How do I talk my Mom off the "Sugar is Toxic" ledge?
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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: »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
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 -
, 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?
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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Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »I love your mother kshama. I want to be like her.
Awws, thanks! Yeah, she's pretty awesome. My brother calls her The White Haired General when she's ordering us around in what I call Back Yard Bootcamp (she has several acres and extensive gardens. Lots of trees, too, which means lots of work after 4 winter storms.)5 -
My great Aunt was very similar. She stayed in her home well in to her eighties, volunteered costuming old dolls for the local museum, and mowed her own lawn. She had a little ramp to push the mower up on to her porch with little effort.
Regarding Alzheimer’s I found this Ted talk most instructive.
https://www.ted.com/talks/alanna_shaikh_how_i_m_preparing_to_get_alzheimer_s/up-next0 -
Okay, I think your thread would have gone better if you said, "80 YO mother still uses a chainsaw. How do I get her to stop?"
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LOL0
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cmriverside wrote: »Okay, I think your thread would have gone better if you said, "80 YO mother still uses a chainsaw. How do I get her to stop?"
I'm sure that's less controversial than sugar!
I'm not worried about the chainsaw, though, just ladders and food fads leading to undereating 3 -
My great Aunt was very similar. She stayed in her home well in to her eighties, volunteered costuming old dolls for the local museum, and mowed her own lawn. She had a little ramp to push the mower up on to her porch with little effort.
Regarding Alzheimer’s I found this Ted talk most instructive.
https://www.ted.com/talks/alanna_shaikh_how_i_m_preparing_to_get_alzheimer_s/up-next
Thanks!0 -
Refined sugar is nothing but *kitten* in your body. Watch a few Netflix videos about sugar. Try using stevia and products with stevia instead.25
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I liked Armageddon.
Not really, it was two thumbs down. But fiction it was.2
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