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    Sugar: The Bitter Truth

    By Donal on Wed, 03/16/2011 - 10:21pm | Food & Drink



    In this 90 minute video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by the fructose that comprises roughly half of high fructose corn syrup and exactly half of common sucrose. Our consumption of too much fructose and not enough fiber, from infant formula through big gulps, have led to the obesity & diabetes epidemic. Ninety minutes is a long time, but it is well worth watching.

    Since reading Cville Dem's comment on my last HFCS post, just about a month ago, I stopped drinking all diet soda and sweetened tea. I make sun tea from decaf bags, or buy unsweetened black tea from Honest Tea and 365 Degrees. I've taken in my belts a notch. My throat feels much less dry and I don't cough as much.

    Cutting back on sugar as well as HFCS is going to be hard for me to not swallow because I do like my sweets, and I've always justified them by having a fairly active life. But it seems to be the next logical step.

    Topics: 
    Food & Drink

    Comments

    I haven't watched the entire video yet, but this is worth our keeping it going.  The obesity problem can't be ignored, and there are no simple cures, but the evidence against HFCS can't be ignored, either.

    But why diet sodas?  I don't drink much soda, but I try to stay as sugar-free as possible and since I do have a sweet tooth that means sugar substitutes.  I use Splenda and Truvia when I can, but I suppose the next warning will be against them.


    by Ramona on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 8:43am

    As a rule, artificial sweeteners mess with your insulin levels, because your body is expecting sugar, but doesn't get it. Paradoxically, this often leads to weight gain. I don't know if Truvia has the same issue, but I'd expect it, for the same reasons.


    by Verified Atheist on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 3:08pm

    the next warning

    Well, that didn't take very long, did it?

    Permit me to recommend the hunter/gatherer diet-if you can't hunt it or gather it , don't eat it.


    by jollyroger on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 6:47pm

    Meh. I prefer the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't diet. Just eat what you like, but in moderation. Everything in moderation, especially moderation.


    by Verified Atheist on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 7:47pm

    Donal, great post! More than two years ago, we quit drinking stuff with high-fructose corn syrup. I've never been a big girl anyway, but one of the results was losing 7 pounds without changing anything else I do. We drink much more water at home now, and I squeeze our juices, whether it is orange juice or grapefruit juice, although I didn't buy a LaLanne juicer to make apple juice too. Occasionally you might catch me making fresh peach lemonade, obviously during the summer, or raspberry lemonade.

    But the water thing has been good for us all, and a few gallons of organic milk a week, I know in the long run we will all be healthier. Really great post!

    I am so riding my bike today Donal... It is cold out there, but I am riding anyway.

    TGLD hehehehehe

    PS Happy St. Paddy's Day, how did the corned beef turn out?


    by tmccarthy0 on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 11:35am

    I can't believe how salty it tastes. We've been using less salt, too.


    by Donal on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 4:53pm

    Oh yes, well you know what they call Corned beef in the UK, Salt Beef. It is salt cured! I am the trivia food queen!

    But it is weird once you get away from that kind of stuff how it becomes so much easier to taste it, especially salt. I guess that is why one must wash their corned beef down with a good Guinness.


    by tmccarthy0 on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 5:26pm

    Sugar ?


    by cmaukonen on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 3:32pm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQiwqiPeLGk

     


    by Richard Day on Fri, 03/18/2011 - 1:04am