Soft Drinks are "Poison" period> diet or regular

[Doc Dan]

The problem with soft drinks is that they are full of sugar. Sugar is a drug and what is worse, it actually lowers your IQ temporarily. I always caution my students not to eat or drink sugar before an exam. Sugar also raises your blood sugar and then drops it very fast. It is not good to consume much refined sugar.

I guess sugar being a drug is technically true, in that diabetics and others subject to attacks of hypoglycemia often carry glucose tablets to counteract low blood sugar. A student having an attack of hypoglycemia may very well do better on an exam after eating some sugar. I'm baffled at how some people can consider a substance that our bodies require, and even produce by breaking down other foods, to be evil. Granted, moderation is the key and too much can be harmful, but that can be said of many other things, including water.

FWIW, aside from what may be found in some of the foods I eat, I rarely ever use white sugar. Filled a two cup container with it 7 years ago when I moved in here and it's still about 1/4 full. I either use aspartame or honey to sweeten tea, coffee, and hot cereal and stevia on the rare occasions when I bake. My carbonated beverage consumption is limited to about a liter a week, and it's normally flavored sparkling water from Walmart that's also sweetened with aspartame.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017 ... 017-097971

https://www.healthline.com/health/food- ... ive-drug#1

[The Deacon]

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017 ... 017-097971

https://www.healthline.com/health/food- ... ive-drug#1

What they seem to be saying is that anything that gives us pleasure, releases chemicals similar to those released by using opiates. I can concede that some people might become addicted to sugar in that way, just as some people are said to be addicted to gambling, sex, or shopping. I'm just not sure any of those things really deserve to be labeled addiction, obsessive compulsive behavior possibly, poor impulse control maybe, addiction, not so much.

Googling "is sugar addictive" seems to return a mix of yeses and nos, so I'm inclined to take your sources with a grain of salt. Perhaps more than a grain, as I really crave love salt.

[Doc Dan]

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017 ... 017-097971

https://www.healthline.com/health/food- ... ive-drug#1

What they seem to be saying is that anything that gives us pleasure, releases chemicals similar to those released by using opiates. I can concede that some people might become addicted to sugar in that way, just as some people are said to be addicted to gambling, sex, or shopping. I'm just not sure any of those things really deserve to be labeled addiction, obsessive compulsive behavior possibly, poor impulse control maybe, addiction, not so much.

Googling "is sugar addictive" seems to return a mix of yeses and nos, so I'm inclined to take your sources with a grain of salt. Perhaps more than a grain, as I really crave love salt.

As a university prof, I can tell you that my experience mirrors scientific research on the effects of sugar on performance. Refined sugar elevates blood sugar levels and then drops it very fast, leaving students without the energy to keep their brains active. Also, refined sugar has been shown to temporarily cause a drop in IQ and problem solving abilities (much like Sponge Bob :D ). Test performance definitely declines. I counsel all of my students to stay away from sugar the morning of exams and to eat properly.

[Crux]

I don't eat very much sugar as I don't like sweets or candies. Being a Southerner I do like my sweet tea, although just a little sweet. I do like salt a lot which makes my wife shake her head. She says she's never seen anyone put salt on pizza which I don't think is weird. They have salt shakers on the table for a reason. About the only thing I don't put salt on is fruit and I had to stop and think about that just to make sure.

[The Deacon]

As a university prof, I can tell you that my experience mirrors scientific research on the effects of sugar on performance. Refined sugar elevates blood sugar levels and then drops it very fast, leaving students without the energy to keep their brains active. Also, refined sugar has been shown to temporarily cause a drop in IQ and problem solving abilities (much like Sponge Bob :D ). Test performance definitely declines. I counsel all of my students to stay away from sugar the morning of exams and to eat properly.

I still think the "stay away from sugar" mantra is overkill. Glazed donuts washed down with Coke may not be the ideal exam day breakfast, but I can't see the harm in a student putting a teaspoon of sugar on a bowl of oatmeal.

I don't eat very much sugar as I don't like sweets or candies. Being a Southerner I do like my sweet tea, although just a little sweet. I do like salt a lot which makes my wife shake her head. She says she's never seen anyone put salt on pizza which I don't think is weird. They have salt shakers on the table for a reason. About the only thing I don't put salt on is fruit and I had to stop and think about that just to make sure.

Ah, someone else who puts salt on pizza! As for fruit, I almost always put it on bananas and occasionally on apples, pears, grapefruit, and figs.

[Doc Dan]

As a university prof, I can tell you that my experience mirrors scientific research on the effects of sugar on performance. Refined sugar elevates blood sugar levels and then drops it very fast, leaving students without the energy to keep their brains active. Also, refined sugar has been shown to temporarily cause a drop in IQ and problem solving abilities (much like Sponge Bob :D ). Test performance definitely declines. I counsel all of my students to stay away from sugar the morning of exams and to eat properly.

I still think the "stay away from sugar" mantra is overkill. Glazed donuts washed down with Coke may not be the ideal exam day breakfast, but I can't see the harm in a student putting a teaspoon of sugar on a bowl of oatmeal.

I don't eat very much sugar as I don't like sweets or candies. Being a Southerner I do like my sweet tea, although just a little sweet. I do like salt a lot which makes my wife shake her head. She says she's never seen anyone put salt on pizza which I don't think is weird. They have salt shakers on the table for a reason. About the only thing I don't put salt on is fruit and I had to stop and think about that just to make sure.

Ah, someone else who puts salt on pizza! As for fruit, I almost always put it on bananas and occasionally on apples, pears, grapefruit, and figs.

I do not tell people not to eat sugar. I have to have Krispy Kreme every now and then. I just caution people to watch when and how much they eat it.

[tvenuto]

I still think the "stay away from sugar" mantra is overkill. Glazed donuts washed down with Coke may not be the ideal exam day breakfast, but I can't see the harm in a student putting a teaspoon of sugar on a bowl of oatmeal.

It’s not, like, at all. We’re in the grips if a full on diabetes epidemic, which is 100% resulting from overeating sugar.

The real problem is that we look at that oatmeal (or bread, or pasta) and don’t see “sugar” already. Make no mistake: all “complex carbohydrates” hit your intestines as sugar. So that student is puting sugar on his sugar, but you see something different because some jerk wanted to sell you grains and felt like the best way to do that was to make a “food pyramid” that has no basis whatsoever on how you utilize nutrients.

Oh there are differences in absorption rate an the impact on insulin, sure. But total carb load is total carb load, and sugar in the blood needs to not be there, and it’s insulin that gets it out.

[ChrisinHove]

When visiting Florida from the UK last year, we were surprised how many basic foodstuffs in the supermarkets had added sugar.

[ThePeacent]

to all of you interested in nutrition and sugar/carbs in particular as I am, I can recommend watching:

"That Sugar Film"
"Sugar Coated"
"The truth About: Sugar" (the first of a 4 British documentary series)
"Sugar: The Bitter Truth"
"Sweet Suicide: How Sugar is destroying the Health of our Society"
"BBC Horizon: Why Are we getting so Fat"

as well as reading:

"Pure, White and Deadly" by John Yudkin
"The Case against Sugar" by Gary Taubes (also good read by him: Why We get Fat, and What to do About It" and "Good Calories, Bad Calories")
"Fat Chance" by Robert Lustig
"That Sugar Book" by Damon Gameau
"Sugar Nation" by Jeff O'Connell
"Suicide by Sugar" by Nancy Appleton

and also related, but more about fat, carbs, and their relation to health and modern society: :cool:

"The Big Fat Surprise" by Nina Teicholz
"Grain Brain" by David Perlmutter

and the documentaries: :o

"Fat Head"
"Cereal Killers" and "Cereal Killers 2"
"The Big Fat Fix"

all good, eye opening information and writing on the subjects. I am a nutrition enthusiast indeed

[JD Spydo]

I still think the "stay away from sugar" mantra is overkill. Glazed donuts washed down with Coke may not be the ideal exam day breakfast, but I can't see the harm in a student putting a teaspoon of sugar on a bowl of oatmeal.

It’s not, like, at all. We’re in the grips if a full on diabetes epidemic, which is 100% resulting from overeating sugar.

The real problem is that we look at that oatmeal (or bread, or pasta) and don’t see “sugar” already. Make no mistake: all “complex carbohydrates” hit your intestines as sugar. So that student is puting sugar on his sugar, but you see something different because some jerk wanted to sell you grains and felt like the best way to do that was to make a “food pyramid” that has no basis whatsoever on how you utilize nutrients.

Oh there are differences in absorption rate an the impact on insulin, sure. But total carb load is total carb load, and sugar in the blood needs to not be there, and it’s insulin that gets it out.

That's an excellent point "Tvenuto" Because just what all you just cited makes me believe that it is probably why "NON-GLUTEN" diets seem to work pretty well overall. My old boss got on a "non-gluten" diet and within the first 4 months he had lost 60 lbs. And I bet it's because of laying off the pasta, pizza and just about anything that contained any wheat by-products too>> which like you said probably all turns into calories that a person can't burn off readily. Since I got my surgery done I've laid off all the gluten ( well most of it anyway :rolleyes: ) and I've seen about an 18 lb weight loss. My old boss also laid off soft drinks completely and no longer even drinks his coffee with any type of sweetener in it>> In total he's lost over 80 lbs since he got off all the gluten >> and from what you're saying I would be willing to bet that the GMO gluten ( which is what most of us get ) probably reacts like sugar to the system as well just like these poison soft drinks. And the diet crap soda pop I think even adds much more weight to a person. Just look at anyone addicted to that diet Aspertame crap and I bet you would be really hard pressed to find anyone who has had weight loss success by drinking it :rolleyes:

I've said for years it's not all together how much you eat as it is what types of food that you eat. And combined with what you just said really confirms what I've been believing for some time now.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Well, basically JD Spydo, you are one of the people I personally credit for convincing me to cut back on sodas and sugary drinks. At times I do indulge in ginger ale and I know that has sugar and some types have high fructose corn syrup. I want to sincerely and personally thank you and tvenuto for helping me to make this decision.

The phosphoric acid in colas I have heard and read it claimed dissolves bones and is very bad for women and men and children because it makes our bones brittle.

I do like flavored carbonated water. Do you think the carbonation is safe in that?

[ThePeacent]

I do like flavored carbonated water. Do you think the carbonation is safe in that?

No solid evidence to indicate otherwise. :o
And you're much better drinking water (carbonated or not) than soda drinks, coke, pepsi, energy beverages, iso-drinks, sports drinks, smoothies, frappes, milkshakes, protein shakes... :p
just be aware that, when flavored, sparkling/carbonated water often contains sugar, additives and/or other sweeteners or chemicals :eek:

and from what you're saying I would be willing to bet that the GMO gluten ( which is what most of us get ) probably reacts like sugar to the system as well just like these poison soft drinks.

the aforementioned "Grain Brain" (David Perlmutter) and Wheat Belly (William Davis) are revealing books on the gluten and wheat subjects :cool:

[z4vdBt]

to all of you interested in nutrition and sugar/carbs in particular as I am, I can recommend watching:

"That Sugar Film"
"Sugar Coated"
"The truth About: Sugar" (the first of a 4 British documentary series)
"Sugar: The Bitter Truth"
"Sweet Suicide: How Sugar is destroying the Health of our Society"
"BBC Horizon: Why Are we getting so Fat"

as well as reading:

"Pure, White and Deadly" by John Yudkin
"The Case against Sugar" by Gary Taubes (also good read by him: Why We get Fat, and What to do About It" and "Good Calories, Bad Calories")
"Fat Chance" by Robert Lustig
"That Sugar Book" by Damon Gameau
"Sugar Nation" by Jeff O'Connell
"Suicide by Sugar" by Nancy Appleton

and also related, but more about fat, carbs, and their relation to health and modern society: :cool:

"The Big Fat Surprise" by Nina Teicholz
"Grain Brain" by David Perlmutter

and the documentaries: :o

"Fat Head"
"Cereal Killers" and "Cereal Killers 2"
"The Big Fat Fix"

all good, eye opening information and writing on the subjects. I am a nutrition enthusiast indeed

Good list. I've read Gary Taubes (all 3 of his books - Case Against Sugar, Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It, and Good Calories Bad Calories), Nina Teicholz, David Perlmutter's Grain Brain and Brain Maker, and Wheat Belly. I follow Dr. Rhonda Patrick. As well as many, many more. I've been recently accompanying my wife to her diabetes (type 2) 3 month appointment. She's see me start low carb / high fat this March 2018, and losing 15lb and 6 inches, and she cut down on some bad carbs (we never were sugar cola drinkers), and her A1C was 6.4 last visit - dropping below the you have type 2 diabetes threshold, so now she's back to appointments every 6 months. I gave her young doc a copy of Good Calories Bad Calories. She said you want it back when I'm done? I said, no, just pass it around.

[tvenuto]

Yea medical “common knowledge” moves at a glacial pace, to put it generously. Good on you for spreading the knowledge.

I had a T1 diabetic client who halved his insulin consumption, lost several inches of spare tire, lowered every single “health marker” that they tell you to lower. His doctor asked him what had suddenly changed to illicit this amazing improvement across the board. When he told the doc, the doc said that it was a “dangerous fad diet.” [facepalm]

[z4vdBt]

More reading:

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Dr. Matthew P. Walker 2017
The Magnesium Miracle, Carolyn Dean 2nd edition 2017
The Ketogenic Bible: The Authoritative Guide to Ketosis, Jacob Wilson, Ryan Lowery 2017
The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight, Dr. Satchin Panda 2018
The Longevity Diet, Valter Longo 2016
Healthy Gut, Healthy You: The Personalized Plan to Transform Your Health from the Inside Out, Dr. Michael Ruscio 2018
The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, Dale Bredesen 2017
The Diabetes Code: prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes naturally, Jason Fung 2018
The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss, Jason Fung 2016
The Alzheimer's Antidote, Amy Berger 2017
The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--And How Eating More Might Save Your Life, James Dinicolantonio 2017
The Complete Guide to Fasting, Jason Fung, Jimmy Moore 2016
The New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great, Eric C. Westman, Stephen D. Phinney, Jeff S. Volek 2010
Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution Robert C. Atkins 2002

[The Deacon]

Pick any food or beverage humans consume, and there's some person out there who claims to be a scientist or doctor and says that it's bad for you.

According to some of them, all forms of sugar are bad for you. So no white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, agave syrup. No processed foods containing sugar (so, basically no processed foods). No fruit or fruit juice, because they contain natural sugars.

Some of those people also claim that complex carbohydrates, all of which your body breaks down into sugar, are bad for you. That means no grains or things made from them like pasta and bread, no beans, no potatoes.

The problem is, while our bodies also require proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, their primary fuel is glucose. That's why the our bodies reduce complex carbohydrates to glucose and probably why we are programmed to enjoy sweet stuff.

As I've said before, I think moderation is the key. I also think "nutritional science" is more like "nutritional voodoo", given the many about-faces on whether certain foods and drinks are harmful or beneficial. I'll soon be 73, if my heredity or a drunk driver doesn't get me first. I've survived this long despite having had a heart murmur since birth and smoking for over 40 years. These days I only have a GP, I gave up on cardiologists after burying two of them, both younger than me when they passed. Figure if they can't keep themselves alive, they just taking my money. I've also buried a few younger friends all of whom were into "healthy living".

[tvenuto]

Yes there are quacks out there, and people who prey on fearmongering to gain popularity. The China Study (a very famous book, which was based on cherry-picked data designed to show that meat caused cancer) is one such example, and of course there are many more minor cases in the internet age. This does not make any dietary advice bad. Also the books that Peacent has listed contain their justifications for the recommendations, he's not merely saying to do something because an expert says so.

You hit on another point yourself: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and what works for a single person shouldn't be use to make blanket recommendations. If we just took you and you alone, we might recommend that smoking isn't bad at all, since it doesn't appear to have affected you negatively. However, this would be an erroneous conclusion, as I think we can all agree that if general health is a concern, limiting or abstaining from smoking is a good idea.

The reason some of us are making a recommendation to avoid sugar and other "complex" carbohydrates, is that they are so utterly prevalent in our modern day. If I told you I'd give you $1000 if you could gather for me 1000 calories of edible food in 2min, I have every confidence that the resultant haul would be 80% or more carbohydrate.

People are eating meals so utterly out of balance that they can't actually tell what "moderation" might be. They're on a Charlie Sheen level coke and prostitute binge, and they're saying "well, at least it's not heroin..." before bending over the mirror at 10am. They can remember or conceive of worse, so they assume that what they're doing might count as "moderation."

Just earlier you stated that a teaspoon of sugar on your oatmeal might be considered "moderation" compared to doughnuts and soda. According to this site, you're taking a bowl containing 67% carbs (by calorie) and suggesting that adding carbs is moderation. Of course, it's not really fair to take one thing you said off the cuff and pick it apart, BUT, it is indicative of the rules that most people follow.

Now, I'm not saying all carbs are bad, and that if you eat sugar ever it will kill you. However, people ARE eating too much sugar in general, and it's so beyond way too much that you don't get to ever say "everything in moderation" about it. It might not catch up to them today, and maybe not tomorrow, but they are (in general) reaping it eventually. Again, I point to the current diabetes epidemic.

[ThePeacent]

More reading:

The Ketogenic Bible: The Authoritative Guide to Ketosis, Jacob Wilson, Ryan Lowery 2017

The Diabetes Code: prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes naturally, Jason Fung 2018
The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss, Jason Fung 2016

The Complete Guide to Fasting, Jason Fung, Jimmy Moore 2016

as my interest in ketogenic diets and low carb approach to eating increased, that and "Keto Clarity" (Jimmy Moore) were two solid reads with great info to be found. :rolleyes:
"The Art and science of Low Carbohydrate Living" also compliments the info from Taubes very well, and it's a good addition to the reads about LCHF and Keto. :spyder:
Also "Fat for fuel" in relation to Keto for Cancer (which my mother has just "overcome" this past August)

And the documentaries I mentioned "Fat Head", and "Cereal Killers" (1 and 2) are good and easy to watch for those less inclined to reading, and more to watching :cool: .

They are more "anecdotal" than the books but address similar points regarding carbs, sugar, fat, and their relation to obesity, diabetes and other diseases of modern society

I am also a fan of Fung and his work on Fasting, which I got to know thanks to his website (Dietdoctor.com), to then reading his books. It's very interesting and I've tried ADF and IF myself with good results so far. :o


PS: nice of you passing that book along, I try to do the same :p (last one was "Grain Brain " that I brought to my trip to Berlin but left there to be read with other books, in the public room of the hostel

[z4vdBt]

Sometimes, it's laughable that Ancel Keys and McGovern's 1977 dietary guidelines changed the diet of the western world - for the worse. While there weren't fat kids and fat adults everywhere back then, the advice which became dogma - eat low fat / high carbs, caused the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic - and they're still doing it.

UnF*** Yourself -Type 2 diabetes edition 9-18-2018, Dr. Jason Fung

So, I’m in the public library, and I decide to check out what the CDA feels is a perfectly acceptable dessert – oh, yes, Canada’s 150 Best Diabetes Desserts – from the CDA. I randomly look at a recipe – oh, look – Lemon Lime Cookies. Scanning through the ingredients, there are 3 1/2 cups of highly refined white flour and 1 1/4 cups of sugar. This is one of Canada’s 150 Best Diabetes Desserts? Are these people completely and utterly insane? Yes, yes they are. This is the best advice from the Canadian Diabetes Association? Is the CDA trying to prevent diabetes or give us diabetes, because it is not entirely clear to me.

If the CDA is trying to prevent diabetes, then yes, these people must be utterly loco. They’re either stupid or crazy. All that sugar and flour is going to raise blood glucose more than 99% of other foods. Any fool can see that this is bad, not good. How can this possibly qualify as one of the CDAs best desserts?

[Crux]

Ah, someone else who puts salt on pizza! As for fruit, I almost always put it on bananas and occasionally on apples, pears, grapefruit, and figs.

I thought about it a little more and I do put salt on tomatoes and they're a fruit. Also I put it on salads. I still can't get over salt on bananas. I'll have to try it.