Posted on 06/19/2016 5:32:39 PM PDT by beaversmom
The Secrets of Sugar - The Fifth Estate
"We’ve heard for years about the dangers of eating too much fat or salt. But there have never been recommended limits for sugar on Canadian food labels, despite emerging research that suggests the sweet stuff may be making more of us fat and sick. In the fifth estate’s season premiere, Gillian Findlay digs into the surprising science — and the reaction from the food industry — to reveal The Secrets of Sugar. Has the sugar industry been hiding an unsavoury truth from consumers?
A small but influential group of medical researchers is stirring up the health debate, linking sugar not just to rising obesity rates but also to a host of diseases including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
We put a family of four on a healthy diet to try to beat their sugar habit and track the surprising results. We talk to leading scientists – and their critics. And we ask the food industry why those ingredient labels are far from clear when it comes to how much sugar is really on your plate.
Thank you...I’ll check that out.
I don’t think polyunsaturated fats from natural sources is as big a deal as from cooking oils.
Thank you for the clarification. I shall investigate polyunsaturated fats, since the phrase is new to me. Thanks.
Cool! Of course, the key to losing 50 pounds is that the first 10 or so just melt away, but then the remaining is a slog (as your body gets used to the healthy food)
Oh no! I want melt aways the whole way! ;)
Keep us posted on your progress. We’ve made a cheat sheet listing carbs of the foods we have so we know how much we can have. Veggies and meat are almost carb-free so you can fill up on them.
Good job!
I think we need to parse the word “sugar” like a Clinton. If you eat no sugars in food, then what you do eat will need to be made into sugars for some purposes. The brain can even run on fats for sugar. The gut (and elsewhere in us) bugs, more of them than us by weight, need their starches.
Certainly, no sugar needs to be drunk. Water is all that is needed.
Your diet is great, add enough healthy fats and some seeds or grains (cooked maybe or not but not often made from flours). We are omnivores.
Thanks BpBob. Doing pretty good. Staying active. Went for an early morning walk yesterday with my daughter, plus busy doing some mundane things. I’ve had a couple of minor “slip-ups” in the food dept. Nothing too horrible. I’m definitely addicted to carbs. I don’t eat a whole lot of sugar as in deserts and such, but I’m getting it through starches plus HFCS being in so many things. So I’m cutting back in quantity of food, and moderating the sugars. Thankfully, soda pop is not an issue for me so that’s not something I have to give up. It’s not easy with all this, but it is something I need to pursue and continue.
Here what I experience and I’m in my 31st day of low carb diet and down a size in shirt and pants.
higher energy
better breathing (can’t walk yet with swollen feet getting better)
feel lighter ready to get back on my regimen
steady weight loss as clothes show more looseness every week
When I go back to sugar, sweets taste worse. And all the good effects above go away after 4 or 5 days.
Good to hear. Remember you don’t have to cut back on the quantity of food you eat just pick and choose low carb foods for the main portions of the plate. No need to go to hungry just drink lots of water and eat meat and fish and vegetables and cut back on carbs. You’ll do fine. Reduce your dependence on processed foods. Check out the Atkins and Heart Healthy section in your supermarket.
Healthy Lifestyle Pinglist
We began growing our own veggies and preserving them for winter use. Switched to buying our beef from a local farmer, order a half beef and split with our daughter.
In 2013, I signed up on Web MD, and tracked my eating sticking to the “heart healthy diet”. Felt lousy, felt like I was starving to death, couldn't seem to get my protein and keep the sat fat down.
I worked up to 2 hrs exercise 3 times per week which included an hour swim each time. Could not seem to loose weight, and really needed to. My HDL was way to low and not improving.
So I did some research, and figured out that my fat intake was too low - new research has made the low fat “heart healthy diet” controversial. So I added a handful of nuts and cut back on a bread serving, and switched to a low carb bread or low carb tortilla.
This allowed me to begin to loose weight. Did some more research, and decided I was likely becoming insulin resistant. Ordered the book Protein Power, and the new Atkins book. (New studies have shown that Atkins is actually better for heart cholesterol numbers as well as weight loss).
Note: Atkins did not advocate loading up on butter and cheese etc. The plan as explained in the new book is actually a pretty balanced plan, except the carbs choices are low glycemic load.
So I worked out a plan of eating that left me satisfied, not starving, and allowed me to loose some more weight. My LDL is about the same as it was, but the good(HDL)has improved by about 10 points. So the ratio has now improved to a good number. (Ratio is a better indicator of heart health).
This did help me a lot. Now the Endocrinologist has confirmed what I suspected, and that eventually, the insulin receptors could heal and I might be able to eat a few more complex carbs in the future.
She advised me to go on the diabetic diet (I do not have diabetes). This is a low carb diet that allows 15g carbs per meal, and an additional 15g carb choice either at dinner or with protein snack.
However certain veggies are FREE - meaning you can eat your fill - lettuce broccoli etc. It is very similar to that which I had already worked out using Protein Plus guidelines. As long as I stay away from the sugar, it works great, and I continue to lose very slowly.
If I decide to eat a donut or something “break fast” is what I call it, then I crave carbs and feel hungry no matter how much I have eaten - it takes about 2 weeks of strict adherence to get over the cravings.
As time goes on, I find it easier and easier to just say no to the sugary stuff - it makes me feel lethargic, and I don't like the craving/starving feeling.
So this summer, my goal is to lose another 10 lbs. Then in November, on Thanksgiving, I will go on maintenance and allow a few more carbs through Christmas cut back a little till late Spring. Then I'll cut carbs a bit more and go for another 10 lbs.
So that's the way I handle it. When I miss the bubbly soda, I take some berries or other fruit, and pour seltzer water over them, smush them a bit and enjoy the variety of flavors.
This is true. Fat is necessary to produce good HDL. Fat will also slow down the sugar impact, so that your blood sugar doesn’t spike and cause a need for more insulin.
Insulin causes hunger. A treatment for anorexia used to involve giving the patients insulin injections for this reason.
Plus Butter from grass fed cows has more Vitamin K2. This is a fat soluble fat that is needed to keep Calcium going into your bones instead of collecting in your arteries.
Vitamin K2 has been almost totally deleted from our food supply due to the commercial production methods. 2 oz of Gouda cheese per day will just about get you the daily requirement. Egg yolks are pretty decent sources too.
I have all sorts of sugar stocked away, in case the government goes the way of Bloomberg. However, I myself don’t add sugar to any thing, no longer make desserts except during the holidays or the kids birthdays.
I certainly feel better, and have been able to lose some weight. Eating whole foods without a bunch of additives is the way to go. With a crock pot or pressure cooker, it’s not at all time consuming either.
Sugar really isn’t very good for you. Americans eat about a gazillion more times than necessary. I love the stuff, but it sure isn’t helping my health.
Would you please add me to your ping list? Thanks.
I forgot to say that when I added the nuts, and cut out a serving of bread, my triglycerides came down a lot. Now, after 2 years of lowering carbs gradually, my triglycerides are back to normal.
Done
Thank you for sharing your story. Great on your improved health.
Always glad to share, in case it helps anyone else.
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