How much damage are we doing to ourselves if we eat sweets as part of a balanced diet? (syrup, doctor)

[DanBev]

I think the most damage comes from the chemicals in the food supply,I am 88,our food until 1950 was home grown,grocery stores were just starting to show up,you had very small grocery stores and money was short.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by DanBev

I think the most damage comes from the chemicals in the food supply,I am 88,our food until 1950 was home grown,grocery stores were just starting to show up,you had very small grocery stores and money was short.

If you were using popular insecticides on your home grown farm (and this was the common trend in the USA between 1946 and 1955), then you were getting plenty of damage from DDT. People also used arsenic as pesticides in the late 1800's and well into the mid-1900's.

Home grown doesn't mean healthy, and there were LOTS of unhealthy chemicals in home-grown foods in the late 1940's.

[reneeh63]

The OP is being honest...many healthy people have relatively good diets while satisfying the occasional sweet tooth. I think people would be shocked if they actually wrote down everything they ate for a week - many are deluding themselve on how great their diet is and also exaggerating how bad a tbs. of sugar is.

The pendulum swings back and forth at a faster and faster rate. Don't eat ANY fat, don't eat ANY sugar; don't eat any MEAT; eat ONLY protein and high fat (keto). You're all crazy and you all change your diet every year to fit the latest craze instead of eating a balanced diet...that, OMG, has some carbs and sugar. The worst part is putting down everyone else's diet and believing your own is the gospel, even though you have been on 3 different ones in the last year.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by LO28SWM

. You are tall, slim and active but you will probably only be tall in a few years, the slim and the active will change. As you age your body will put on weight and it will be harder and harder to get rid of.

This is true for many people but not everyone. I was told the same thing over and over ("Just wait until you're 30 / 40 / 50! Your metabolism will crash and you'll pack on the pounds!") I'm now over 50 and have maintained the same weight over the past 30 years, apart from three pregnancies, so I have stopped listening. I do think it is important to eat healthy foods, and staying active is vital, but not everyone inevitably puts on weight as they get older.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by saibot

You're 23, thin, and active, and someone was surprised that you hadn't developed diabetes from this fairly moderate amount of sugar?? I think you should talk to a different nutritionist.

23 is the key. I could eat anything up until about 28 and never put on weight or have bad bloodwork. Sit down jobs and crossing the age 30 barrier changed that. I turned most of the issue around when I cut out all the sugar I was drinking and didn't really change anything else. I was probably putting down 500-600 extra calories of pure sugar per day between soda, juice, snapples, etc. It catches up to you, even if you are thin.

[texan2yankee]

I have observed sugar, or a variant of it, is in every processed food. i tried to buy horseradish the other day and it contained sugar! nope...not gonna buy that.

I am not a dogmatic food police person, but why is sugar in horseradish? i wasn't raised on processed foods nor were my kids. we ate real food. fresh meat and vegetables are cheap to prepare compared to processed foods.

simple, fresh cooking is a lost art. it is far cheaper than junk food and prepared food.66% of americans are fat. i have no doubt there is a connection.

[DanBev]

Originally Posted by DanBev

I think the most damage comes from the chemicals in the food supply,I am 88,our food until 1950 was home grown,grocery stores were just starting to show up,you had very small grocery stores and money was short.

Well I lost my mother at age 2 and father at age 5,there were 5 of us and no welfare or credit,everything was cash,homes were 20 percent down etc.
At one point when we did some planting I carried a bucket with cow manure which I dropped in a hole for plant.We had a nice green pasture with no fertilizer,no money but we survived,
We had a sand pit where we buried our vegetables for the winter.We smoked our pork from a pig we grew etc.

[Hawk4042C]

Originally Posted by xxblue100

I have a bit of a sweet tooth and I’m wondering how much damage I’m actually doing by eating these things.

I would say that my typical meals each week are a decent balance of proteins, starches and vegetables, and my snacks are mostly healthy as well. I’ll stick to things like tortilla chips and hummus, granola, bananas and peanut butter, and nuts. However, I do admit that I eat a lot of unhealthy things on top of this.

Just a few of the unhealthy things I eat would include the following. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’ll occasionally treat myself to a Dunkin iced coffee with cream and sugar, usually once or twice a week. Sometimes, I’ll get a flavor swirl and cream and omit the sugar if I’m really craving a sweet drink that tastes nothing like actual coffee. I hang out with my local friend once or twice a week, and every single time we hang out, we go to Dairy Queen and I’ll get a small M&M Blizzard. So I usually have one Blizzard per week, occasionally two. At home, I’d say I either have an after-dinner snack or dessert on an additional one or two nights. This will usually be a Chipwich or 5-6 Oreos.

In addition to all the sweets, I drink regular soda, mostly Coke or Dr. Pepper, three times per week. This is always with a meal at a restaurant or if I get takeout at home. I don’t keep soda in the house, nor do I get it as an afternoon snack the way I do with iced coffee. It’s strictly with food to minimize tooth decay.

I always thought I was doing okay and my diet was balanced, but when I spoke to my nutritionist friend about this, he said he was surprised I haven’t developed Type 2 diabetes, destroyed my stomach lining, or gotten heart disease yet from “all the toxic poison” I’ve been putting into my body. I really try and be balanced, but I enjoy these things, and I don’t understand people whose lives revolve around drinking only plain water and never touching soda or even juice, and avoiding the occasional ice cream like the plague. But then I wonder if he’s right. Am I just asking to die early, become a diabetic or have stomach issues the rest of my life by consuming the things I listed on top of healthy things? I do exercise 3 or 4 times a week as well and generally stay active, so I always thought I didn’t need to torture myself and live in fear by never eating or drinking anything unhealthy. But then the health nuts say I’m 100% going to get cancer, heart disease, diabetes, liver damage, etc, if I even dare to touch anything that’s not nutritious.

IMHO I only see two issues, for two completely different reasons.

First is the coffee. Why pay $6-10 for a cup of sugared coffee? For the price of 1-2 of those coffees, you can get the supplies and make your own at home for the month. Why let Dunkin rip you off?
Obviously those types of coffees aren't healthy for you.

Second is the soda. It doesn't matter if it's regular/diet, takeout/store bought, etc. It's all bad for you.
Regular has more sugar, Diet has more salt. Both too much sugar or salt is bad. Both takeout and
store bought (bottled/canned) have carbonation (gas) that gives it the fizzies. But the takeout has more added into the tanks to dispense the drinks from the machines. That causes more unwanted gas pressure inside the stomach. "Burping the alphabet" is essential to avoid having your stomach from exploding. Also the acid & carbonation rot your teeth.

Replacing soda with a healthier drink will make you feel and look much better. Water with fresh fruit added is a good replacement.

[Mikala43]

Recommended grams of sugar range from 25 to 50 per day. Track your average and adjust from there.

That is not meant to include nature sugar in fruit and such.

I was shocked that regular ketchup is 1/3 sugar, not that I eat a lot of it, but I buy reduced sugar ketchup now.

Your young, so you are fine now, but if you can, you should adjust your diet as it will affect you more and more as you get older (most likely).

At the very least you should KNOW how much you are consuming and go from there.

[tickyul]

If you are truly healthy, the relatively small amount of sugar you are eating, probably does little if any harm.