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I am not saying this is the solution to all people who are overweight or anything like that. I am only saying that for someone like me who was clearly addicted

I am not saying this is the solution to all people who are overweight or anything like that. I am only saying that for someone like me who was clearly addicted go suggar, the result is clearly here. I tried to stop eating too much since I was ~17 years old and I was never able to do so until I cut added sugar. I am only speaking for myself (and for my dad who needs to cut added sugar :))

marknutter 11y ago
Eating too much sugar and then bringing it down to "normal" levels is one thing, but cutting it out of your diet completely is another. I think eating too much of anything is going to have negative side-effects and bringing that consumption back to normal levels will have the reverse effect. It doesn't seem particularly compelling to me. Sugar is no more harmful to us than most of the other chemicals we consume when done in moderation, so I feel it's being unfairly singled out.
- dota_fanatic 11y ago
  It's being "unfairly" singled out because it's being "unfairly" added to most processed foods. Why is it added? Because it's addicting, people will always want more, and are therefore willing to pay for it. Want your food product to sell more? Add sugar. It's nice that you think people should "just eat normal levels", but it's extremely hard in practice when the food landscape is heavily saturated in the stuff, especially the cheaper products. Healthy food, or "moderate" behavior, exists alongside a mountain of more appealing options in the moment, especially considering cost. Go to the grocery (in the US), and look at many products attractive to children. Notice the heavy prevalence of added sugar. Unfairly singled out? lmfao
  - marknutter 11y ago
    > Why is it added? Because it's delicious. Why do people eat too much sugar? Because they like delicious things and eating delicious things makes them happy. Maybe we should focus on why people use food to feel happy rather than why food is manufactured to make people feel happy.
    - magicalist 11y ago
      > Maybe we should focus on why people use food to feel happy rather than why food is manufactured to make people feel happy. That's not really fair. I agree with your general skepticism in this thread (there's a reason that most of these studies show small effects due to dietary modifications but most anecdotes of the same are "and now everything is amazing!"), but the human body is designed to crave things like fat and sugar and to feel good when they're acquired. Some kind of ascetic lifestyle -- where we can remove the desire for the pleasure of eating -- may be possible, but the physical design of the body and our reward system indicates that enjoyment from eating food is built right in. It would be like ignoring people perpetuating fraud and instead only trying to solve all the ways that the human brain is susceptible to it.
    - dota_fanatic 11y ago
      You responded to a rhetorical question and completely ignored my response to your ridiculous claim that sugar is being unfairly singled out. Why is that? Because it's delicious It's not though. It's only delicious for people who have high sugar intake. And besides, deliciousness is subjective and orthogonal to nutrition, while nutritional value is largely objective (we hope). Smoking is bad for you, so it's illegal for minors to buy and it's illegal to even smoke with a minor in the car. High sugar intake is bad for you, so it's illegal to advertise sweets to children /s. Maybe we should focus on why people use food to feel happy rather than why food is manufactured to make people feel happy. You really think for us to have any hope of changing the prevalence of obesity is to get people to change their behavior, instead of minimizing the accessibility and prevalence of the environment which reinforces said behavior? It'd be great to do both, but realistically...? Get millions of people to change their behavior and opt for the more expensive / less flavorful foods? (And I mean less flavorful in a subjective sense, since they're used to very sweet, very salty things.)
      - luketych 11y ago
        You guys just love arguing about semantics. We can't convince others with an aggressive tone. Like I'm doing. But we can definitely win over an audience.
    - 11y ago

marknutter 11y ago

Eating too much sugar and then bringing it down to "normal" levels is one thing, but cutting it out of your diet completely is another. I think eating too much of anything is going to have negative side-effects and bringing that consumption back to normal levels will have the reverse effect. It doesn't seem particularly compelling to me. Sugar is no more harmful to us than most of the other chemicals we consume when done in moderation, so I feel it's being unfairly singled out.

dota_fanatic 11y ago
It's being "unfairly" singled out because it's being "unfairly" added to most processed foods. Why is it added? Because it's addicting, people will always want more, and are therefore willing to pay for it. Want your food product to sell more? Add sugar. It's nice that you think people should "just eat normal levels", but it's extremely hard in practice when the food landscape is heavily saturated in the stuff, especially the cheaper products. Healthy food, or "moderate" behavior, exists alongside a mountain of more appealing options in the moment, especially considering cost. Go to the grocery (in the US), and look at many products attractive to children. Notice the heavy prevalence of added sugar. Unfairly singled out? lmfao
- marknutter 11y ago
  > Why is it added? Because it's delicious. Why do people eat too much sugar? Because they like delicious things and eating delicious things makes them happy. Maybe we should focus on why people use food to feel happy rather than why food is manufactured to make people feel happy.
  - magicalist 11y ago
    > Maybe we should focus on why people use food to feel happy rather than why food is manufactured to make people feel happy. That's not really fair. I agree with your general skepticism in this thread (there's a reason that most of these studies show small effects due to dietary modifications but most anecdotes of the same are "and now everything is amazing!"), but the human body is designed to crave things like fat and sugar and to feel good when they're acquired. Some kind of ascetic lifestyle -- where we can remove the desire for the pleasure of eating -- may be possible, but the physical design of the body and our reward system indicates that enjoyment from eating food is built right in. It would be like ignoring people perpetuating fraud and instead only trying to solve all the ways that the human brain is susceptible to it.
  - dota_fanatic 11y ago
    You responded to a rhetorical question and completely ignored my response to your ridiculous claim that sugar is being unfairly singled out. Why is that? Because it's delicious It's not though. It's only delicious for people who have high sugar intake. And besides, deliciousness is subjective and orthogonal to nutrition, while nutritional value is largely objective (we hope). Smoking is bad for you, so it's illegal for minors to buy and it's illegal to even smoke with a minor in the car. High sugar intake is bad for you, so it's illegal to advertise sweets to children /s. Maybe we should focus on why people use food to feel happy rather than why food is manufactured to make people feel happy. You really think for us to have any hope of changing the prevalence of obesity is to get people to change their behavior, instead of minimizing the accessibility and prevalence of the environment which reinforces said behavior? It'd be great to do both, but realistically...? Get millions of people to change their behavior and opt for the more expensive / less flavorful foods? (And I mean less flavorful in a subjective sense, since they're used to very sweet, very salty things.)
    - luketych 11y ago
      You guys just love arguing about semantics. We can't convince others with an aggressive tone. Like I'm doing. But we can definitely win over an audience.
  - 11y ago