4 ms·

I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. In a recent past, the villain was fat, now is sugar. I don't think both of them is the problem, t

by meira 10y ago

I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. In a recent past, the villain was fat, now is sugar. I don't think both of them is the problem, the problem is a life without sports and workout. And sugar is the best energy source for the brain, as far as I know.

zajd 10y ago
The funny part is the best dietary advice is just "eat a good variety of things and don't eat too much". Going in to Whole Foods makes me want to blow my brains out.
- finid 10y ago
  How come? Food is too expensive?
  - zajd 10y ago
    The amount of marketing designed to just confuse people about what's good for them. Organic, non-gmo, gluten-free, all natural, it's like a temple for upper middle class white people to reject 50 years of food science.
    - superswordfish 10y ago
      That woo is everywhere now though. Not sure why you're bringing race into it.
    - finid 10y ago
      > it's like a temple for upper middle class white people to reject 50 years of food science. I wonder what you mean by that... Those designations (organic, non-gmo, gluten-free, natural) have their place. The practice of it is where consumers get cheated.
- superswordfish 10y ago
  There are many upsetting things about Whole Foods, but the food there is pretty varied, no?
- rayiner 10y ago
  Why? Whole Foods is great. For example, if you're too busy to pack your lunch, there is a great cafeteria where you can get simple food with lots of veggie options at whatever portions you want. The quality of the meat, bread, and produce is a cut above (though I hear it's just par for course in terms of what you can get in "normal" EuropeN grocery stores).
  - mathgeek 10y ago
    I think the complaint is that Whole Foods is selling you the idea that the small subset of "healthy" brands they are promoting is what you should be exclusively eating. They're a great store as far as options, but the Kool-aid they're pouring can be a little annoying at times.
    - rayiner 10y ago
      Are they? I've never seen a Whole Foods commercial or ad.
clort 10y ago
You know, even oxygen in excess quantities is poisonous to us. I wouldn't say that sugar is a bad thing on its own, but the people who use it to enhance their products are not doing so to help our brains work better. They are doing that because they know that our species has an appreciation for this stuff and in their quest for short term profits they can externalize the long term costs associated with the effects of sugar overload which we ourselves do not have a way of detecting until it is too late.
mark_l_watson 10y ago
Let me try to make you more comfortable with it: it is all about food corporations trying to block scientific studies and consumers' rights for fair package labeling, etc. also, do some reading on the harmful Candida bacteria in our guts. Some Candida is natural but too much sugar, as we see in processed foods, causes a harmful level of Candida. And Candida itself has quickly evolved to affect brain chemistry to induce people to eat more sugar.
- MustardTiger 10y ago
  >And Candida itself has quickly evolved to affect brain chemistry to induce people to eat more sugar. There is no evidence to support this sort of chemtrail level conspiracy theory nonsense.
  - mark_l_watson 10y ago
    There has been a lot written on the subject. Some examples: http://bodyecology.com/articles/goodbye-sugar-cravings-what-drives-sugar-cravings-and-how-to-overcome-them http://bodyecology.com/articles/goodbye-sugar-cravings-what-... http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8376/10-signs-you-have-candida-overgrowth-what-to-do-about-it.html http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8376/10-signs-you-have-candid... http://www.thecandidadiet.com/why-does-candida-need-sugar/ http://www.thecandidadiet.com/why-does-candida-need-sugar/ http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/1208/a_love_story_candida_loves_sugar.php http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/1208/a_love_story_candid... http://www.olsonnd.com/sugar-and-candida/ http://www.olsonnd.com/sugar-and-candida/ I believe that people should keep track of what food they eat and depending how they feel, modify their particular diets accordingly. My wife and I have reduced the processed foods we eat, and try to avoid sugar, and it seems to have had a great effect on how we feel and general health. If you are a skeptic that is fine, skepticism should be the default, but I would ask you to try staying away from processed foods and sugar for a few weeks and see if you feel better. It is an easy experiment to do.
    - dalke 10y ago
      There's a lot written on astrology as well. Volume doesn't mean it's true. I wasn't able to find anything in PubMed on the causal connection as you describe, though I did find papers like http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684604/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684604/ on "Archaea and Fungi of the Human Gut Microbiome: Correlations with Diet and Bacterial Residents" which describes the correlation. > Methanobrevibacter and Candida were positively associated with diets high in carbohydrates, but negatively with diets high in amino acids, protein, and fatty acids. A previous study emphasized that bacterial population structure was associated primarily with long-term diet, but high Candida abundance was most strongly associated with the recent consumption of carbohydrates. Methobrevibacter abundance was associated with both long term and recent consumption of carbohydrates. How do you know it's Candida and not Methanobrevibacter?
tomatsu 10y ago
Fat was made the villain with faulty statistics. Sugar, on the other hand, is very obviously bad for you. It causes type 2 diabetes, it causes caries, and it also suppresses the feeling of satiety. Reducing your sugar intake is the easiest way to get into better shape. Exercise is important, but it won't undo all the damage. E.g. if you heavily drink and smoke, no amount of exercise will undo that. It's the same with sugar. Exercise won't undo all those insulin spikes. It's true that we need glucose, but we need it at a slow and steady rate. We don't need it at a rate which causes a massive insulin response. If your body actively combats the amount of sugar in your bloodstream, you apparently overdid it. Non-processed food without added sugars is a good way to get a little bit of sugar over the course of several hours. The absorption rate is delayed by fibers. That's why fruits are fine while juice isn't. The big problem with avoiding processed food is that it's really inconvenient. Cooking, just like exercise, takes time and effort.
- nibs 10y ago
  A nitpick of this comment would be that caries are an autoimmune response caused by the acids that sugars (and some other foods) induce in your saliva. When you eat sugar, your body creates acid to break it down, and the presence of the acid in your mouth after the sugar is gone results in an autoimmune-style attack on your enamel.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    The acid is produced by bacteria. Saliva itself tends to have a neutral PH.
- GordonS 10y ago
  We only actually need a tiny amount of glucose
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >Sugar, on the other hand, is very obviously bad for you No, excess sugar is bad for you.
Broken_Hippo 10y ago
Diet and exercise play different roles in keeping us healthy. You can be fairly overweight with a sugary diet while still being pretty active, just as you can lose weight by monitoring diet alone. Some of the problem of the changing villians is that we are still learning, and some of the problem of us not knowing more is pushback from sweetening industries. I don't agree with all of the anti-sugar things. Probably shouldn't tax sugar itself, and in moderation it isn't a bad thing. Most folks don't have a lot of candy in their diet (because there are limits). But they do drink a good deal of sugary coffees and drinks when it would be better to eat a handful of fruit and drink some water. Most folks don't need the added sugar to feed their brain - fruit and vegetables and some grains wind up as that anyway. It isn't sugar in and of itself that is such an issue, but that we tend to put it in everything, so our consumption is really high. Sauces and prepackaged foods have an amazing amount of added sugar. The typical american breakfast is nearly a dessert. Cranberry juice, pushed as healthy, is generally sweetened, even if it is with concentrated fruit juice. All of these things add up especially when combined with lack of reasonable choices near you and large portion sizes. And trying to figure out what has added sugar and other such things has been proven difficult. And this is a major problem for folks trying to have some sort of balance in addition to being a problem for folks that are low-to-mid income and/or have little time to cook their own food as it gets harder to limit such things even in supposedly healthy food.
forgetsusername 10y ago
>I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. People want to be victims rather than taking responsibility for themselves. They need something to blame. Unless I'm imposing costs on others (which, admittedly, sugar can do), don't tell me what I should or shouldn't eat.
raphinou 10y ago
The problem is that sugar is literally everywhere leading to an over consommation without realising it, which can lead to health problem.

by meira 10y ago

zajd 10y ago

The funny part is the best dietary advice is just "eat a good variety of things and don't eat too much". Going in to Whole Foods makes me want to blow my brains out.

finid 10y ago
How come? Food is too expensive?
- zajd 10y ago
  The amount of marketing designed to just confuse people about what's good for them. Organic, non-gmo, gluten-free, all natural, it's like a temple for upper middle class white people to reject 50 years of food science.
  - superswordfish 10y ago
    That woo is everywhere now though. Not sure why you're bringing race into it.
  - finid 10y ago
    > it's like a temple for upper middle class white people to reject 50 years of food science. I wonder what you mean by that... Those designations (organic, non-gmo, gluten-free, natural) have their place. The practice of it is where consumers get cheated.
superswordfish 10y ago
There are many upsetting things about Whole Foods, but the food there is pretty varied, no?
rayiner 10y ago
Why? Whole Foods is great. For example, if you're too busy to pack your lunch, there is a great cafeteria where you can get simple food with lots of veggie options at whatever portions you want. The quality of the meat, bread, and produce is a cut above (though I hear it's just par for course in terms of what you can get in "normal" EuropeN grocery stores).
- mathgeek 10y ago
  I think the complaint is that Whole Foods is selling you the idea that the small subset of "healthy" brands they are promoting is what you should be exclusively eating. They're a great store as far as options, but the Kool-aid they're pouring can be a little annoying at times.
  - rayiner 10y ago
    Are they? I've never seen a Whole Foods commercial or ad.

clort 10y ago

You know, even oxygen in excess quantities is poisonous to us. I wouldn't say that sugar is a bad thing on its own, but the people who use it to enhance their products are not doing so to help our brains work better. They are doing that because they know that our species has an appreciation for this stuff and in their quest for short term profits they can externalize the long term costs associated with the effects of sugar overload which we ourselves do not have a way of detecting until it is too late.

mark_l_watson 10y ago

Let me try to make you more comfortable with it: it is all about food corporations trying to block scientific studies and consumers' rights for fair package labeling, etc. also, do some reading on the harmful Candida bacteria in our guts. Some Candida is natural but too much sugar, as we see in processed foods, causes a harmful level of Candida. And Candida itself has quickly evolved to affect brain chemistry to induce people to eat more sugar.

MustardTiger 10y ago
>And Candida itself has quickly evolved to affect brain chemistry to induce people to eat more sugar. There is no evidence to support this sort of chemtrail level conspiracy theory nonsense.
- mark_l_watson 10y ago
  There has been a lot written on the subject. Some examples: http://bodyecology.com/articles/goodbye-sugar-cravings-what-drives-sugar-cravings-and-how-to-overcome-them http://bodyecology.com/articles/goodbye-sugar-cravings-what-... http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8376/10-signs-you-have-candida-overgrowth-what-to-do-about-it.html http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8376/10-signs-you-have-candid... http://www.thecandidadiet.com/why-does-candida-need-sugar/ http://www.thecandidadiet.com/why-does-candida-need-sugar/ http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/1208/a_love_story_candida_loves_sugar.php http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/1208/a_love_story_candid... http://www.olsonnd.com/sugar-and-candida/ http://www.olsonnd.com/sugar-and-candida/ I believe that people should keep track of what food they eat and depending how they feel, modify their particular diets accordingly. My wife and I have reduced the processed foods we eat, and try to avoid sugar, and it seems to have had a great effect on how we feel and general health. If you are a skeptic that is fine, skepticism should be the default, but I would ask you to try staying away from processed foods and sugar for a few weeks and see if you feel better. It is an easy experiment to do.
  - dalke 10y ago
    There's a lot written on astrology as well. Volume doesn't mean it's true. I wasn't able to find anything in PubMed on the causal connection as you describe, though I did find papers like http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684604/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684604/ on "Archaea and Fungi of the Human Gut Microbiome: Correlations with Diet and Bacterial Residents" which describes the correlation. > Methanobrevibacter and Candida were positively associated with diets high in carbohydrates, but negatively with diets high in amino acids, protein, and fatty acids. A previous study emphasized that bacterial population structure was associated primarily with long-term diet, but high Candida abundance was most strongly associated with the recent consumption of carbohydrates. Methobrevibacter abundance was associated with both long term and recent consumption of carbohydrates. How do you know it's Candida and not Methanobrevibacter?

tomatsu 10y ago

Fat was made the villain with faulty statistics. Sugar, on the other hand, is very obviously bad for you. It causes type 2 diabetes, it causes caries, and it also suppresses the feeling of satiety. Reducing your sugar intake is the easiest way to get into better shape. Exercise is important, but it won't undo all the damage. E.g. if you heavily drink and smoke, no amount of exercise will undo that. It's the same with sugar. Exercise won't undo all those insulin spikes. It's true that we need glucose, but we need it at a slow and steady rate. We don't need it at a rate which causes a massive insulin response. If your body actively combats the amount of sugar in your bloodstream, you apparently overdid it. Non-processed food without added sugars is a good way to get a little bit of sugar over the course of several hours. The absorption rate is delayed by fibers. That's why fruits are fine while juice isn't. The big problem with avoiding processed food is that it's really inconvenient. Cooking, just like exercise, takes time and effort.

nibs 10y ago
A nitpick of this comment would be that caries are an autoimmune response caused by the acids that sugars (and some other foods) induce in your saliva. When you eat sugar, your body creates acid to break it down, and the presence of the acid in your mouth after the sugar is gone results in an autoimmune-style attack on your enamel.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  The acid is produced by bacteria. Saliva itself tends to have a neutral PH.
GordonS 10y ago
We only actually need a tiny amount of glucose
forgetsusername 10y ago
>Sugar, on the other hand, is very obviously bad for you No, excess sugar is bad for you.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

Diet and exercise play different roles in keeping us healthy. You can be fairly overweight with a sugary diet while still being pretty active, just as you can lose weight by monitoring diet alone. Some of the problem of the changing villians is that we are still learning, and some of the problem of us not knowing more is pushback from sweetening industries. I don't agree with all of the anti-sugar things. Probably shouldn't tax sugar itself, and in moderation it isn't a bad thing. Most folks don't have a lot of candy in their diet (because there are limits). But they do drink a good deal of sugary coffees and drinks when it would be better to eat a handful of fruit and drink some water. Most folks don't need the added sugar to feed their brain - fruit and vegetables and some grains wind up as that anyway. It isn't sugar in and of itself that is such an issue, but that we tend to put it in everything, so our consumption is really high. Sauces and prepackaged foods have an amazing amount of added sugar. The typical american breakfast is nearly a dessert. Cranberry juice, pushed as healthy, is generally sweetened, even if it is with concentrated fruit juice. All of these things add up especially when combined with lack of reasonable choices near you and large portion sizes. And trying to figure out what has added sugar and other such things has been proven difficult. And this is a major problem for folks trying to have some sort of balance in addition to being a problem for folks that are low-to-mid income and/or have little time to cook their own food as it gets harder to limit such things even in supposedly healthy food.

forgetsusername 10y ago

>I don't feel very comfortable with this "anti-sugar" campaign. People want to be victims rather than taking responsibility for themselves. They need something to blame. Unless I'm imposing costs on others (which, admittedly, sugar can do), don't tell me what I should or shouldn't eat.

raphinou 10y ago

The problem is that sugar is literally everywhere leading to an over consommation without realising it, which can lead to health problem.