Is sugar making us fat?

TCPalm.com ^ | July 1, 2003 | Lance Gay and Lee Bowman Scripps

[Steve Eisenberg]

The hunters were far healthier (even when dying young at the hands of a sabre tooth tiger or whatever).

chilepepper's post here started out so good but should have stopped after the first few sentences.

No one can know how healthy hunter-gatherers were back in the days of the La Brea tar pits, but today their low life expectancy has very little to do with being eaten by vertibrate predators. As for Atkins, check out Michael Fumento, a real health conservative. To paraphrase, you'll lose weight if you cut out two isles of the supermarket, but it doesn't matter which two. What bugs me about Atkins is not the diet but the know-it-all style of his writings. Of course, it may take one to know one ;-)

[Steve Eisenberg]

I just found out (due to years of poor food choices mea culpa , mea culpa) that I am type 2 diabetic.

It could also be due to bad luck.

[Lee'sGhost]

I'm 47, a brown in traditional Okinawan karate. Been in for almost 4 years. Karate is the way.

[chilepepper]

The date of the introduction of corn syrup as an additive to everything tracks almost exactly with the rise in American obesity.

curiously enough, the incidence of heart disease in the US tracks almost exactly with the rise in use of margarine and other hydrogenated fats,

these appeared in the early part of the last century ;) and before that folks strictly ate bacon, butter and eggs with abandon and had virtually no heart disease...

[Steve Eisenberg]

The date of the introduction of corn syrup as an additive to everything tracks almost exactly with the rise in American obesity.

I thought that the big corn syrup increase was in the 1960's, after the cut-off of sugar from Cuba, whereas the biggest weight increase was 1985-1995. However, a link to careful statatics on this could cause me to publicly repent. Does anyone have such a link?

[Steve Eisenberg]

curiously enough, the incidence of heart disease in the US tracks almost exactly with the rise in use of margarine and other hydrogenated fats

Then there would have to be a link somewhere showing careful side by side graphs. Anyone know of one?

What I think is that, in real life, heart-related diseases go up and down more than does margarine consumption. Valve disease is particularly up and down, indicating possible infectious involvement.

[Aquinasfan]

It sounds like you guys are looking for validation for your lard slarving ways.

You're on the low-fat road to type II diabetes and heart disease. Believe me now or believe me later.

[chilepepper]

I don't agree that we can't know about early mankind's health:

the story is in the bones. Hunter (and hunter-gatherer) skeletons showed remarkably good teeth and strong bones and were relatively tall. a forensic study would show that these folks died from wounds.

Once humans adapted to sumerian and egyptian city life where they lived off bread, their skeletons show terrible teeth, weaker bones, and evidence of various diseases. these folks died from disease

[Aquinasfan]

There isn't anything in aruanan's post that contradicts the Atkins plan.

My mistake then. I skimmed his/her post.

[Xenalyte]

What about other adult beverages? Any "good" ones?

I'm led to understand that liquor and wine are cool. (I don't have the Atkins book yet.)

[FrogMom]

And what about "protein bars," are they OK?

Depends on the protein bar. Read the label...some have 28 grams of carbs! Others have between 1 and 3. The low carb variety can be hard to find and sometimes expensive. Wal-Mart and Walgreens now carry them in my area.

FrogDad and I cruise the diabetics food section at Walgreens for a chocolate fix when we want them, too. Even so, read the labels.

[Prolixus]

... outlandish nonsense ...

AKA The Big Lie, is the sine qua non of group cohesion. It really helps to promulgate the lie if the outlandish nonsense is what the group wants to hear. For example, eating cheese, butter, and meat is better for you than eating beans, vegetables, and whole grains. Of course, this may be true, (especially if you're involved in the sale of dairy products or a meats), but I haven't seen any convincing scientific proof (i.e. long term populations studies) to support the high fat meat based diet over a lower fat plant based diet.

[Let's Roll]

Here's one.
http://www.iotf.org/media/syrup.htm

Also, empirically, here's something else you or anyone could do if you haven't already is check the ingredients on the packages in your pantry or at the supermarket. You will find High Fructose Corn Syrup in products that you would never think it needed to be in.

Example - I like those portion size containers of applesauce and other fruits - easy to take to work etc. Also good because label says it's just the fruit and water. In a hurry the other day, I bought a pack that also contained corn syrup. Why? The plain applesauce tastes great - natural like something we've all been missing - we have.

[EggsAckley]

I think RED wine is more "cool" than WHITE. Unfortified liquor is pretty okay, but not the ultra sweet stuff.
~/;o)

[aruanan]

You will find High Fructose Corn Syrup in products that you would never think it needed to be in.

Sugar, whether sucrose (glucose+fructose) or corn syrup (sucrose with extra fructose), is an antibacterial preservative. There's nothing harmful about it. Better that you be eating it than the bacteria it controls.

[muir_redwoods]

If you'll pardom my unsolcited comment, mastery of one's chosen art is the way. I have no quarrel with any style so long as it fits you and you can make progress. I have a number of students with dan rank in TaeKwonDo who take Hapkido so as to round out their skills. As you probably know, the one knock on TKD is that there are no mat techniques. While that may or may not be true, depending on one's school, Hapkido definitely has mat techniques. It's the grappling, joint locks and throws that attracted me over seven years ago and I've stuck with it.

I studied Judo and Kempo before but HKD seems to fit me better. Good luck in your studies and don't quit!

[Katie_Colic]

Sugar, whether sucrose (glucose+fructose) or corn syrup (sucrose with extra fructose), is an antibacterial preservative. There's nothing harmful about it. Better that you be eating it than the bacteria it controls.

You need to start your own diet with that as the basis! Sugar is good for you!

[Malsua]

>>It isn't just fat that kills. <<

Ice also kills. Atkins found out about that one too late.

[Aquinasfan]

I treat it like an alcoholic treats booze: Yes, I DO want a piece of garlic bread, but I am not going to eat it TODAY :)

Good for you. Keep it up. I've heard plenty of stories of type II diabetics who've gone low-carb and have been able to drop their medication.

[Let's Roll]

Not talking about sugar - table sugar if you will - talking about fructose - it's different and we react differently. If you don't, you're lucky.

"Prof Bray said that fructose bypasses the human metabolism’s normal energy burning responses and is more readily converted into fat. In addition the use of fructose and other sugars to sweeten foods meant that fat in the diet was more likely to be stored rather than burned. Fructose gets into cells without triggering an insulin response and can form the backbone for fat molecules more readily."

The above found at this link.

http://www.iotf.org/media/syrup.htm