How much damage are we doing to ourselves if we eat sweets as part of a balanced diet? (lose weight, peanut butter)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
WebMD specifies processed sugar can be comparable to alcohol.
Which is to say - TOO MUCH sugar is bad for you. Yup, I agree, 100% no doubt, you bet.
Guess what else is bad for you if you have too much of it?
Water. In fact, if you drink too much water, it will kill you.
Does that mean water is a toxin? Nope. It means you need to not drink too much of it.
Same with sugar. There is a level of sugar (not "glucose," not "fructose," not "refined," not "processed" - but SUGAR. The overall category of sugar, that includes ALL sugar, not any one specific sugar) that is "too much." For a diabetic, that level might be "barely more than however much fits in a single cup of melonballs spread throughout the day, one melon-ball per hour." For someone athletic who burns through energy with a quick and efficient metabolism, it might be sugar in their morning two cups of coffee, strawberries and bananas in their morning cereal bowl, non-diet Gatorade once a day, and a double-scoop hot fudge sundae once a week.
Alcohol is not a form of energy for the human body. Sugar is. Sugar has some nutritional value AS a form of energy. Alcohol does not have that particular value.
Which is to say - TOO MUCH sugar is bad for you. Yup, I agree, 100% no doubt, you bet.
Guess what else is bad for you if you have too much of it?
Water. In fact, if you drink too much water, it will kill you.
Does that mean water is a toxin? Nope. It means you need to not drink too much of it.
Same with sugar. There is a level of sugar (not "glucose," not "fructose," not "refined," not "processed" - but SUGAR. The overall category of sugar, that includes ALL sugar, not any one specific sugar) that is "too much." For a diabetic, that level might be "barely more than however much fits in a single cup of melonballs spread throughout the day, one melon-ball per hour." For someone athletic who burns through energy with a quick and efficient metabolism, it might be sugar in their morning two cups of coffee, strawberries and bananas in their morning cereal bowl, non-diet Gatorade once a day, and a double-scoop hot fudge sundae once a week.
Alcohol is not a form of energy for the human body. Sugar is. Sugar has some nutritional value AS a form of energy. Alcohol does not have that particular value.
I totally agree with you.
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
The liver treats fructose exactly like alcohol. And too much fructose over time produces cirrhosis of the liver, just like alcohol.
So...the debate over the word "toxin" is irrelevant.
Yep. DH had an obese aunt who died from cirrhosis of the liver. Never touched alcohol - it was all sweets, overconsumption of them.
When you are young you don't think about these things, but as you get older, you might want to start thinking about what you are putting in your body. Is it helping, or is it doing harm? I have never heard anyone say soda is good for you.
Some things might be "bad" for you physically but mentally they make you happy - a small bowl of ice cream once in a while. You have to balance it and make your own decisions.
Personally I never understood people who drink sodas all day, diet or otherwise. You just need a sweet taste in your mouth all the time?
Yep. DH had an obese aunt who died from cirrhosis of the liver. Never touched alcohol - it was all sweets, overconsumption of them.
When you are young you don't think about these things, but as you get older, you might want to start thinking about what you are putting in your body. Is it helping, or is it doing harm? I have never heard anyone say soda is good for you.
Some things might be "bad" for you physically but mentally they make you happy - a small bowl of ice cream once in a while. You have to balance it and make your own decisions.
Personally I never understood people who drink sodas all day, diet or otherwise. You just need a sweet taste in your mouth all the time?
On the other hand, my grandmother was 96 when she died. In her last 10 years, she ate mostly cake, candy, 1/2 cup of cereal with a ripe banana in it for breakfast, and tea. She also salted any savory foods she ate, with overly generous amounts of table salt. She very rarely ate actual meals. She didn't stop playing golf until she was in her mid-80's.
When I questioned her diet with her doctor, he told me - she's in her 90's. Let her eat what she likes.
On the other hand, my grandmother was 96 when she died. In her last 10 years, she ate mostly cake, candy, 1/2 cup of cereal with a ripe banana in it for breakfast, and tea. She also salted any savory foods she ate, with overly generous amounts of table salt. She very rarely ate actual meals. She didn't stop playing golf until she was in her mid-80's.
When I questioned her diet with her doctor, he told me - she's in her 90's. Let her eat what she likes.
And that was that.
For most of your grandmother's life, food was relatively unprocessed and darned close to organic. She also didn't snack continuously for most of her life and had significant periods of fasting between meals.
For most of your grandmother's life, food was relatively unprocessed and darned close to organic. She also didn't snack continuously for most of her life and had significant periods of fasting between meals.
Well, how do you know that?? Did she tell you she didn't snack and fasted between meals?
My grandmother was born in 1896 and died in 1993 (97 years old), but processed food was readily available for most of her life. No one was paying attention to whether food was organic or not, and from the 1920s on, most farm-raised foods were NOT what would be classified as organic. All sorts of manmade fertilizers were being used, and some were toxic.
My grandma was a city person, a working single mother who didn't have time for much cooking, and she was never much of a cook. She ate plenty of storebought bread, canned soup, dry cereal from a box, and she loved ice cream and sweets. The last few years she lived with us, and my parents had the same attitude as Ghaati's--let her eat whatever she wants. And what she wanted was ice cream and cookies every day.
The two things that she did over her life that I think were the healthiest and kept her going so long were that she ate small amounts (everyone ate smaller amounts then), and she walked a ton. She never learned to drive, so she walked everywhere. She was walking down the stairs, to the grocery store or wherever, and back up the stairs to her apartment until she was in her late 80s.
Well, how do you know that?? Did she tell you she didn't snack and fasted between meals?
My grandmother was born in 1896 and died in 1993 (97 years old), but processed food was readily available for most of her life. No one was paying attention to whether food was organic or not, and from the 1920s on, most farm-raised foods were NOT what would be classified as organic. All sorts of manmade fertilizers were being used, and some were toxic.
My grandma was a city person, a working single mother who didn't have time for much cooking, and she was never much of a cook. She ate plenty of storebought bread, canned soup, dry cereal from a box, and she loved ice cream and sweets. The last few years she lived with us, and my parents had the same attitude as Ghaati's--let her eat whatever she wants. And what she wanted was ice cream and cookies every day.
The two things that she did over her life that I think were the healthiest and kept her going so long were that she ate small amounts (everyone ate smaller amounts then), and she walked a ton. She never learned to drive, so she walked everywhere. She was walking down the stairs, to the grocery store or wherever, and back up the stairs to her apartment until she was in her late 80s.
I think you misunderstood a lot about my post because you don't realize how much the "standard American diet" and American eating patterns have changed just since the 80s.
The 80s are actually the transition period for both factors, from when American foods were relatively very clean and whole and from when Americans ate relatively sparsely.
No, you don't realize the extent to which foods have been chemicalized since the days of simple insecticides. Wheat today is nearly a completely different food from the wheat your grandmother ate when she was young and growing.
Foods with those simple insecticides--used sparingly compared to today's doses--were comparatively organic. In fact, they were actually organic compared to what is legally allowed in "organic" foods today. It's hard to produce organic food that has not been already contaminated by chemicals that can't be eradicated from tainted farmlands and water sources....which weren't tainted when your grandmother was young.
There were no growth hormones used in meat supplies back then. There were no antibiotics used in meat supplies back then. Simpler and slower processing systems were also cleaner and subject to less contamination.
For instance, up through the 60s in to the 70s, most adults and children of all income levels usually ate three distinct meals a day with nothing but water in between. So-called "fast food" was real food. A hamburger at the drugstore grill was made from real ground cow that was probably grass-fed... and hamburgers were eaten maybe twice a month. A "tv dinner" was real peas and turkey cooked naturally and just frozen.
There weren't vending machines in schools or at work. At breaks, kids at school had a water fountain, white-collar workers had a water cooler in the hall, blue collar workers had a "water buffalo" on the job site.
People ate mostly at home. Mothers didn't stock cabinets full of junk food. She cooked dinner, then cleaned the kitchen...and closed it. Kids got water until breakfast the next day.
I think you misunderstood a lot about my post because you don't realize how much the "standard American diet" and American eating patterns have changed just since the 80s.
For instance, up through the 60s in to the 70s, most adults and children of all income levels usually ate three distinct meals a day with nothing but water in between. So-called "fast food" was real food. A hamburger at the drugstore grill was made from real ground cow that was probably grass-fed... and hamburgers were eaten maybe twice a month. A "tv dinner" was real peas and turkey cooked naturally and just frozen.
There weren't vending machines in schools or at work. At breaks, kids at school had a water fountain, white-collar workers had a water cooler in the hall, blue collar workers had a "water buffalo" on the job site.
People ate mostly at home. Mothers didn't stock cabinets full of junk food. She cooked dinner, then cleaned the kitchen...and closed it. Kids got water until breakfast the next day.
This is absolutely not true for a great deal of kids growing up in the 60's, 70's, including me.
What is this claim that I ate "three distinct meals a day with nothing but water in between" ? You are absolutely wrong. I did eat three meals a day, I also snacked as I liked, and we didn't drink water as much as we drank koolaid.
You are wrong to claim that "hamburgers were eaten maybe twice a month." We ate them often.
Do you have proof of what was in the tv dinners? Because this claim that they were all natural should be backed up with proof. As I recall, the chicken pot pies and salisbury steak had a gooey sugary gravy that tasted like no natural gravy I've ever eaten.
There absolutely were vending machines in my middle school and high school in the 70's, full of junk, candy bars, chips, trail mix.
"Mothers didn't stock cabinets full of junk food. She cooked dinner, then cleaned the kitchen...and closed it." LOL. These inaccurate unsubstantiated made up claims make me laugh. No, my mother hated cooking, family circle, better homes and gardens, all were full of recipes of how to use campbell's soup as the base for dinners. The cabinets were full of junk food, sugar smacks, fruit loops, lucky charms, and candy and more candy. My mother didn't wash the dishes--me and my older sister did. My mother didn't like to cook at all, much was processed. The kitchen was never "closed". We ate out at least two dinners a week. There was a candy bar in my bologna sandwich lunch bag everyday, and an apple or orange which promptly hit the trash can, my choice. I gave away candy bars, I got tired of them. "Kids got water until breakfast the next day." Not true at all, I drank juice or pop or koolaid, never tap water, and I ate anything I wanted in the evenings, usually doritos, fritos, potato chips, cheezits, or ice cream.
These unsubstantiated claims that we all grew up with wholesome foods with Cleaver mothers who do the dishes-- you're not much of a historian. My upbringing matched the commercials on tv at that time exactly.
This is absolutely not true for a great deal of kids growing up in the 60's, 70's, including me.
What is this claim that I ate "three distinct meals a day with nothing but water in between" ? You are absolutely wrong. I did eat three meals a day, I also snacked as I liked, and we didn't drink water as much as we drank koolaid.
You are wrong to claim that "hamburgers were eaten maybe twice a month." We ate them often.
Do you have proof of what was in the tv dinners? Because this claim that they were all natural should be backed up with proof. As I recall, the chicken pot pies and salisbury steak had a gooey sugary gravy that tasted like no natural gravy I've ever eaten.
There absolutely were vending machines in my middle school and high school in the 70's, full of junk, candy bars, chips, trail mix.
"Mothers didn't stock cabinets full of junk food. She cooked dinner, then cleaned the kitchen...and closed it." LOL. These inaccurate unsubstantiated made up claims make me laugh. No, my mother hated cooking, family circle, better homes and gardens, all were full of recipes of how to use campbell's soup as the base for dinners. The cabinets were full of junk food, sugar smacks, fruit loops, lucky charms, and candy and more candy. My mother didn't wash the dishes--me and my older sister did. My mother didn't like to cook at all, much was processed. The kitchen was never "closed". We ate out at least two dinners a week. There was a candy bar in my bologna sandwich lunch bag everyday, and an apple or orange which promptly hit the trash can, my choice. I gave away candy bars, I got tired of them. "Kids got water until breakfast the next day." Not true at all, I drank juice or pop or koolaid, never tap water, and I ate anything I wanted in the evenings, usually doritos, fritos, potato chips, cheezits, or ice cream.
These unsubstantiated claims that we all grew up with wholesome foods with Cleaver mothers who do the dishes-- you're not much of a historian. My upbringing matched the commercials on tv at that time exactly.
I said "into the 70s," It started changing in the 70s.
First you said into the 80s (I graduated from high school in the 80s), then you moved that back to 70s, and now you're probably going to point out that you actually referenced the 60s.
My experience in the 1970s and 80s was not exactly like NoMansLands, but more alike than different. And what's more, my oldest brother was born in 1947 while I was born in 1969. My older siblings confirm that my parents did not change all that much over the intervening years. My mom's cooking stayed about the same. She thought she was cooking "healthy" food, but she used plenty of convenience foods--canned soup, canned vegetables, etc.--and we always had boxed crackers and boxed cookies in the pantry, and ice cream and Danish pastries in the freezer. I remember devouring Vanilla Wafers, Fig Newtons, and a bunch of different Nabisco crackers (there was a bacon flavored cracker, and one that was shaped like little slices of Swiss cheese...)
We kids didn't get Kool-Aid, but we drank lemonade (from concentrate or the powdered stuff in a can) and chocolate milk (powder mixed into regular milk) all the time, whenever we wanted it. We were NEVER told that we could not eat between meals or could only drink water. In elementary school, my friend and I bought popsicles every single day after lunch, and if we got milk, it was chocolate milk. My high school had vending machines.
And yeah, my mom usually cooked dinner, but we kids were allowed in the kitchen any old time to make grilled cheese sandwiches or cookies. There was no "the kitchen is closed, nothing but water for you!" And after dinner, Mom and Dad sat at the table with a cup of tea while we kids washed the dishes.
We were very active, played outside most of the time until we were in middle school, and also had to walk to school. We vibrated all those calories off (and the whole family was naturally on the thin side). But it just wasn't the case that we didn't snack or that all of our food was healthful and organic.
Last edited by saibot; 04-02-2021 at 08:27 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
