Ty_Floyd Member

Er, yes—exactly. That is the theory (the refined/concentrated substance induces an intensity of pleasure/dopamine rush that one doesn't get with the unrefined substance).

I find it quite surprising as well. But then I am relatively new to this discussion board. I hope so too! Thanks for sharing your story—very inspiring!

As another poster mentioned earlier, have you ever seen the program "My 600 Pound Life"? Or how many people even here have lost weight time and again only to regain it overeating sweet foods? Maybe it's just not a problem for you. Personally I can take or leave booze but I don't deny that alcohol addiction is a problem for…

Thank you. Yes I, see now I was referring to the "ingredients list" rather than the "nutritional info label". I think the practice is still sneaky and that the average man on the street might make the same mistake.

As I explained earlier, that was my little joke. My apologies for unfunnyness.

As I understand it mead is a highly alcoholic beverage (up to 20%) but not necessarily a sweet drink. You can get 'dry' mead as well. The honey is there to provide fermentation and the fruits are an optional extra.

Oh, but they are hidden, and deliberately so. The most common way of doing this is instead of listing the total sugar content of a food the manufacturer will divide that total between several confusing synonyms. Remember that your average man on the street is not a food detective, unlike your average MFP user! Just some of…

Addictive drugs are addictive in their 'refined' state but not when consumed in their natural (plant) state. The same theory is now being applied to sugar. The problem has been exacerbated in recent years with the increased consumption of manufactured snacks, fizzy drinks and hidden sugars in diet/low fat foods and…

Actually most of the fruits you mention as being grown in UK originated elsewhere, primarily from the Mediterranean, and American continents.

But not in its current refined state. Similarly (as the article points out) if you chew a bunch of coca leaves you might get a mild effect but nothing like the addictive hit of pure cocaine.

Or perhaps the ill-effects may be so insidious that you won't notice them until it's too late. I sincerely hope that is not the case, obviously.

And I really wish people would read the article before commenting!

That was my little joke.

Define "drug". A psychoactive substance with some addictive characteristics? Yes sugar is a drug, as well as being a nutrient.

They even put sugar in Camel cigarettes apparently! Never knew that. Glad I quit smoking...

I'm not sure what this means. Please enlighten me.

Hey, you must be a speed reader if you read that piece in four minutes! (;-)

Two stone per month!? How many daily calories were you on?

Great work. Definitely see the difference. I expect you'll be getting all kinds of questions about how and what and how much and how much more...

Think you meant to post this as a new thread? If not, you should.

Sushi is basically junk food.

Mrs Floyd knew her diet was working when her friends started calling her "skinny bi**ch". Having observed these ladies yes I believe there is an element of jealousy and not wanting one's friends to change when you're stuck in the same old place.

Here's a good one. This is basically a cake (only required ingredients are butter, sugar and flour) with some whipped cream inside, i.e. a Twinkie: Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [Flour, Reduced Iron, B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup,…

Well, raw vegetables in most cases are nutritionally superior to cooked vegetables... apart from the starchy ones. I'm not sure about those. I will guarantee you will feel best if at least 2/3 of your lunch and dinner plate is raw vegetables.

Eating bugs won't hurt you. I believe they contain a lot of protein.

Sensible advice from the NHS: Food processing techniques include freezing, canning, baking, drying and pasteurising products. Dietitian Sian Porter says: "Not all processed food is a bad choice. Some foods need processing to make them safe, such as milk, which needs to be pasteurised to remove harmful bacteria. Other foods…

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest: Food Additive Safety Many people presume that some federal agency is overseeing the safety of the ingredients in our food supply. That's reasonable, because that is actually what the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to be doing, and what Congress…

Going by that logic every single food in the world could qualify as 'natural', unless someone has ingredients from outer space that they're not telling about... Personally I prefer my coleslaw without the xanthan gum and potassium sorbate… and what's with the sugar? (Who puts sugar in home made coleslaw?)

But that was not the question the OP asked. In fact she made specific reference to the fact that she feels better. And that, surely, *is* the point. There was no mention in her question of losing weight.

Apple seeds contain arsenic, yet I have been happily eating them my entire life. But that doesn't mean the arsenic extracted from apple seeds would be safe to eat if it were 'artificially' mixed into another food. Over thousands of years our species has learned which foods from nature are safe/good for us. We have no such…