How much damage are we doing to ourselves if we eat sweets as part of a balanced diet? (tooth decay, tooth)
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When I was 23 and younger, I ate sugary items and I think I didn't even bother to add in any healthy foods - sugary items did the trick as a food group. I ran all the time. I ran alot. I ate some pretty over the top sweets (like suzie q's where you take the tops off, eat those first and smush the frosted pieces together and have a big overspill sandwich of frosting). As I got involved in a healthier lifestyle actually during my mid twenties, that all changed, plus diabetes runs in our family. I eat clean now and have for a number of years. I don't touch sugar whatsoever. Starting earlier means avoiding problems later on.
Consuming 3 non-diet sodas a week increases your risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If you drink alcohol as well, as I seem to recall you do, you're hammering your liver even more.
But hey, it's your life. Wouldn't want any "health nuts" interfering with your bizarre appetites.
True confessions here, when I was 23 and had my first office job, I was drinking 5-6 Pepsi's a day. Break, lunch, break, dinner, evening. Started running into minor health issues, did allergy testing and found out I had become allergic/sensitive to corn syrup. That was almost 40 years ago and I've been drinking good water and black coffee ever since.
Consuming 3 non-diet sodas a week increases your risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If you drink alcohol as well, as I seem to recall you do, you're hammering your liver even more.
But hey, it's your life. Wouldn't want any "health nuts" interfering with your bizarre appetites.
You’re a health nut clearly, and a rude one at that. You’re calling my appetites “bizarre” when I’d say it’s pretty darn normal. If it’s “bizarre” to enjoy an ice cream on a hot summer night or an ice cold soda once in a while, yeah, I guess myself and many other Americans are “bizarre” too. What a joke.
Gosh, I wish I were 23 again. No, I wish I had the body of a 23-year-old, with my current knowledge and finances. I was dumb and broke at 23.
There are a million food plans and variations, and their followers each believe they've found the perfect one, so you're going to get a lot of conflicting answers.
I've been reading up on gut bacteria lately. Here's a simplified version of what I've learned:
Apparently, some bacteria eat sugar, others prefer protein, dairy, fat, or whatever.
If your gut biome (the mix of bacteria you host) includes a lot of the sugar-eaters, you'll crave sweets.
If you cut out sweets for a few weeks, those bacteria won't reproduce as quickly, and you'll lose the craving.
If you cut out meat, the meat-eaters will die off, and meat won't seem as appealing. You may also have trouble digesting meat if you do eat it.
But you won't kill off all the bacteria, and if you add the sugar or meat back in, those bacteria populations will quickly grow (much faster than they died off), and you'll crave again.
A big problem with sugar is that it's a lot of calories with few nutrients. Your body would be better supported by eating nutrient-dense foods like veggies and protein.
Just to be clear, sugar is NOT a toxic poison, it's not toxic, and it's not a poison, period. To hear a nutritionist (does he have any real certifications or is that just what he calls himself?) talk that way would have me running in the other direction. Food doesn't cause ulcers and sugar is food. As for the rest, I doubt he or anyone knows exactly the limit on how much sugar you can imbibe before experiencing negative impacts and there are certainly individual differences.
If you want to eat less sugar and few carbs, go right ahead - but tell your nutritionist friend that fruits also contain sugar so he should be dead if that counts as a toxic poison. Don't let him tell you that you must follow a zero carb diet or even zero sugar - use some common sense and find someone who is actually qualified to give medical advice.
Gosh, I wish I were 23 again. No, I wish I had the body of a 23-year-old, with my current knowledge and finances. I was dumb and broke at 23.
There are a million food plans and variations, and their followers each believe they've found the perfect one, so you're going to get a lot of conflicting answers.
I've been reading up on gut bacteria lately. Here's a simplified version of what I've learned:
Apparently, some bacteria eat sugar, others prefer protein, dairy, fat, or whatever.
If your gut biome (the mix of bacteria you host) includes a lot of the sugar-eaters, you'll crave sweets.
If you cut out sweets for a few weeks, those bacteria won't reproduce as quickly, and you'll lose the craving.
If you cut out meat, the meat-eaters will die off, and meat won't seem as appealing. You may also have trouble digesting meat if you do eat it.
But you won't kill off all the bacteria, and if you add the sugar or meat back in, those bacteria populations will quickly grow (much faster than they died off), and you'll crave again.
A big problem with sugar is that it's a lot of calories with few nutrients. Your body would be better supported by eating nutrient-dense foods like veggies and protein.
Interesting info. When sugar is mentioned, does this include raw fruit, which is fructose, or is it just sucrose?
Just to be clear, sugar is NOT a toxic poison, it's not toxic, and it's not a poison, period. To hear a nutritionist (does he have any real certifications or is that just what he calls himself?) talk that way would have me running in the other direction. Food doesn't cause ulcers and sugar is food. As for the rest, I doubt he or anyone knows exactly the limit on how much sugar you can imbibe before experiencing negative impacts and there are certainly individual differences.
If you want to eat less sugar and few carbs, go right ahead - but tell your nutritionist friend that fruits also contain sugar so he should be dead if that counts as a toxic poison. Don't let him tell you that you must follow a zero carb diet or even zero sugar - use some common sense and find someone who is actually qualified to give medical advice.
I agree with this response. Sugar is not a toxic poison. It is, however, a good idea to figure out ways to lower how much sugar and fat you consume. As I've gotten older, I have made major cutbacks in things like soft drinks, fruit juice, doughnuts, cookies, ice cream, potato chips, candy, fast food, etc. But at 66, I don't count calories and have never been on a diet.
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