7 ms·
Is sugar really bad for you? (2018)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- hamilyon2 7y agoTldr: yes, sugar will make you suffer an illness. On the bright side: 1) one person developed eating disorder out of fear of sugars 2) eating sugar make older people more motivated on short term
- moksly 7y agoSugar is one of my few vices. I can get addicted to it fairly easy, and it’s really hard for me to kick the habit even when I try. When I cut it out of my diet I get to go through a few days of withdrawals where I have no energy, lots of craving, much higher appetite and a general level of annoyedness. After this I get periods of higher quality life with less sick days. Once I fall back in, I don’t even like the taste of sugary things for the first few days. This is completely anecdotal, but my sugar habits are similar to drug-addicts, and while sugar certainly isn’t drugs it’s not healthy for me either. It’s also the only substance in my regular diet that affects me this way.
- baal80spam 7y ago> sugar certainly isn’t drugs I guess it depends on the definition of a 'drug'?
- dekken_ 7y ago> and while sugar certainly isn’t drugs It is. Like coffee is.
- ndzig 7y agoWhat's a drug? If sugar causes addiction, withdrawal, and it's unhealthy, then it definitely is a drug.
- jesssse 7y agoDrugs are nutritionless. Sugar is food.
- Broken_Hippo 7y agoIt is a drug much like... say, broccoli is a drug. Milk before bedtime is a drug. Running is a drug. It is a drug in the same sense that anything can cause addiction and withdrawal or be unhealthy. Caffeine is, by itself, a drug in a different sense. It causes a slight addiction and can cause slight withdrawal. It isn't all that unhealthy in itself, however, especially not in the amounts we find naturally in foods. It becomes more of an issue if one is taking caffeine pills and other such things. Eating unhealthily might be more unhealthy, honestly - even though overall, having an unhealthy diet isn't a drug.
- cerberusss 7y agoNah, that can't be true. Suppose you eat either broccoli or a sugary snack every day at 4 PM. Then I bet that habit is definitely harder to stop if it's a sugary snack.
- dtwest 7y ago"It is a drug in the same sense that anything can cause addiction and withdrawal or be unhealthy. Caffeine is, by itself, a drug in a different sense. It causes a slight addiction and can cause slight withdrawal." This seems like a drug in the same sense, can you clarify? Rather than making stuff up, here's dictionary definition of drug: a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. As a user of both sugar and broccoli I can anecdotally attest that they do not have the same physiological effect on my body.
- mantap 7y agoIn general our bodies evolved for a certain environment. Simple sugars were present in that environment (fruit, honey) but not at high levels. Our bodies are highly adaptable but when you start consuming orders of magnitude more sugar than we evolved for, you are exceeding the design limits.
- dgzl 7y agoDoesn't that just mean we'll evolve into a new environment?
- trickstra 7y agoLikely yes. In 100 thousand years.
- toasterlovin 7y agoMore like 1000 years, but still: much longer than is useful to anybody alive now.
- dgzl 7y agoCan I use this excuse with climate change?
- trickstra 7y agoWhat do you mean? Climate change is about to submerge thousands of square kilometers under the sea in 30 years. Millions of people displaced. Your children and their children will not be able to visit some of the places we see in our tourist guides today: https://i2.wp.com/vietnaminsider.vn/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Southern-Vietnam-could-all-but-disappear.jpg?resize=750%2C523&ssl=1 https://i2.wp.com/vietnaminsider.vn/wp-content/uploads/2019/... https://i2.wp.com/vietnaminsider.vn/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Thailand-projection.jpg?resize=750%2C430&ssl=1 https://i2.wp.com/vietnaminsider.vn/wp-content/uploads/2019/...
- 7y ago
- jesssse 7y agoIf you have a healthy gut flora, sugar is fine. If you have unhealthy gut flora, the sugar ferments and causes illness.
- thewizardofaus 7y agoI recently started tracking my diet more and realised I've been having 200+ grams of sugar a day !
- aritmo 7y agoThe original title ask whether sugar is REALLY bad for you, implying even in the title that it may not be that bad. Then, in the body of the article you get a feeling that it was commissioned by the sugar lobby. Showing the evidence but casting doubt every time. It concludes with a "it does not matter".
- timthorn 7y ago> you get a feeling that it was commissioned by the sugar lobby But as it is a BBC site, you also know that isn't the case.
- friendlybus 7y agoYou can buy ad slots in BBC news like anywhere else.
- timthorn 7y agoBut not content, and also not in the UK.
- radicalbyte 7y agoThe BBC has gone all free market, it's very much a mouthpiece for the Tories nowadays.
- bmsleight_ 7y agoPlease supply some evidence for this assertion. When the BBC is annoying people on both side of the argument, it must be sitting on the fence. I recommend watching a few USA new programs or even reading a few UK daily papers to see what "mouthpeice for the Tories" really are. Just because the BBC may not agree with everyone all the time, it does not mean it is biased.
- radicalbyte 7y ago
- esquire_900 7y agoIt's surprising how the general public seems to rely on research instead of first hand experience. Simply change your sugar behavior for a while, see how it affects you, and those are the results you need. The body is (in general) perfectly able to tell you how beneficial a certain behavior is in the long run, as long as you are able to objectively observe the results (as far as possible). For me, sugar in more then minimal quantities give huge ups and downs, cravings, nauseousness etc.
- thecleaner 7y agoIts difficult to quit sugar initially. But once you have quit for sometime, the idea of consuming sugar begins to feel disgusting.
- Udik 7y ago> It's surprising how the general public seems to rely on research instead of first hand experience. But medical research assumes that first hand experience can be deceiving, because of placebo effect. It also considers the impact self-deception on researchers, and tries to remove that effect with double-blind studies. I find it difficult to believe that dietary changes that require a consistent level of engagement, both to be mindful of what you eat and to resist temptations, can be free of placebo effects. And since you're also evaluating subjectively the effects, you are also prone to the researcher's self-deception.
- blunte 7y agoJust because one can experience a placebo effect does not suggest that any change in behavior may be ineffective (but appear effective a la placebo). When I finally start exercising (for a month solid) after being sedentary for 6+ months, I feel greatly energized - physically and mentally. I feel stronger too. Based on my performance in many aspects of life, I'm pretty sure that the benefits aren't imagined. The same applies to alcohol. After about three weeks of no alcohol, a kind of mental clarity, sharpness, and aggressiveness (as in _wanting_ to be mentally challenged instead of avoiding mental effort) becomes very present. This I do not believe is a placebo - although if it is, I'm still much happier with the real or perceived benefit. So with sugar, why not the same? Plenty of people have written their stories about cutting sugar and how they felt for weeks or months, so I'm likely to believe that they really experienced the benefits. Finally, placebo or not, there's little question that "empty calories" are at minimal non-beneficial, and at worst harmful.
- moltar 7y agoAn estimated 33.9% of U.S. adults aged 18 years or older (84.1 million people) had prediabetes in 2015, based on their fasting glucose or A1C level. Nearly half (48.3%) of adults aged 65 years or older had prediabetes. You may be one of these people and not even know it. It’s an epidemic.
- rendeyc 7y agoMore specifically excess glucose yes, which are usually ingested through high carb foods such as pasta, rice, bread, sugar and sweets, corn and wheat based products. In contrast rather go for good fat foods such as bacon, avocado, eggs, mineral rich meats such as pasture raised beef/chicken or fish. Half your plate should be leafy greens/veg. These provide good minerals, and molecularly different fuel called ketones instead of glucose, these are closer to stored fats aswell so the body is used to running on the same fuel. So when you're not eating and the body has consumed the energy in the food you ate, it can easily switch to using body fat reserves. The transition from glucose to ketone in the body causes molecular rearrangement in a process called keto-flu, which can last up to 3 days. You can think of it like going cold-turkey from sugar and returning to the real normal. It is important to only eat when hungry. And try to extend the periods between eating, even if it starts at 16, then 20 hours, some do periodic fastings of 48 or 72 hours. This kickstarts body self repair and optimization of your entire structure. It seems to even reverse cancer. Research this.. it is amazing. See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMZfyEy_jpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMZfyEy_jpI
- sideshowb 7y agoWhat's the deal with milk? I've recently noticed most milk contains 5 percent sugar. Is that ok for some reason?
- williesleg 7y agoAbsolutely the worst. Stop drinking sugary drinks and just drink water, your mind clarity and energy levels will go up after about a week naturally.
- bg117 7y agoRefined (white) sugar is really bad. No good stuff in it. Better to use Raw or unrefined sugar instead that has lot of useful minerals/vitamins in it. I think, the manufacturers extract whatever is possible and make money out of it and what is left is not worth much. I stopped using white sugar for an year and my shirt size has reduced by two inches. No other specific diet restrictions. I also do not consume ready to eat (manufactured foods) that is available in stores.
- balfirevic 7y ago> Better to use Raw or unrefined sugar instead that has lot of useful minerals/vitamins in it. > I stopped using white sugar for an year and my shirt size has reduced by two inches. How did the presence of additional minerals and vitamins in unrefined sugar help you lose weight?
- bg117 7y agoRefined sugar is just converted to fat. Reduced intake helps. Unrefined sugar is just more healthy alternative
- grabbalacious 7y agoSo much of sugar's attraction is contextual. Pure granulated sugar, straight from a packet, doesn't appeal -- not to me. Yet I suspect that cocaine does not have this property. A bowl of frozen raspberries, with cream and an additional 2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar sprinkled on top, is very sweet, like delicious rocket fuel. Whereas a bowl of ice cream, containing double the amount of sugar, doesn't taste any sweeter.
- toasterlovin 7y agoRegarding ice cream: my experience is that temperature has a large impact on how sweet something tastes. Specifically, the same food will taste sweeter when it is warmer. Milk is actually incredibly sweet, but you don’t realize that unless you’re drinking it warm. If you’ve ever had a warm soda pop or melted ice cream, you’ll probably remember them as sickly sweet—much sweeter than when either is cold.
- steve_adams_86 7y agoYour experience is consistent with most (all?) people. The way taste and smell work are significantly impacted by temperature due to how the sensory channels work, and how the sensed particles behave while warm or cold. This is very noticeable with fatty foods in my own experience.