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Is Sugar Really Toxic? Sifting through the Evidence
Scientific American ^ | July 15, 2013 | Ferris Jabr

Posted on 07/29/2013 8:56:46 AM PDT by SgtHooper

The argument that sugar is a toxin depends on some technical details about the different ways the human body gets energy from different types of sugar. Today, Americans eat most of their sugar in two main forms: table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. A molecule of table sugar, or sucrose, is a bond between one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule—two simple sugars with the same chemical formula, but slightly different atomic structures.


TOPICS: Food; Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: fructose; sugar
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A really interesting paper on sugar and fructose. The commentary is perhaps even better than the paper.
1 posted on 07/29/2013 8:56:46 AM PDT by SgtHooper
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To: SgtHooper

I think it lies partly to blame with the corn subsidy and lobby with the extreme overuse of HFC and America gets fatter and fatter because of it. Myself included, I need to lose 15-20 pounds. I’m going to try and limit my diet to less than 25 grams of sugar per day and see how fast or slow those pounds fall off.


2 posted on 07/29/2013 9:05:59 AM PDT by Qwackertoo (Going into Politic Free Zone Momma Grizzly hibernation for a while after this week, maybe forever.)
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To: SgtHooper

So, for over half my adult life, the scientific consensus about salt was that it is bad in any form. Low salt, no salt, salt is poison and so forth.

A couple of weeks ago, the CDC comes out and says “oops!” salt ISN’T bad and “don’t worry bout it!”

Red meat, white meat, eggs, milk, even fricking water, burnt meat, raw meat, lean/fat meat are/were/now not bad for you.

If you live long enough, you’ll see these so-called scientists end up retracting and amending prior invocations. The worst offenders are the CDC.

It is all political or it is self-serving designed to garner funding for their impartial “studies”....


3 posted on 07/29/2013 9:06:16 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: SgtHooper

People just eat too much of it in the wrong form. Sugar in an apple is sugar but not the problem a sweet drink is. But saying that won’t sell books and get a person on the talk shows.


4 posted on 07/29/2013 9:08:39 AM PDT by count-your-change (you don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough)
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To: SgtHooper; All

Thanks for referencing that article SgtHooper. I think I had seen it earlier.

I wish that reporters would make a distinction between natural sugars and processed sugar, processed sugar like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) being the real concern. I now read the labels on confections and avoid anything that list HFCS, Oreo Cookies being one of them. :^(

I’ve noticed that just about everything that has frosting on it probably has HFCS.


5 posted on 07/29/2013 9:10:11 AM PDT by Amendment10
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To: SgtHooper

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is toxic,
And so are you.


6 posted on 07/29/2013 9:10:51 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Gaffer

You speak the truth,and I agree with you . Isn’t it fascinating-not to mention contradictory- that ‘natural’ is always better EXCEPT when it comes to sugar? Then, chemical sweeteners produced in labs are better! Sugar is natural and 1000 times better for you than what a lab cooks up. After all, how can lawyers make money suing for using sugar?Artifical sweeteners and chemicals will be the next source of ‘call me’ commercials by attorneys.
If ‘natural’ is always good, how can sugar be bad?


7 posted on 07/29/2013 9:14:34 AM PDT by ClearBlueSky (When anyone says its not about Islam...it's about Islam. That death cult must be eradicated.)
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To: Gaffer
The new trend is the caveman diet.
8 posted on 07/29/2013 9:14:52 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: SgtHooper

Sugar can indeed be toxic; just like water is toxic when you take in too much of it. Oxygen is also toxic if the percentage of oxygen in the mix is too high.


9 posted on 07/29/2013 9:16:22 AM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: Qwackertoo

I’vbe been dieting. I use lthe Lose It app to track my calorie intake. I’ve cut down on sugars, fats, and processed grains. I’ve added lots more veggies and fruits.

So far, I’ve lost 10 pounds. I’d like to lose another 10. I haven’t been exercising much, so I’m going to bump it up.

I was going almost every day to Starbuks and getting a latte, and then lots of times I’d get a patry. Just cutting that out is cutting my calorie intake and savng my payroll. It was a very bad habit!

The main time I use sugar is for some homemade salad dressings. I’ve switched to using honey in some of them.


10 posted on 07/29/2013 9:17:32 AM PDT by luckystarmom
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To: ClearBlueSky

I’ve switched to Stevia. From Splenda and variants like Nutra Sweet. Only need half a packet for my coffee.


11 posted on 07/29/2013 9:19:47 AM PDT by Qwackertoo (Going into Politic Free Zone Momma Grizzly hibernation for a while after this week, maybe forever.)
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To: Amendment10

You’ll find that corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup have become building blocks for many of our foods: bread, peanut butter, mayo, tomatoe sauce...these are foods that aren’t normally thought of as being ‘sweet’. Corn syrup has become a major part of our diets (unless a very deliberate attempt to reduce it is made). It is both a filler and a sweetener.

I always think about cattle in a feed lot. They are fed corn to get fattened up...every time I drink a soda, I feel like I’m fattening myself up.


12 posted on 07/29/2013 9:20:25 AM PDT by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: luckystarmom

I’ll have to check out the app, right now I have an excel spreadsheet I enter them on and keep track of Protein, Carb, Fiber, Sugar grams and total calories per meal and total per day and ounces of water drank.

I’m cutting out the wine and specialty craft beers in the evenings too. I’ll miss my red wine.

And I’ve bought local honey at my little “hometown” grocery store too. Bought some of the Blue Guava (sp?) double bottle at Costco once, thought it’d be better, threw them both in the garbage. Yuck.


13 posted on 07/29/2013 9:22:22 AM PDT by Qwackertoo (Going into Politic Free Zone Momma Grizzly hibernation for a while after this week, maybe forever.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

I went to a modified Caveman diet about 5 years ago....eating any kind of flour or grain MAKES me HUNGRY.


14 posted on 07/29/2013 9:23:30 AM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: ClearBlueSky

Remember Alar (daminozide)and the Apple crop? Remember the 60 Minutes Hit Job? EPA or FDA classified it a “possible” carcinogen and then as “probable” carcinogen.

All this backed by studies that showed rats could get cancer if they drank the equivalent of 5000 litres per day of apple juice... All because ‘naturalists’ had it in for the producers of Alar. Same thing with sugar substitutes, salt substitutes and any other substitute that meant competition for some group who had vested interests in the ‘natural product’....

So now we’ve flipped the coin.


15 posted on 07/29/2013 9:23:41 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: SgtHooper

Because cancer cells live on glucose and have 15 times the glucose receptors as healthy cells, researchers are experimenting with the idea of severely limiting sugar intake of patients, then preceding their chemo treatments with insulin. The thinking is that the greedy, glucose-starved cancer cells will take in the insulin and the chemo drugs will be readily absorbed as well. If that proves effective, it would provide motivation for millions to drastically cut sugar intake.


16 posted on 07/29/2013 9:24:49 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: SgtHooper

I follow a general rule of thumb when buying food and cooking.

“Ingredients shouldn’t have ingredients.”

Following this will spend most of your budget on fresh produce, meats and eggs. Save for a few items such as Olive Oil, spices and tea, there is really nothing in the un-refrigerated center aisles of stores humans should be eating.


17 posted on 07/29/2013 9:32:51 AM PDT by IamConservative (The soul of my lifes journey is Liberty!)
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To: goodnesswins

So what would a typical meal consist of on this plan?


18 posted on 07/29/2013 9:39:10 AM PDT by Girlene (Hey, NSA!)
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To: lacrew; All
You’ll find that corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup have become building blocks for many of our foods:

Good point. I'll have to start reading all food labels.

19 posted on 07/29/2013 9:41:30 AM PDT by Amendment10
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To: Gaffer
A couple of weeks ago, the CDC comes out and says “oops!” salt ISN’T bad and “don’t worry bout it!”

Actually, I think this "salt" go-around is the second one that I have experienced (I will be 59 at the end of the month of August). When hubby and I first married he was on a low-salt regimen because of his blood pressure and the doctor said he should cut salt. So, at that time, there were no "salt free" or "low salt" alternatives, so I was making my own broth and using Pritikin as a guideline. I gained weight and his blood pressure never got better via diet. Eventually, people who were doing scientific studies got the results and, guess what, salt not a cause of high blood pressure.

Couple of years go by, and the "salt is evil" people are back and pushing the no salt/low salt thing. People do studies, AGAIN, and, as you say, oops, salt isn't bad for you. In fact, low salt intake could be a problem. Now, if you think about it, why would our bodies not like salt since the water in our bodies is salty? Aren't our tears salty? Doesn't that mean we have salt, naturally, in our bodies?

Anyway, my point is that if you live long enough you see this kind of stuff being pushed over and over again. It has nothing to do with health, and everything to do with controlling our behavior. I have simply stopped listening.

20 posted on 07/29/2013 9:43:35 AM PDT by LibertarianLiz
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