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I'm curious to know who here is aware/unaware of the claim that the American food industry is literally making us sick.
(Quick note: A lot of people these days misuse the word 'literally'. I'm using this word in the original strong sense, i.e., not metaphorically. So I'm saying that that food industry is actually, straight-up, literally making us sick.)
Various celebrities and politicians have tried to bring this crisis to public attention, but I'm not sure how well the message has been distributed, or what people think of the crisis (e.g., do people generally see it as a genuine crisis, or as simply a bunch of hype - the usual whiners whining, etc.?).
Just to be clear: The problem is not just that sugar is cheap and widely available for various economic reasons. That is at the core of the problem, of course, but there are entrenched political aspects as well. For example, attempts to curtail the marketing of junk food aimed at children have been successfully thwarted by the food industry. (Deja ve: Just like a few decades ago when the tobacco industry lobbyists were testifying to congress that cigarettes don't cause cancer, today we have food industry experts claiming that sugar is not a threat to health. And, just as tobacco is addictive and killing people, sugar is literally addictive and killing people. In fact, studies show that it is more addictive than cocaine and - in the quantities consumed in the average American diet - it is a poison (albeit a slow-acting one).
For anyone who is not convinced about the crisis-level nature of this problem, I suggest doing a bit of research then come back here and tell us what you found.
On a related note, have you see the documentary Fed Up? If you have seen the movie and you think it is just a bunch of hooey, I hope you will give some arguments and evidence to support your opinion.
Quick quote from the Wiki page about Fed Up:
As the relationship between the high-sugar diet and poor health has emerged, entrenched sugar industry interests with almost unlimited financial lobbying resources have fended off attempts by parents, schools, states, and in Congress to provide a healthier diet for children.
(Link to Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fed_Up_(film) )
A few quick quotes from the documentary:
"School lunches have evolved to serve the food processors more than the students."
Eighty percent of American high schools have contracts with soft drink companies, with 50 percent of school cafeterias serving fast food.
"Eighty percent of the 600,000 food products in the United States have added sugar."
Last edited by Gaylenwoof; 10-20-2017 at 12:34 PM..
I can see it. Sugar is very addicting. People make choices to eat it, and we've always been told not to eat so much sugar.
It's in a lot of foods, and there are labels on the back of products that people can read. If it's got a long list of ingredients, chances are it's not that great to be eating.
No one makes their own stuff anymore. They are too busy, lazy, don't want to wait, don't want to do all those dishes after...but it's not a new discovery. It's not that people don't know, it's that they don't care enough to take more time to eat something that isn't packaged.
Don't forget saturated fat and cholesterol are terrible also, and the meat, egg, and dairy industry have engaged in shady practices themselves to promote the idea of their foods as being 'healthy' and 'harmless.'
Not to mention the millions of animals that suffer horribly for the sake of greedy American palates. People always whine about how other countries eat dogs or kill dolphins, but they need not look further than their own neighborhoods.
Reported links between sugar and cancer are very strong.
Here's what American Cancer Society says about scanning for cancer:
"Body tissues affected by certain diseases, such as cancer,
may absorb more or less of the tracer than normal tissues.
Special cameras pick up the pattern of radioactivity to create pictures
that show where the tracer travels and where it collects."
Guess what the tracer is?
Radioisotope variations of sugar. Cancer feeds off sugar.
PET scans:
"PET scans usually use a form of radioactive sugar.
Body cells take in different amounts of the sugar, depending on how fast they are growing.
Cancer cells, which grow quickly, are more likely to take up
larger amounts of the sugar than normal cells."
I can see it. Sugar is very addicting. People make choices to eat it, and we've always been told not to eat so much sugar.
True. But consider this:
Should tobacco and alcohol company advertising be allowed to target children? E.g., using cartoon characters to promote cigarette brands? Selling cigs and booze at child's-eye-level in every supermarket and convenience store? Should cigs and booze be available in school cafeterias?
This is essentially the problem with sugary junk foods today. Children (and their parents) are inundated with enticements to consume sugar. We all know it makes them sick - literally sick - not just teeth with cavities, but diabetes, heart disease, cancer... and we know it is addicting for many people.
"Associations between added sugars and increased cardiovascular disease risk factors among US children are present at levels far below current consumption levels. Strong evidence supports the association of added sugars with increased cardiovascular disease risk in children through increased energy intake, increased adiposity, and dyslipidemia." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5365373/
I'm curious to know who here is aware/unaware of the claim that the American food industry is literally making us sick.
(Quick note: A lot of people these days misuse the word 'literally'. I'm using this word in the original strong sense, i.e., not metaphorically. So I'm saying that that food industry is actually, straight-up, literally making us sick.)
Various celebrities and politicians have tried to bring this crisis to public attention, but I'm not sure how well the message has been distributed, or what people think of the crisis (e.g., do people generally see it as a genuine crisis, or as simply a bunch of hype - the usual whiners whining, etc.?).
Just to be clear: The problem is not just that sugar is cheap and widely available for various economic reasons. That is at the core of the problem, of course, but there are entrenched political aspects as well. For example, attempts to curtail the marketing of junk food aimed at children have been successfully thwarted by the food industry. (Deja ve: Just like a few decades ago when the tobacco industry lobbyists were testifying to congress that cigarettes don't cause cancer, today we have food industry experts claiming that sugar is not a threat to health. And, just as tobacco is addictive and killing people, sugar is literally addictive and killing people. In fact, studies show that it is more addictive than cocaine and - in the quantities consumed in the average American diet - it is a poison (albeit a slow-acting one).
For anyone who is not convinced about the crisis-level nature of this problem, I suggest doing a bit of research then come back here and tell us what you found.
On a related note, have you see the documentary Fed Up? If you have seen the movie and you think it is just a bunch of hooey, I hope you will give some arguments and evidence to support your opinion.
Quick quote from the Wiki page about Fed Up:
As the relationship between the high-sugar diet and poor health has emerged, entrenched sugar industry interests with almost unlimited financial lobbying resources have fended off attempts by parents, schools, states, and in Congress to provide a healthier diet for children.
(Link to Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fed_Up_(film) )
A few quick quotes from the documentary:
"School lunches have evolved to serve the food processors more than the students."
Eighty percent of American high schools have contracts with soft drink companies, with 50 percent of school cafeterias serving fast food.
"Eighty percent of the 600,000 food products in the United States have added sugar."
is sugar addictive?
your source says no.
Quote:
Results
We find little evidence to support sugar addiction in humans, and findings from the animal literature suggest that addiction-like behaviours, such as bingeing, occur only in the context of intermittent access to sugar. These behaviours likely arise from intermittent access to sweet tasting or highly palatable foods, not the neurochemical effects of sugar.
I included a link to that blog post because it offers a different perspective, but the bottom line is that there is considerable debate over this, and some of the evidence favoring the view that sugar is addictive is fairly strong.
But, for what it is worth, notice in the conclusion of the blog post: "Even if Lustig is wrong to call fructose poisonous and saddle it with all the blame for obesity and diabetes, his most fundamental directive is sound: eat less sugar."
I included a link to that blog post because it offers a different perspective, but the bottom line is that there is considerable debate over this, and some of the evidence favoring the view that sugar is addictive is fairly strong.
But, for what it is worth, notice in the conclusion of the blog post: "Even if Lustig is wrong to call fructose poisonous and saddle it with all the blame for obesity and diabetes, his most fundamental directive is sound: eat less sugar."
I know all about it Gaylenwoof, part of why I'm a subscriber/donor to US PIRG, a lobbying group that tries to do something about it (and other key issues).
It is unfathomably ridiculous that unhealthy food (of many kinds) is subsidized by the gov't while healthy food is not. When I visit countries like Thailand, I see that healthy food like fruit and veg is as cheap as dirt (and everywhere), while unhealthy food is more expensive and less common. That's the way it should be.
People always whine about how other countries eat dogs or kill dolphins, but they need not look further than their own neighborhoods.
What is culturally acceptable to eat elsewhere is not my concern. That said both dogs and dolphins are very intelligent creatures in particular the dolphin. The dog holds a special place in human history because it was the first domesticated animal and used for hunting, guarding and later on herding.
Trying to compare either to a cow is bit absurd.
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