Last night on Dutch TV: Robert Lustig,American doctor specialised in studying obese and associated illnesses.
Lustig says sugar is as bad for your body as cocaine,perhaps even worse.
Sugar is everywhere,it is contained in almost all preprocessed food,including items like ketchup.
He advocates stop drinking the well known beverages because these contain extraordinairy amounts of sugar which will do great harm to your intestines and your general fitness.
We all know these beverages are everywhere around us and are constantly tempting us to drink more of it.
It is the kind Warren Buffett is investing heavily in.
For me,i drink very limited amounts of soda,and drink my coffee without sugar or milk.
You get used to it within a week.
And,for sure,leave candy bars where they belong:in the shop!
Local advertising says children are allowed to take a snack in between regular meals,these snacks are usually sweet.
Not so in my youth,there was no money for sweets,a sandwich before leaving for school,a lunchbox with sandwich and apple,diner with boiled potatoes,vegetables,and a small piece of meat every other day,it kept me slim for a long time!
Is sugar a dangerous drug?
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
If I may share my story...
I plagued with a skin condition called rosacea, pretty common among "celtic" skin types : always red + pustules.
I also suffer from hay fever, and am overweight.
After reading about the effect of "fast" carbs, I decided to do the following :
I keep "fast" carbohydrates out of my diet. It means no pasta, no bread, no rice... and no sugar obviously.
I only allow my self for two meals "off" during the week, so it is more easy to socialize, eat at a friends place, etc...
I've been doing that for a month now.
The hard part is to get enough calories, so I do not loose to much weight.
The end result :
My skin looks better than with usual medication (I've stopped it since it caused me a bad case sun toxicity)
My hay fever is under control with the usual medication. Last year I was having unmanageable crises with same doses.
I've lost 2-4 lbs which is what I aimed for (per month).
More than sugar, all fast carbs are toxic to some people. It obviously depends on the dose and the people.
However, it is also true that sugar causes cravings that hard to overcome. Now I smile when i think about the sugar cravings I was having. A dangerous drug, indeed.
I plagued with a skin condition called rosacea, pretty common among "celtic" skin types : always red + pustules.
I also suffer from hay fever, and am overweight.
After reading about the effect of "fast" carbs, I decided to do the following :
I keep "fast" carbohydrates out of my diet. It means no pasta, no bread, no rice... and no sugar obviously.
I only allow my self for two meals "off" during the week, so it is more easy to socialize, eat at a friends place, etc...
I've been doing that for a month now.
The hard part is to get enough calories, so I do not loose to much weight.
The end result :
My skin looks better than with usual medication (I've stopped it since it caused me a bad case sun toxicity)
My hay fever is under control with the usual medication. Last year I was having unmanageable crises with same doses.
I've lost 2-4 lbs which is what I aimed for (per month).
More than sugar, all fast carbs are toxic to some people. It obviously depends on the dose and the people.
However, it is also true that sugar causes cravings that hard to overcome. Now I smile when i think about the sugar cravings I was having. A dangerous drug, indeed.
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
Lustig's video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, is almost required watching for anyone wondering about the research and science behind this subject.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Yes, in general, the less of it you ingest -- particularly the added kind, the better off you will be. And if you do ingest it, include the natural fiber it was usually attached to. I.e., eating oranges is fine, but don't drink a lot of orange juice.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Yes, in general, the less of it you ingest -- particularly the added kind, the better off you will be. And if you do ingest it, include the natural fiber it was usually attached to. I.e., eating oranges is fine, but don't drink a lot of orange juice.
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
Based on the studies I have seen, it appears the fiber associated with a minor amount of sugar (orange, apple, etc.) is the only healthy way to eat sugar. This one of the reasons the US corn subsidies are misplaced.
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Von Paulus
- Posts: 41
- Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:02 am
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
@Stoneage:
Congratulations with what you have achieved!
Usually minor alterations in behaviour bring great achievements.
About carbs in a diet: it may be correct that skipping carbs from our daily diet will bring immediate positive results,fine.
Nevertheless,looking back at my youth in the mid sixties and the tradional Dutch diet,it is a fact that we have been eating slices of bread for centuries,also that we have been eating boiled potatoes for dinner for ages too.
This has not caused major health problems for as long as people did manual labour,and were travelling pushbike from home to work and back.
People have been made lazy by modern technology and as such are not burning enough calories,intake is out of balance with consumption.
Same with rice,known as a major foodsource in the Far East for over 3,000 years,why would this now be a food on the blacklist?
It is not the carbs,it is the intake which matters!
Advertising for soda drinks and socalled in between snacks i dare to call criminal.
There is no need for these items but companies like us to believe it is great fun to drink soda all day long and to eat candybars to give us an energy boost.
Total nonsense if you ask me.
Congratulations with what you have achieved!
Usually minor alterations in behaviour bring great achievements.
About carbs in a diet: it may be correct that skipping carbs from our daily diet will bring immediate positive results,fine.
Nevertheless,looking back at my youth in the mid sixties and the tradional Dutch diet,it is a fact that we have been eating slices of bread for centuries,also that we have been eating boiled potatoes for dinner for ages too.
This has not caused major health problems for as long as people did manual labour,and were travelling pushbike from home to work and back.
People have been made lazy by modern technology and as such are not burning enough calories,intake is out of balance with consumption.
Same with rice,known as a major foodsource in the Far East for over 3,000 years,why would this now be a food on the blacklist?
It is not the carbs,it is the intake which matters!
Advertising for soda drinks and socalled in between snacks i dare to call criminal.
There is no need for these items but companies like us to believe it is great fun to drink soda all day long and to eat candybars to give us an energy boost.
Total nonsense if you ask me.
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
Any substance in excess is toxic, yes even water.
@Dragline, watched the video, very informative, thanks for sharing. Will see if I can get my SO to watch it as she falls for the marketing hype and picks the fat free products, which annoys me to no end!!!
@Dragline, watched the video, very informative, thanks for sharing. Will see if I can get my SO to watch it as she falls for the marketing hype and picks the fat free products, which annoys me to no end!!!
Last edited by vexed87 on Sun May 10, 2015 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
@Stoneage, congrats, very inspiring! What do you do to keep sugar cravings under control?
Soda and other processed foods are definitely designed to be addictive, err, "maximize consumer appeal". Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss goes into this in detail (may have been mentioned on the forum). Entire careers are devoted to finding the exact amount of sugar that will make food tasty without triggering the brain's "I'm full" signal, so consumers will always feel a need to eat more.
Soda and other processed foods are definitely designed to be addictive, err, "maximize consumer appeal". Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss goes into this in detail (may have been mentioned on the forum). Entire careers are devoted to finding the exact amount of sugar that will make food tasty without triggering the brain's "I'm full" signal, so consumers will always feel a need to eat more.
Re: Is sugar a dangerous drug?
@Walker : Sugar cravings lasted to 2 weeks. After a while your body learns to use fat and proteins. It waits and make good use of the slow carbs (mostly beans) without any craving. I actually was surprised to see I could skip a meal or two without feeling hungry at all, while I was having sugar cravings 1 to 2 hours after my last meal before.
However, that does not explain how I overcame those cravings :
1. conviction : I knew this could help, and really wanted to try. I had planned substitution for sugar and carbs : nuts (basically tasty fat and fibers) and beans (slow carbs, so you get energy and feel full).
2. the rules I set : 2 meals a week (thirsdays supper and sundays brunch), I can eat whatever I want. So basically if I am really craving for a particular food (usually biscuits and sweets), I usually have to wait 2-3 days, which is pretty manageable to me. The craving lasts usually less than 20 min. So it's just a mind battle + you eat substitute food that make you feel good an wait for the 20 min. mark (roasted almonds with cocoa powder = nice and tasty).
3. The unavoidable result : At first, thirsday evenings and sunday mornings were just sugar and carb binging, which made me feel sick and unsatisfied.
In about 3 weeks, those binging seemed unnnecessary, so I just ate a "normal meal" : pizza/pasta/rice or fries and a nice sweet desert.
@Von Paulus : About the carbs, you're right : they're no evil. I eat them. However I chose to prefer beans over cereals or potatoes. I will slowly bring back some items into my diet but will probably will stay away from processed carbs (white pasta, rice, ...) for 19 out of 21 meals per week. We are not created equal, and I seem to be quite sensitive to those foods.
@Dragline : great video you just shared here !
However, that does not explain how I overcame those cravings :
1. conviction : I knew this could help, and really wanted to try. I had planned substitution for sugar and carbs : nuts (basically tasty fat and fibers) and beans (slow carbs, so you get energy and feel full).
2. the rules I set : 2 meals a week (thirsdays supper and sundays brunch), I can eat whatever I want. So basically if I am really craving for a particular food (usually biscuits and sweets), I usually have to wait 2-3 days, which is pretty manageable to me. The craving lasts usually less than 20 min. So it's just a mind battle + you eat substitute food that make you feel good an wait for the 20 min. mark (roasted almonds with cocoa powder = nice and tasty).
3. The unavoidable result : At first, thirsday evenings and sunday mornings were just sugar and carb binging, which made me feel sick and unsatisfied.
In about 3 weeks, those binging seemed unnnecessary, so I just ate a "normal meal" : pizza/pasta/rice or fries and a nice sweet desert.
@Von Paulus : About the carbs, you're right : they're no evil. I eat them. However I chose to prefer beans over cereals or potatoes. I will slowly bring back some items into my diet but will probably will stay away from processed carbs (white pasta, rice, ...) for 19 out of 21 meals per week. We are not created equal, and I seem to be quite sensitive to those foods.
@Dragline : great video you just shared here !