poison to it. Simple as that.

Well, if you look at it from that angle, why was the "fruit" on the forbidden tree? Maybe God was trying to tell us way back then that it is poisonous................

I don't believe in Everything in Moderation. There are many things the human body does not need in moderation.

I'm not going to get into a religious talk with you because I think the correlation is ridiculous, to be frank.

But let me be more clear in my statement since it wasn't to you.

Everything FOOD-WISE that comes from the ground or had a mother is okay to eat in moderation. (unless it has venom....sorry I had to add that.

Let's stick to the subject. shall we? Not my personal beliefs.

I think the OP was asking about the video?

Now excuse me while I go pull a "Forbidden fruit" off the "Tree of Life" I grow in my back yard LOL

Thank you for that, I was about to write something myself but with people like that it hardly seems worth it.

crrc78

thanks for posting this - i just watched the first 30 minutes (the video is 1.5 hours), but unfortunately it stopped loading... i'll try it again later, but it's SO important to get our sugar under control... I'm pretty confident that it's my main problem - both natural and processed sugars.

jrusso28

I think we, as a country, need to stop blaming things for making us obese and place it where it belongs, on the individual, on the parents allowing their 7, 8, 9 year old to order a Big Mac and large fry and huge pop. We are responsible for where we are! We are the ones putting the food into our bodies.

If you watch the video you will realize it is not attempting to blame sugar for anything. It is simply explaining how sugars are metabolized in our bodies. It goes on to explain that high fructose corn syrup does not metabolize like normal sugars and the body tends to convert it to and store it as fat. He is attempting to make a correlation between sugar and what we classify as poisons.

It was a bit of a revelation for me, I did not know how sugars were metabolized in my body and I thought this video was worth sharing. I am using the information and knowledge gained from this video to make some changes to my diet.

I did not intend to preach to any one what they should be doing or what they should be giving their children. Take from the video what you will.

Your correct that we are ultimately responsible for what we put into our bodies, but sometimes we don't know what we are/were putting into them in the first place.

donnamariemoon

This is a very interesting discussion. I have not watched the video yet. But following all these posts, I just want to say that many people who get so distraught over the idea that sugars - processed, whole grain, refined, HFCS, fruit, dairy, the works - can be harmful to our bodies in excess must never have tried going without them. I see that opinion is really mixed on this subject with some camps saying your body absolutely needs sugars to function and others saying it will process fat for energy in the absence of sugars. Let me just put this out there: if you are intrigued at all just try reducing the sugars - all sugars, even fruit and dairy and "whole" sources by at least half for one week. See how you feel. It is this feeling that leads those of us who have given them up to KNOW that they are a big part of the problem.

Example: I read the Atkins book and other low carb views many times over the years so naturally when I decided to lose weight I did drop carbs. I tried dropping them to the Atkins "Induction" level which is 20g per day or less. Well, thanks to MFP and logging my foods I see that is about impossible (for me). On any given day from fruits and veggies I am consuming between 50 - 100g of sugar/carbohydrates.

The benefits I have gotten from this drop are out of this world and NOT what I expected. I expected weight loss and I got that - 14 lbs so far. What I didn't expect and got: more muscle definition, total disappearance of lifelong acne, level, stable, happy mood, increased energy, less joint pain, increased endurance in workouts (this took awhile as the first month I was fatigued), shinier hair, softer skin, less PMS and monthly issues and total disappearance of persistent candida/yeast issues. I have been on this way of eating for 3 months and these are the results I have seen. And I am not drastic - I usually eat one serving of fruit a day and often eat a TLC granola bar, not to mention I don't limit veggies at all.

My only reason for posting it is to say to all the people who think we can't live without sugars - we can, and many of us really thrive and start to realize our bodies were very sensitive to sugar. That sugars promoted overeating, spikes in insulin, moodiness, fatigue, and other health problems that are amazingly absent once you get rid of them. Also for those who think we will "crave" sugars - you need to know that those cravings disappear after a week or two and it is so liberating not to be driven by cravings anymore!

When people find something good they want to shout it from the rooftops and that's how I feel about reducing sugars. So I am jumping into this discussion to give that perspective and ask those who find the idea of less/lower sugars impossible to try it out sometime and just see if you feel better.

Thanks for reading and hope it a okay to jump in this way!

Donna

pickledlilli

I've just watched this and again an interesting topic that needs to be thought out.

I've just introduced 20 to 30g a day of unrefined brown sugar (120 empty cals) into my diet as a way to curtail my need to binge as I keep breaking my diet and failing. I have 10g in coffee mid morning and the same in the afternoon.

When I eat carbs which has glucose (the good stuff) in I crave for sweet food particularly following a jacket potato. The craving is sometimes torture and I don't know why. Any ideas welcomed.

Thanks for posting.

PMWiggi

I've been struggling to lose a measly 10 lbs for months. I rarely eat over my caloric goal and most of my numbers look good. I do, however, allow myself sugary treats! i used to eat everything diet but recently learned that sugar substitutes don't get processed very well in the body so I went back to eating real sugar!

I talked to my doctor today and she strongly recommended I cut back (not cut out) the sugar! I guess I kind of knew I should do that--especially since diabetes runs in my family. Sugar, however, is my last vice!

I was trying to cut back evern before she told me this but I found out I am truly addicted to the stuff! When I started writing it all down, I realized I eat lots of it everyday. I almost never go without cookies, cake, or pie. If I don't have them in the house, I will find myself at Walgreens in the middle of the night dressed in my PJs. This is sad!

I don't know when I became so dependent on sugar! I don't know about everyone else but I'm conviced this addiction is the reason I can't lose the 10 lbs. The problem is, like any junky, I don't know if I can kick the habit!

I'll never stop eating fruit but I can go overboard with that just like the cookies and junk!

I'm at a loss for what to do. I can't go through sugar withdrawal. It would be inconvenient and unhealthy but I feel like a junky!

I am so embarrassed that I let something so simple get so out of hand.

So, I don't proclaim to know what is good for anyone other than me. For me, sugar works like a drug! It's intoxicating! I probably shouldn't consume as much as I do but I (honestly) can't imagine doing anything different. It's like it has a grip on me and I can't let go!

I admire Donna for "kicking the habit." I hope I'll find the strength and will to do the same! :embarassed:

donnamariemoon

To PMWiggi: The only thing I say to try to help you with this is that in my experience, those cravings that are so overwhelming to resist really do go away once you stop the refined stuff. I would say in between 3 - 5 days you won't be having those cravings anymore. You might have a couple days of a headache and cravings and be crabby but then it will be OVER. Really. I work at a school where the parents are always baking DELICIOUS home-made pastries, pies, cookies, cakes, etc. I am in Philly and there are warm soft pretzels across the street from school every day. So for the past year and a half here I truly felt like I "could not resist" these pastries that are always here and I also ALWAYS went to get one of the pretzels. So when I first cut those things out it was difficult but now those things are still here and I am not even tempted. It's not just like, discipline or mental energy....physically I used to feel unable to NOT eat them and now physically they have no appeal to me. So, if you are ready to try cutting them back, if you stay with it more than 3 days you will be much freer of these cravings, I just know it! :-) Good luck.
Donna

Barneystinson

Do I allow my kids sugar, pops and all that? You bet. Am I going to stop because someone said it's bad? NO. Why? I am mom, I do allow my kids these things in moderation, teaching them that exercise is a must in your daily life.

Whose fault is it if my kids get fat? Sugar or me? If I do not teach my children right amounts to eat, to stop eating when starting to feel full, to listen to their bodies and follow what it is saying then it is my fault.

I have seen fat kids on supposed all natural food diets. Why? Simply because they eat too much. I think our bodies need a certain amount of sugar, fats, and other stuff.

I have IBS so I have to watch my fat intake, at the same time if it gets too low, I know that if I eat 2 pieces of regular bacon it will help. Do I eat 4, 6, or 8 pieces? No, I eat the two that will aid me. Anymore than that and I am in extreme pain for days.

I have gastritis, one thing that affects it is granulated sugar. I avoid it, but HFCS is not a problem. I use Splenda instead of sugar. When I buy canned fruit I look for ones that are package in juices not syrup.

I know I gained weight from over eating, not from just sugar/fat things but anything. Did I really need that huge bowl of salad? No Did I really need a 8 oz steak and huge baked potato with sour cream and butter? No.

I think we, as a country, need to stop blaming things for making us obese and place it where it belongs, on the individual, on the parents allowing their 7, 8, 9 year old to order a Big Mac and large fry and huge pop. We are responsible for where we are! We are the ones putting the food into our bodies.

Dr. Lustig isn't trying to point the finger and call out parents for giving an occasional treat.

The problem is that it's extremely easy to eat a large portion of sugary junk and not realize you've done so. Especially for kids. Sure, parents can police portions at home, but I remember sneaking behind their back to go get my sugar high elsewhere. Despite being an extremely active child, I was still chubby. And believe me, I wasn't loading up on double portions at the dinner table. I was a sugar junkie. Now as an adult, I'm a recovering sugar junkie.

Think about it - eat just that 8 ounce steak - your body should say "hey, I'm satisfied, stop eating" You will be nice and full.

Eat a "serving" of Oreos - what is that - 3, 4 cookies (?) - Most bodies respond with "MORE! EAT MORE COOKIES! NOW!" Same with McD's fries, soda, etc. Anything that is highly processed, highly carby, or highly sugary may tell the body "I'm not full, keep on eating!"

And look at what's been done with so much of our food supply - it's been altered to taste sweeter or more pleasing. Even many "diet" foods have sugar added to them. We want to eat more of them. Our bodies don't do a very good job of saying "STOP EATING!" when we eat sugary foods or "good, natural" foods tainted by sugary flavorings, sauces or additives. This includes Big Macs, sugary soda, fast food, etc. Look at the additives and sugar content of it and it will shock you.

I think you are making a connection with what Lustig is saying - though you may not realize it.

jqg81180

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