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How do I talk my Mom off the "Sugar is Toxic" ledge?
Replies
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stevencloser wrote: »
Yeah, 10% is definitely a reasonable amount.
I'm just pointing out that there's no reason besides "not wanting to use your calories on it" for minimizing the amount of sugar you consume when your nutrient intakes would allow for eating it. You aren't getting nutrition brownie points for eating even more vegetables, even more healthy fats, even more protein than you need.
Oh, also guys like the one in my profile picture have higher needs for protein than the average person anyway.
Also I always have huge doubts about the accuracy of those "typical" meals for athletes or other celebrities. Just looking at the marathon runner, his breakfast is water (0 calories), black coffee (0 calories) and muesli with nonfat yogurt. Yet somehow that is supposed to come up at 650 calories. Müsli has about 450 cals for 100 grams, non-fat yogurt about 60-ish. If that's all the food he eats for breakfast, that's a lot of müsli, a lot of calories from added sugar in the müsli. And his typical day is only 2400 calories total. And I wouldn't count müsli as a particularly nutrient-dense food. It's better than cereal I guess. So, maybe not the best example of athletes who are eating so much in nutrient-dense foods.
The first link too, I'm too lazy to count the calories up, but for that guy to get to 4000-5000 calories or whatever from the listed foods, there has to be a lot of added butter etc. or really big portions for the meats. Depending on who you ask, that's not particularly healthy either.
Actually if you look at the article, the 2400 calorie day is the lowest of the 3 sample days for the marathoner. His higher days are 3000+ calories. He's 125 lbs
The first guy, JJ Watt is an American football player, about 6'5, 290 hovers around 10% BF. It's reported eats anywhere from 5-9000 calories a day, depending on training cycle. I've seen this a typical day for him. Huge quantities of generally nutrient dense food.
First Breakfast Oatmeal with blueberries and strawberries Six eggs Banana and apple Second breakfast Four eggs Two slices of wheat toast with peanut butter and banana and honey Two slices of wheat toast with jelly Lunch Three chicken breasts with whole wheat pasta and Italian dressing Side of broccoli Second lunch More chicken breasts with mashed sweet potatoes Steamed carrots Dinner Lamb chops with whole wheat pasta Grilled asparagus Second dinner Filet with whole wheat pasta Steamed broccoli0 -
xhunter561 wrote: »
yes but the white stuff in bags have had all nutrition stripped from it as well as the fiber from the plant its taken from. sugar cane and sugar beets. its just processed empty calories lacking in nutrition in comparison to just nibbling on the actual plant it came from.
Sugar itself does not have any nutrition besides the calories from being sugar. The FRUIT has nutrients. Being in or out of a fruit changes nothing about the sugar itself, it's always the same chemical.
It's like saying when you buy meat in a store it's missing all the bone marrow for making soup. The meat doesn't have bone marrow ever, the animal the meat comes from does.
Nothing is stopping you from getting nutrients AND sugar. It's not an either/or situation.11 -
Packerjohn wrote: »
Actually if you look at the article, the 2400 calorie day is the lowest of the 3 sample days for the marathoner. His higher days are 3000+ calories. He's 125 lbs
The first guy, JJ Watt is an American football player, about 6'5, 290 hovers around 10% BF. It's reported eats anywhere from 5-9000 calories a day, depending on training cycle. I've seen this a typical day for him. Huge quantities of generally nutrient dense food.
First Breakfast Oatmeal with blueberries and strawberries Six eggs Banana and apple Second breakfast Four eggs Two slices of wheat toast with peanut butter and banana and honey Two slices of wheat toast with jelly Lunch Three chicken breasts with whole wheat pasta and Italian dressing Side of broccoli Second lunch More chicken breasts with mashed sweet potatoes Steamed carrots Dinner Lamb chops with whole wheat pasta Grilled asparagus Second dinner Filet with whole wheat pasta Steamed broccoli
It's still over a quarter of his calories in müsli for that day. Now, I don't care, he can do that, but that's not something I'd personally think of when someone told me he gets all those great nutrient dense foods.
JJ Watt the same. The food looks nice, but I'd bet you he doesn't get 6000 of his 9000 calories from asparagus and broccoli, but from the meat, starches and added oils. Which is also fine in my eyes but I know for a fact there's people who would argue that that is not healthy.3 -
stevencloser wrote: »
It's still over a quarter of his calories in müsli for that day. Now, I don't care, he can do that, but that's not something I'd personally think of when someone told me he gets all those great nutrient dense foods.
JJ Watt the same. The food looks nice, but I'd bet you he doesn't get 6000 of his 9000 calories from asparagus and broccoli, but from the meat, starches and added oils. Which is also fine in my eyes but I know for a fact there's people who would argue that that is not healthy.
This is a good point. I think people are coming from different starting points. When I hear of someone being neurotic about eating only healthy foods, I definitely assume they'd likely be adverse to eating lots of cals from muesli or pasta (whole wheat or no) or bread or sometimes maybe red meat or oils, and the diet posted above -- which seems quite balanced to me (although way more calories than I'd eat) has lots of those kinds of foods, plus jelly and dressing (which the anti processed crowd and the anti sugar crowds might object to), plus honey, peanut butter (doesn't specify "all natural"), and probably fewer veg than I eat in far fewer calories.
So while I think that's a good diet, I'd assume the critical types who are always saying we need to eat only healthy foods or avoid all added sugar (let alone people -- as in this thread -- saying fruit is bad) or avoid processed foods would NOT think that's a good diet.
Packerjohn seems to think we are suggesting a diet really different than the one identified when talking about things like not overstressing, eating basically healthfully, so on.
I think this is one of the reasons there is miscommunication here.
Someone struggling to eat enough calories isn't just eating mostly healthfully and keeping added sugar low. Indeed, kshama said her mom has ALWAYS done that, and that doesn't seem to cause her concern.6 -
Maybe your mother will like this article from the New York Times. A woman nearly dies from Scurvy from eliminating all fruit from her diet.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/magazine/a-painful-bruise-wouldnt-heal-it-took-several-hospital-visits-to-discover-why.html?referer=https://www.google.ca/
Bookmarking, thanks!3 -
This thread has been funny, eyerolling, informative, and helpful.
I love this place!
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lemurcat12 wrote: »
This is a good point. I think people are coming from different starting points. When I hear of someone being neurotic about eating only healthy foods, I definitely assume they'd likely be adverse to eating lots of cals from muesli or pasta (whole wheat or no) or bread or sometimes maybe red meat or oils, and the diet posted above -- which seems quite balanced to me (although way more calories than I'd eat) has lots of those kinds of foods, plus jelly and dressing (which the anti processed crowd and the anti sugar crowds might object to), plus honey, peanut butter (doesn't specify "all natural"), and probably fewer veg than I eat in far fewer calories.
So while I think that's a good diet, I'd assume the critical types who are always saying we need to eat only healthy foods or avoid all added sugar (let alone people -- as in this thread -- saying fruit is bad) or avoid processed foods would NOT think that's a good diet.
Packerjohn seems to think we are suggesting a diet really different than the one identified when talking about things like not overstressing, eating basically healthfully, so on.
I think this is one of the reasons there is miscommunication here.
Someone struggling to eat enough calories isn't just eating mostly healthfully and keeping added sugar low. Indeed, kshama said her mom has ALWAYS done that, and that doesn't seem to cause her concern.
I was questioning the following from @stevencloser
You guys DO know that there's a minimum amount of calories your body needs, right? If you were only eating the nutrients your body needs, the essential fats and proteins, and carbs only from the most nutritious, green vegetables for their minerals and vitamins... you'd starve to death eventually because that's something like 800 calories.
I may be misunderstanding his assertion, but to me, he's saying eat 800 calories to get "your nutrition", then implying eat whatever.
Personally, I believe, like the CDC, most mainstream dietitians, etc the vast majority of people should be getting 80-90% of their calories from nutrient dense foods, the rest from whatever. 800 calories isn't going to be 80-90% of the daily intake for most people.
My advice to the OP was to ensure that her mom is getting adequate nutrition and calories to support her health/activities. Whether or not those calories include added sugar is not important.5 -
stevencloser wrote: »
It's still over a quarter of his calories in müsli for that day. Now, I don't care, he can do that, but that's not something I'd personally think of when someone told me he gets all those great nutrient dense foods.
JJ Watt the same. The food looks nice, but I'd bet you he doesn't get 6000 of his 9000 calories from asparagus and broccoli, but from the meat, starches and added oils. Which is also fine in my eyes but I know for a fact there's people who would argue that that is not healthy.
JJ Watt is a $100M investment by his employer. You better believe they have the best medical care, dietitians money can buy watching over him.
IMO, somebody arguing that his diet isn't directionally correct for him isn't worth listening to.2 -
Packerjohn wrote: »
I was questioning the following from @stevencloser
You guys DO know that there's a minimum amount of calories your body needs, right? If you were only eating the nutrients your body needs, the essential fats and proteins, and carbs only from the most nutritious, green vegetables for their minerals and vitamins... you'd starve to death eventually because that's something like 800 calories.
I may be misunderstanding his assertion, but to me, he's saying eat 800 calories to get "your nutrition", then implying eat whatever.
Personally, I believe, like the CDC, most mainstream dietitians, etc the vast majority of people should be getting 80-90% of their calories from nutrient dense foods, the rest from whatever. 800 calories isn't going to be 80-90% of the daily intake for most people.
My advice to the OP was to ensure that her mom is getting adequate nutrition and calories to support her health/activities. Whether or not those calories include added sugar is not important.
My assertion was that they were talking as if the only thing that matters are essential nutrients. That is obviously wrong, since you can get all essential nutrients within less than 1000 calories if you really tried to avoid anything non-essential like the plague and you'd end up dying if you did that, so that's silly.
So we're in a situation where on one hand, all your nutrition needs come up to at most half your calories, what are the rest going to be made up of? Obviously non-essential things.
What can those be? More nutrient-dense foods, non-nutrient-dense foods or a mix of the two.
What should you eat of those? Is there a right answer provided you do meet your nutritional needs?
A normal person won't min-max their essential nutrients, so they won't get to sub-1000 calories and have all their needs met. Their food will contain redundancy (more of some nutrients than they need) and non-essentials, basically always. Say there's another 50% markup for that. So we're at something like 1200 calories, give or take.
What should they eat to meet the rest of their calorie goals which could range anywhere from 1500 to 3000 and more?
More fruit/vegetables sounds nice. But the vitamins and minerals won't do anything for you if you're already meeting your needs. The water-soluble ones get excreted, the fat-soluble ones stored, which can in extreme cases lead to toxicity. So that's neither good nor bad in a normal situation, have them if you like.
More protein sounds nice too. There's actually a good amount of science showing that more protein, to a point, is beneficial above a person's minimum needs. So depending on your goals, that's a good idea to invest some extra calories in.
More fat? Can't say I've ever heard of benefits to eating significant amounts of fat above the body's needs, but they're also not bad to get more of, so have some if you like.
Carbs? Those obviously aren't essential so the amount you eat of them should be dependent on the amount of calories you have left after meeting your other needs and the amounts you get from things that meet your micronutrients.
So, apart from protein, I don't see any inherent benefit for a person to avoid certain foods in order to eat another above and beyond the body's needs because of a perceived "healthiness". Basically the "Clean eating" argument.4 -
Haven't read the replies, so I don't know if this has been said before, but why do you want to change her mind about this? She's 80, chances are she's not going to change her mind now, and there is no harm in not wanting to eat sugar if it's not affecting other aspects of her life. With family and real-life friends, I'm usually a live and let live kind of person. If they're not hurting themselves, what they believe and do is none of my business. They're adults and are entitled to their own choices. These kinds of discussions do more harm than good because they usually turn into headbutting sessions. I only discuss them here because this is a forum full of people who are here to lose weight and learn more about this elusive process.
If I were you I would leave it be unless these beliefs about sugar are causing issues like her being afraid of food, not wanting to socialize, or is outright stressed about the topic. In my experience, if an 80 year old says they will not eat something for whatever reason they're usually pretty set in their ways and this belief has become completely habitual and harmless, but I don't know your mom. Wanting to change her mind for the just sake of changing her mind you'll be fighting an uphill battle with little return on investment, in my opinion.
If there are details in this thread that I have missed which make my reply inapplicable, pretend you didn't read this, and my bad for replying without reading.3 -
stevencloser wrote: »
My assertion was that they were talking as if the only thing that matters are essential nutrients. That is obviously wrong, since you can get all essential nutrients within less than 1000 calories if you really tried to avoid anything non-essential like the plague and you'd end up dying if you did that, so that's silly.
So we're in a situation where on one hand, all your nutrition needs come up to at most half your calories, what are the rest going to be made up of? Obviously non-essential things.
What can those be? More nutrient-dense foods, non-nutrient-dense foods or a mix of the two.
What should you eat of those? Is there a right answer provided you do meet your nutritional needs?
A normal person won't min-max their essential nutrients, so they won't get to sub-1000 calories and have all their needs met. Their food will contain redundancy (more of some nutrients than they need) and non-essentials, basically always. Say there's another 50% markup for that. So we're at something like 1200 calories, give or take.
What should they eat to meet the rest of their calorie goals which could range anywhere from 1500 to 3000 and more?
More fruit/vegetables sounds nice. But the vitamins and minerals won't do anything for you if you're already meeting your needs. The water-soluble ones get excreted, the fat-soluble ones stored, which can in extreme cases lead to toxicity. So that's neither good nor bad in a normal situation, have them if you like.
More protein sounds nice too. There's actually a good amount of science showing that more protein, to a point, is beneficial above a person's minimum needs. So depending on your goals, that's a good idea to invest some extra calories in.
More fat? Can't say I've ever heard of benefits to eating significant amounts of fat above the body's needs, but they're also not bad to get more of, so have some if you like.
Carbs? Those obviously aren't essential so the amount you eat of them should be dependent on the amount of calories you have left after meeting your other needs and the amounts you get from things that meet your micronutrients.
So, apart from protein, I don't see any inherent benefit for a person to avoid certain foods in order to eat another above and beyond the body's needs because of a perceived "healthiness". Basically the "Clean eating" argument.
So you don't agree with the CDC/USDA and most dietitian's recommendation of 80-90% of calories from nutrient dense foods for most people?2 -
amuse: you didn't miss much it kinda fell off topic for the most part don't feel bad over it.kshama2001 wrote: »This thread has been funny, eyerolling, informative, and helpful.
I love this place!
even though it seemed to get off topic too much lol. i know i probably didn't help much their.
but anyways its always great to hear that people like your mom is still doing great at that age and hopefully she will have many more great years but let her have her fun she will figure it out. hopefully at lest you got something good out of this silliness even if its a good laugh.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »
So you don't agree with the CDC/USDA and most dietitian's recommendation of 80-90% of calories from nutrient dense foods for most people?
What part of "above and beyond the body's needs" was hard to understand? Most people aren't going to be getting their body's needs if they don't do this.4 -
stevencloser wrote: »
What part of "above and beyond the body's needs" was hard to understand? Most people aren't going to be getting their body's needs if they don't do this.
You said earlier in this thread a typical person needs 800 calories to get their minimum basic nutrition.
So are you saying someone that needs 2000 calories to maintain weight can/shouild be eating 1200 calories of low nutrient food and expect good health?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you.3 -
Packerjohn wrote: »
I was questioning the following from @stevencloser
You guys DO know that there's a minimum amount of calories your body needs, right? If you were only eating the nutrients your body needs, the essential fats and proteins, and carbs only from the most nutritious, green vegetables for their minerals and vitamins... you'd starve to death eventually because that's something like 800 calories.
I may be misunderstanding his assertion, but to me, he's saying eat 800 calories to get "your nutrition", then implying eat whatever.
That's not how I read him.
I think a key is that he says "carbs only from the most nutritious, green vegetables."
I see a lot of comments on MFP (often from so called clean eaters, although this thread isn't about that) that suggest that starch staples like rice, bread, pasta, oats, other cereal, so on, are not nutrient dense (sometimes even potatoes). But to fill up a normal sized calorie allotment you will need some of those things (and more if you are exercising a lot).
Similarly, essential fats and proteins is pretty low -- more might be "excessive" according to some (those who are still anti fat, which we run into here some, those who are anti red meat, which is more common). Yet it's fine in a healthful diet.Personally, I believe, like the CDC, most mainstream dietitians, etc the vast majority of people should be getting 80-90% of their calories from nutrient dense foods, the rest from whatever. 800 calories isn't going to be 80-90% of the daily intake for most people.
Yes, I agree that 80-90% from nutrient dense foods is best, but it's hard to say what counts as nutrient dense, as people seem to have different ideas. I base meals around protein and vegetables, but always add in things for taste (olive oil or a little cheese or I might use a higher cal/higher fat meat like leg of lamb or pulled pork on occasion or I eat the skin on my chicken), and I also will round out a meal with potatoes or rice or pasta. Some of that (the green veg) are far more nutrient dense than others, but I wouldn't think it was an issue to include cheese or, if I had a day that was lower cal (because less cheese, less chicken skin) to have a little chocolate as an extra. That kind of balance.
I think you are imagining different kinds of meals for "all nutrient dense" than I assume that means (and I think differently than stevencloser is assuming). I personally would not assume that someone thought pasta or muesli was "nutrient dense" although I don't think it's a bad thing to include as part of a nutrient dense meal or diet -- I would expect someone who was a "clean eater" or all about eating only the highest nutrient foods would be more restrictive than me, though (and indeed a nutritarian like Fuhrman is).My advice to the OP was to ensure that her mom is getting adequate nutrition and calories to support her health/activities. Whether or not those calories include added sugar is not important.
OP is not trying to push her mom to eat a bunch of added sugar. OP is concerned that her mom is stressing too much about what she eats, is losing weight (or has trouble keeping weight on), and is worried about even eating fruit.
Stress is bad for the health of people, probably especially older people even more, and while I realize it's not the problem that the average American most suffers from, probably, I do think that feeling like everything you eat is going to be bad for you -- which the diet wars contribute to -- is not a helpful state of mind. One thing the blue zones have going for them is less stress.6 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
That's not how I read him.
I think a key is that he says "carbs only from the most nutritious, green vegetables."
I see a lot of comments on MFP (often from so called clean eaters, although this thread isn't about that) that suggest that starch staples like rice, bread, pasta, oats, other cereal, so on, are not nutrient dense (sometimes even potatoes). But to fill up a normal sized calorie allotment you will need some of those things (and more if you are exercising a lot).
Similarly, essential fats and proteins is pretty low -- more might be "excessive" according to some (those who are still anti fat, which we run into here some, those who are anti red meat, which is more common). Yet it's fine in a healthful diet.
Yes, I agree that 80-90% from nutrient dense foods is best, but it's hard to say what counts as nutrient dense, as people seem to have different ideas. I base meals around protein and vegetables, but always add in things for taste (olive oil or a little cheese or I might use a higher cal/higher fat meat like leg of lamb or pulled pork on occasion or I eat the skin on my chicken), and I also will round out a meal with potatoes or rice or pasta. Some of that (the green veg) are far more nutrient dense than others, but I wouldn't think it was an issue to include cheese or, if I had a day that was lower cal (because less cheese, less chicken skin) to have a little chocolate as an extra. That kind of balance.
I think you are imagining different kinds of meals for "all nutrient dense" than I assume that means (and I think differently than stevencloser is assuming). I personally would not assume that someone thought pasta or muesli was "nutrient dense" although I don't think it's a bad thing to include as part of a nutrient dense meal or diet -- I would expect someone who was a "clean eater" or all about eating only the highest nutrient foods would be more restrictive than me, though (and indeed a nutritarian like Fuhrman is).
OP is not trying to push her mom to eat a bunch of added sugar. OP is concerned that her mom is stressing too much about what she eats, is losing weight (or has trouble keeping weight on), and is worried about even eating fruit.
Stress is bad for the health of people, probably especially older people even more, and while I realize it's not the problem that the average American most suffers from, probably, I do think that feeling like everything you eat is going to be bad for you -- which the diet wars contribute to -- is not a helpful state of mind. One thing the blue zones have going for them is less stress.
Exactly--older people get anxious, often for no good reason and this affects their health and eating patterns. The media is pushing that certain foods are bad for you, and you must be informed, etc., etc. This adds to the stress. As I'm getting older, I understand this. I didn't understand even 10 years ago. So OP, what can you do? Not much, but try to calm her and reason a bit. It may not work, but it's worth a try. I'm lucky, my 88 yr old mother was a nurse and knows more than I do. A few years ago she showed up in Italy to visit with her bag of protein powder for breakfast. It got me started.7 -
My mom (78) has a typical breakfast of cereal, toast, and fruit. "But I don't eat many carbs." And she's a retired nurse.4
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I am 57 and trying to develop a more healthy lifestyle so I can live to 80 and beyond! Your mom sounds great. What I have recently learned is that eating low glycemic impact foods and keeping your body in the center position of being in a less alkaline state is key to optimal health. Look online for the list of these foods and you will find certain fruits and vegetables are higher on this list than others.
With all of that said, we all have to live and life is short so maybe 80/20% lifestyle will allow you to be healthy and also have some fun.26 -
I missed something, I think. Is the OP's mother cutting out all sugar including fruit or just added granulated sugar? If she's cutting out fruit, that's not good, but I didn't read that.1
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scontino18 wrote: »I am 57 and trying to develop a more healthy lifestyle so I can live to 80 and beyond! Your mom sounds great. What I have recently learned is that eating low glycemic impact foods and keeping your body in the center position of being in a less alkaline state is key to optimal health. Look online for the list of these foods and you will find certain fruits and vegetables are higher on this list than others.
With all of that said, we all have to live and life is short so maybe 80/20% lifestyle will allow you to be healthy and also have some fun.
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I missed something, I think. Is the OP's mother cutting out all sugar including fruit or just added granulated sugar? If she's cutting out fruit, that's not good, but I didn't read that.kshama2001 wrote: »I am both worried that 1. she will end up not eating enough and 2. that she is unnecessarily stressed, because she is already a very healthy eater.
She has since clarified that it's not just added sugar she wants to cut down on, but sugar from fruits, etc. I will let her know that berries are lower sugar fruits.
I know that you got this, so I am saying it for others who seemed to have missed this:
* She never ate a lot of added sugar to start with, so reducing sugar will necessarily come out of healthy foods like fruits.
* And this is new, so I'm not trying to change an 80 year old set in her ways, but someone recently succumbing to the current sugar alarmism, which is not applicable to her natural healthy eating habits.
She has been reading "that there is a connection between sugar and insulin resistance and brain cells and Alzheimer's". Her goal is to get down to 25 g sugar total (total meaning including naturally occurring sugars.)
She dropped into Underweight when she was following the suggestions in Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook & Cure. This did help her silent reflux - she no longer sounds like she has hairballs all the time. I think she went all out for a while and then pruned it back to just a few suggestions.
She will probably do the same thing with the sugar thing - jump on this bandwagon full force for a while, and then taper off to something more reasonable.
Maybe I am stressing more than she is
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scontino18 wrote: »I am 57 and trying to develop a more healthy lifestyle so I can live to 80 and beyond! Your mom sounds great. What I have recently learned is that eating low glycemic impact foods and keeping your body in the center position of being in a less alkaline state is key to optimal health. Look online for the list of these foods and you will find certain fruits and vegetables are higher on this list than others.
With all of that said, we all have to live and life is short so maybe 80/20% lifestyle will allow you to be healthy and also have some fun.
The alkaline BS has already been covered by the infographic posted above by lkpducky, so I'll address the glycemic index BS. The GI of any particular food only matters if you're eating it all by itself in isolation from any other food, while in a fasted state. Otherwise, the GI of other foods eaten with it (or already in your stomach) will mix with it and change the overall GI of your meal.6 -
I have just joined a website called diet doctor, the doctor is from sweden, and it recommends a Low Carb, High Fat meal plan and to loose weight and states to remove most sugars for loosing weight. Your mum is in the complete opposite wanting to gain or retain weight. I know there are special protein drinks in poppers that are for seniors special dietary needs. Maybe she would enjoy these the come in juice or milk flavours. They are made to boost weight in seniors if needed.
shows you how to make homemade products and sauces with no sugar, It is surprising now that I look on the products at the supermarket how many processed foods contain quite a high amount of sugar per serving.
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I have just joined a website called diet doctor, the doctor is from sweden, and it recommends a Low Carb, High Fat meal plan and to loose weight and states to remove most sugars for loosing weight. Your mum is in the complete opposite wanting to gain or retain weight. I know there are special protein drinks in poppers that are for seniors special dietary needs. Maybe she would enjoy these the come in juice or milk flavours. They are made to boost weight in seniors if needed.
shows you how to make homemade products and sauces with no sugar, It is surprising now that I look on the products at the supermarket how many processed foods contain quite a high amount of sugar per serving.
Can you give some examples of these processed foods that have high amounts of sugar that you were surprised by, and what that amount was?4 -
As an almost 70-yr old. Everyone worries about something sometime. I can't worry about my husband anymore. Don't have one. Can't worry about my kids. They're great! Can't worry about my grandkids. They're so much fun. Can't worry about job. Retired. Can't worry about mortgage. Paid off. Etc. can still worry about what I eat and how it will affect my health. Gotta have something to worry about.
Be glad she still reads and can still understands what she reads. Be glad she still cares enough about something to research it, and still can research it. Be glad she has something interesting she can have a conversation with you and with her peers about. Sounds to me like she's doing fine.
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I have just joined a website called diet doctor, the doctor is from sweden, and it recommends a Low Carb, High Fat meal plan and to loose weight and states to remove most sugars for loosing weight.
Yes, Diet Doctor is one of the well-known ketoevangelist sites, although I don't personally think it has much credibility. Not sure how it's helpful for OP or her mother, as it basically spreads the idea that carbs are to be avoided -- hardly promoting not stressing about eating fruit, etc.I know there are special protein drinks in poppers that are for seniors special dietary needs. Maybe she would enjoy these the come in juice or milk flavours. They are made to boost weight in seniors if needed.
It sounds like her mom wouldn't have an issue if could just eat her normal healthful diet without stress, and that her mom also isn't one for lots of processed stuff, which of course those special drinks for seniors are.
(I suspect you mean something like Ensure, which is not senior specific, but when my grandmother was having trouble keeping weight on -- because she was depressed and had some eating issues -- it was recommended that she consume them.)It is surprising now that I look on the products at the supermarket how many processed foods contain quite a high amount of sugar per serving.
Some do, some don't, but it's clear from the thread that OP's mom never consumed much of this kind of stuff.
(Maybe I'm weird, but as discussed recently in another thread none of the processed foods I eat regularly have much or any added sugar. Well, except for the ice cream and occasional chocolate (I'm currently a fan of Chocolove Extreme 88%), but that would be expected, no?)4 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
Ok. Yes I did miss that.1 -
, as our parents age they tend to go for the simple solutions because their brains can't process some of the more complex reasoning and problem solving anymore.
I'm taking this out of context, and not attributing it, because I want to speak to this kind of idea as an undercurrent in the whole thread. Baldly, aging is not a synonym for dementia, confusion, poor reasoning or other forms of pathological intellectual/cognitive decline.
Some forms of cognitive decline become more common with age, but severe decline is not a universal. Some causes of decline are genetic. Some are related to health problems we talk about here all the time - high cholesterol, overweight, lack of physical activity, poor nutrition - that come home to roost as people continue them for many years. (Both my parents were cognitively competent until a brief acute period near the end, when they died at 81 and 87. My dad was completely competent until literally seconds before death of a heart attack - I was there talking with him at the time.)
If we're going to think clearly about aging and health, we need to avoid conflating aging per se with pathological conditions that are more common with age. (Why do so many historic cultures value elders as wise, if elders are universally demented doddering idiots?
)
I saw nothing in the OP suggesting that @kshama2001's mother is currently cognitively compromised, but that rather she's concerned about brain health, perhaps because of dementia in her family or widespread printed matter about it.
Concern about brain health is rational, especially as one ages and is statistically at increased risk.
If I'm reading the OP right, the problem is that the mother has fallen for the widely trumpeted popular alarmism/demonization of sugar, just like many people of all ages (as this thread gives witness ).
I guess my question would be whether you're (kshama) willing to invest some time in research and self education about brain health and dementia risk reduction?
If so, one possible strategy might be to collect some science-based information about the most promising strategies, and share/discuss that with your mom. "You got me interested in dementia risk reduction, and here's what I learned", to put the sugar issue in perspective, rather than countering it head on. If there is dementia in your family, who knows, you might even learn something of interest for yourself.
Would it maybe possible to engage your mom as a rational human in this way, and just talk about risk reduction and brain health habits? (In my understanding, a meditation practice is one thing that may be promising, which could also be a stealth counter to stress and obsession ).
Just a thought.
(context snipped by reply-er)
My experience with my 83 year old father is that he does not like hearing from his kids or from doctors. He thinks he knows better than doctors. He seems attracted to what are obvious scams and snake oil to me so he would buy into a fad diet book.
After a certain point, all the doctors are just kids anyway: What the heck could they know? 15 -
I'm taking this out of context, and not attributing it, because I want to speak to this kind of idea as an undercurrent in the whole thread. Baldly, aging is not a synonym for dementia, confusion, poor reasoning or other forms of pathological intellectual/cognitive decline.
Some forms of cognitive decline become more common with age, but severe decline is not a universal. Some causes of decline are genetic. Some are related to health problems we talk about here all the time - high cholesterol, overweight, lack of physical activity, poor nutrition - that come home to roost as people continue them for many years. (Both my parents were cognitively competent until a brief acute period near the end, when they died at 81 and 87. My dad was completely competent until literally seconds before death of a heart attack - I was there talking with him at the time.)
If we're going to think clearly about aging and health, we need to avoid conflating aging per se with pathological conditions that are more common with age. (Why do so many historic cultures value elders as wise, if elders are universally demented doddering idiots? )
I saw nothing in the OP suggesting that @kshama2001's mother is currently cognitively compromised, but that rather she's concerned about brain health, perhaps because of dementia in her family or widespread printed matter about it.
Concern about brain health is rational, especially as one ages and is statistically at increased risk.
If I'm reading the OP right, the problem is that the mother has fallen for the widely trumpeted popular alarmism/demonization of sugar, just like many people of all ages (as this thread gives witness ).
I guess my question would be whether you're (kshama) willing to invest some time in research and self education about brain health and dementia risk reduction?
If so, one possible strategy might be to collect some science-based information about the most promising strategies, and share/discuss that with your mom. "You got me interested in dementia risk reduction, and here's what I learned", to put the sugar issue in perspective, rather than countering it head on. If there is dementia in your family, who knows, you might even learn something of interest for yourself.
Would it maybe possible to engage your mom as a rational human in this way, and just talk about risk reduction and brain health habits? (In my understanding, a meditation practice is one thing that may be promising, which could also be a stealth counter to stress and obsession ).
Just a thought.
After a certain point, all the doctors are just kids anyway: What the heck could they know?
Yes, I haven't noticed any cognitive decline in my mother. She's worried about Alzheimer's because her father had it.
Not only is she still driving, but she's still using a chain saw
I'm so glad she put gutter guards around the gutters, because the idea of her falling off a ladder while cleaning out gutters terrifies me. (Of course I said I would clean the gutters, but previously she wanted it done when she wanted it done.) A few years ago, she was on the ladder all summer long, scraping and painting her house. In 2012, she was training for hiking in the Grand Canyon (trip was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy.)
She does practice yoga and meditation when she has time, but it's lower on her list. She does make walking a priority, and starting in another month or so will be doing what her trainer called "Extreme Gardening."
I guess she's not a typical 80 year old
Whenever I see people talk about never exercising, I feel sad, because I imagine they will end up like my OH's bedridden mother, not my mother, who has a great quality of life, which I attribute to her healthy lifestyle.12 -
I love your mother kshama. I want to be like her.5
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