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Simple sugar is really more poisonous and addictive than some of the banned drugs Saying that eating large amounts of simple sugar is worse than small amounts

Simple sugar is really more poisonous and addictive than some of the banned drugs Saying that eating large amounts of simple sugar is worse than small amounts of some of the banned drugs is one thing. But saying that sugar is poisonous, or simply worse than banned drugs, is a little too much.

shiggerino 12y ago
This, I can't imagine anyone reaching toxic levels of glucose in their bloodstream by oral means, as nausea and vomiting are symptoms of hyperglycemia, preventing further intake. Though I might underestimate people's addiction, maybe there are IV glucose junkies out there now?
- ssijak 12y ago
  Google "glucose toxicity" and you will get many papers describing it under certain conditions or in excess amounts.
  - stingraycharles 12y ago
    Also, there is diabetis, which should be enough evidence in itself that eating excessive amounts of sugar for a long time is really bad. Then again, too much of nearly anything is bad. There are lots of known cases of people dying of drinking too much water, for example, but that doesn't make water a bad thing in itself.
vlasev 12y ago
That's especially true since our bodies essentially run on glucose. Supplying food closer to that state means faster utilization, which in turn helps a lot in situations of physical exertion. I would love to see the rat experiment repeated for athletic rats, where they train an hour a day or more.
- prostoalex 12y ago
  On glucose and ketones, with glucose being the first choice.
  - jeremysmyth 12y ago
    and alcohol, with alcohol being the first choice.
ssijak 12y ago
Ok, maybe a bad choice of wording, or maybe not if you think about it. Definition of poison "In the context of biology, poisons are substances that cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism." I think we could agree that eating 200-300gr cake filled with sugars IS causing disturbances (certainly more than a 150gr peace of fish and 150gr salad) that are bad and when you repeat eating that cake we all know where that leads to and what adverse effects it has on the body and mind. Compare that adverse and permanent damage that sugar can cause to damage that for example LSD was proven to cause (none). And you can go to jail for taking LSD, but on the other hand we subsidies sugar production and we empower bad behaviour of eating junk food in many ways. For example I watched yesterday that in UK many people who are not sick, they just are overeating and are overweight so they can not work now are given large amounts of money and housing. There are people that are using that help for decades and are not working, not loosing weight and not expected to, they are put in the category with really disabled people (which is really sad, this people can help themselves and people without limbs cant grow another.. or maybe it just shows the power of sugar addiction for some people).
Sammi 12y ago
But large amounts of sugar will make you sick. Hence it's poison (in the large amounts we eat it in).
- hvidgaard 12y ago
  Sugars is what the body runs on. Saying it is poison is equal to saying water is poison, because too much water will kill you. Or salt, or fats, or anything the human body depends on - you can have too much of it all, but it isn't poison.
  - mtrimpe 12y ago
    One of the core tenets of toxicology is actually that everything is toxic; the varying amounts and damage it causes are what being toxic is all about. Source: I gave a presentation once in middle school. ;)
    - hiphopyo 12y ago
      There's also the old saying that "anything in excess is poison".
    - collyw 12y ago
      Downvoted for this comment? Don't people remember the story of the woman who died drinking water to win a Nintendo? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-...
    - Sammi 12y ago
      And there is such a thing as water poisoning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
collyw 12y ago
Everything is toxic in high enough doses, even water. I notice that you changed the text in the parents post from "some banned drugs" to "banned drugs", making the common mistake of grouping them all together and treating them as one category. (To me this indicates a fair amount of ignorance on the subject.) Heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK, and I am assuming many other developed countries, so it could be could be easily argued that anything that causes obesity should be labeled more harmful than say psilocybin mushrooms, which I believe have very low toxicity. Just because they are banned, doesn't make psilocybin mushrooms harmful.

shiggerino 12y ago

This, I can't imagine anyone reaching toxic levels of glucose in their bloodstream by oral means, as nausea and vomiting are symptoms of hyperglycemia, preventing further intake. Though I might underestimate people's addiction, maybe there are IV glucose junkies out there now?

ssijak 12y ago
Google "glucose toxicity" and you will get many papers describing it under certain conditions or in excess amounts.
- stingraycharles 12y ago
  Also, there is diabetis, which should be enough evidence in itself that eating excessive amounts of sugar for a long time is really bad. Then again, too much of nearly anything is bad. There are lots of known cases of people dying of drinking too much water, for example, but that doesn't make water a bad thing in itself.

vlasev 12y ago

That's especially true since our bodies essentially run on glucose. Supplying food closer to that state means faster utilization, which in turn helps a lot in situations of physical exertion. I would love to see the rat experiment repeated for athletic rats, where they train an hour a day or more.

prostoalex 12y ago
On glucose and ketones, with glucose being the first choice.
- jeremysmyth 12y ago
  and alcohol, with alcohol being the first choice.

ssijak 12y ago

Ok, maybe a bad choice of wording, or maybe not if you think about it. Definition of poison "In the context of biology, poisons are substances that cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism." I think we could agree that eating 200-300gr cake filled with sugars IS causing disturbances (certainly more than a 150gr peace of fish and 150gr salad) that are bad and when you repeat eating that cake we all know where that leads to and what adverse effects it has on the body and mind. Compare that adverse and permanent damage that sugar can cause to damage that for example LSD was proven to cause (none). And you can go to jail for taking LSD, but on the other hand we subsidies sugar production and we empower bad behaviour of eating junk food in many ways. For example I watched yesterday that in UK many people who are not sick, they just are overeating and are overweight so they can not work now are given large amounts of money and housing. There are people that are using that help for decades and are not working, not loosing weight and not expected to, they are put in the category with really disabled people (which is really sad, this people can help themselves and people without limbs cant grow another.. or maybe it just shows the power of sugar addiction for some people).

Sammi 12y ago

But large amounts of sugar will make you sick. Hence it's poison (in the large amounts we eat it in).

hvidgaard 12y ago
Sugars is what the body runs on. Saying it is poison is equal to saying water is poison, because too much water will kill you. Or salt, or fats, or anything the human body depends on - you can have too much of it all, but it isn't poison.
- mtrimpe 12y ago
  One of the core tenets of toxicology is actually that everything is toxic; the varying amounts and damage it causes are what being toxic is all about. Source: I gave a presentation once in middle school. ;)
  - hiphopyo 12y ago
    There's also the old saying that "anything in excess is poison".
  - collyw 12y ago
    Downvoted for this comment? Don't people remember the story of the woman who died drinking water to win a Nintendo? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-...
  - Sammi 12y ago
    And there is such a thing as water poisoning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

collyw 12y ago

Everything is toxic in high enough doses, even water. I notice that you changed the text in the parents post from "some banned drugs" to "banned drugs", making the common mistake of grouping them all together and treating them as one category. (To me this indicates a fair amount of ignorance on the subject.) Heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK, and I am assuming many other developed countries, so it could be could be easily argued that anything that causes obesity should be labeled more harmful than say psilocybin mushrooms, which I believe have very low toxicity. Just because they are banned, doesn't make psilocybin mushrooms harmful.