Western taste for sugar: a sobering article

[cottierm]

In my review of a 2008 HdM Churchill of yesterday, I wrote about the reason which leads me to prefer 'sugary' cigars and I suggested that (at least in my case) this was "probably because I've been educated in a Western society which loves sugary tastes."

Coincidentally the Guardian of today is running the following article on obesity and sugar. A sobering read, 'enjoy'!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us-fat

[bebster]

There is nothing wrong with eating sugar as long as you intake less calories than you expend. The proplem is that people are uneducated on the subject and the calorie density of most junk food (like sugary drinks and lollies) allows people to consume up to ten times what they should be eating daily in one sitting. Sugar also promotes a very strong insulin response which can cause other problems.

There is nothing wrong with eating fat. In fact, a diet deficient in saturated fat can lower testosterone levels in males causing a more 'feminine' distribution of body fat (eg hips, moobs etc).

[cottierm]

Thanks for the further info Benny.

Best,

Michel

[bebster]

Haha no worries. This is a subject that really interests me and I spend a lot of time reading studies about exercise, nutrition and the rising obesity levels in society. I saw your post and thought I should weigh in because it is a really interesting and potentially controversial topic.

[cottierm]

'Potentially controversial' indeed, seeing the amount of money at stake in case of a class action suit!

Best,

Michel

[phoenix]

http://thecholesterolliereview.com/

Could it be true? In a way it makes you wonder but goes against current medical dogma and last 40 years standard of care of Heart Disease.

[CaptainQuintero]

Sugar is a hell of a lot healthier for you than chemical sweetners found in diet products.

[Puros Y Vino]

As with many things. Moderation is key. Processed sugar isn't that great for you. High Fructose corn syrup is what you should look out for. I like using honey, brown sugar or stevia. Artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame have far worse health effects than sugar.

[Bunner]

Just like cigars, you only live once so smoke what you enjoy. Eat what you enjoy (in moderation).

[riazp]

That's why I like cigars. 0 fat 0 sugar 0 calories! Lol

[PigFish]

People are fat because of freedom! We are free to eat what we want in the quantities that we want because we are free and we have the income to buy what we want even if it not good for us. The attack on smoking by governments is not far from the same attack on foods because the same mastermind who has never made a buck in the free market, sitting in some cubicle at some institution of higher learning has convinced governments over the world to tax tobacco companies and give the proceeds to academics so they can prove how bad it is. Now the same academics wish to impose such taxes on food companies for the same reasons.

Freedom is living life and making mistakes. It is in paying for the mistakes you make.

Here is a statistic for you! If you eat anything you will die!!! Dying is a part of life. We all have it ahead of us. It is just a matter of time, fat or skinny, smoking or not, we are all dust sooner or later! I prefer to be free to eat what I want, smoke what I want, then die, happy!

-the Pig

[thecrowder]

If you're interested in this topic then I'd recommend the documentary called King Corn. Pretty eye opening stuff for me.

[bebster]

People are fat because of freedom! We are free to eat what we want in the quantities that we want because we are free and we have the income to buy what we want even if it not good for us. The attack on smoking by governments is not far from the same attack on foods because the same mastermind who has never made a buck in the free market, sitting in some cubicle at some institution of higher learning has convinced governments over the world to tax tobacco companies and give the proceeds to academics so they can prove how bad it is. Now the same academics wish to impose such taxes on food companies for the same reasons.

Freedom is living life and making mistakes. It is in paying for the mistakes you make.

Here is a statistic for you! If you eat anything you will die!!! Dying is a part of life. We all have it ahead of us. It is just a matter of time, fat or skinny, smoking or not, we are all dust sooner or later! I prefer to be free to eat what I want, smoke what I want, then die, happy!

-the Pig

Everybody should have the freedom to eat whatever they like up to the point where my tax money goes towards their healthcare. Obese people have significantly higher healcare costs than people of average weight or lower.

[cottierm]

Thanks for the reference.

Best,

Michel

[canadianbeaver]

Freedom is living life and making mistakes. It is in paying for the mistakes you make.

Interesting comment. I totally agree.

Why sue tobacco companies for billions? How about suing tobacco farmers... or potato farmers for French fries? And what will they do with the billions? You cannot take it with you. I live in a pretty well off neighborhood in Toronto, but I used to live in a neighborhood with middle and lower income families. It was a time when kids were little and the big park was a meeting place for families.

Guess who the smokers were? Families who looked like they could not rub two cents together. More well off families thought smoking was an unhealthy habit you killed your kids for taking up.

Here in fancyville, light up and you get the evil eye. Except for cigars of course, then you just get the weird eye.

[cottierm]

Good point Lisa. And what about cars, trucks, planes, and so and so ... Smoking my cigar in Frank's parkette yesterday with an uninterrupted flow of cars on every side was an interesting experience ... Surprisingly nobody came to ask us to stop smoking our cigars! Simply because they couldn't smell them!!! Neither could I!

[PigFish]

Everybody should have the freedom to eat whatever they like up to the point where my tax money goes towards their healthcare. Obese people have significantly higher healcare costs than people of average weight or lower.

Mate you have likely by mistake made my argument. What is your tax money doing paying for anyones healthcare?

This is the chicken or the egg came first argument. The cart before the horse! The fact is, governments interfere with the market (any and all markets) then blame them for failure, and interfere more. Every move that governments make, beget another move against freedom rationalized by governments.

Every law that tells you what to do, says "you are too stupid to make the decision yourself." Vote for the statist frootloops, that you are smart enough to do. Choose the size of your soft drink, that you (meaning one, not personal) you are too stupid to do.

How much of this has been thought through by most of you. How about STD's? Should the 'guvment' tell you how often, how you can, with whom you can have sex with? How about skateboards? How about getting a sun tan? How about jogging and joint damage? The point is, that torment from 'guvment' nannies never ends. Ask yourself this? Does it end with fat people?

How about the genetics of people? What about pink, green or purple people and their statistical susceptibility to certain diseases? Should they be targeted too? Now that you have identified 'fat people' as a problem. What if we find that fat people are predominantly of a certain color? If you can target fat people as being unhealthy (via visual clues), can you target people by color too? Ask yourself; what is the equivalency of your mindset?

These are simply small examples of the reasons why we get such stupid laws and where they are going if we continue to put up with such nonsense.

Funny... if you call a guy a racist how offended he will get. What is racism? A visual clue to the persons character? What have you just done with fat people as a visual identifier???? Ask yourself that!

How about this mate? Old people! They use up more healthcare than any group. Logan's Run anyone?

Last point. Is it not interesting that decisions based on race are illegal in many countries. Yet, governments write laws based on race everyday! They use race and other statistics to form groups of humanity in order to court them or persecute them. Like many things, racism and other forms of categorizing people into minority groups has been taken from the private sector, and is now alive and well in government!!

Note to those reading. This is 'food' for thought. Not aimed at anyone in particular.

-The Pig

[PigFish]

Freedom is living life and making mistakes. It is in paying for the mistakes you make.

Interesting comment. I totally agree.

Why sue tobacco companies for billions? How about suing tobacco farmers... or potato farmers for French fries? And what will they do with the billions? You cannot take it with you. I live in a pretty well off neighborhood in Toronto, but I used to live in a neighborhood with middle and lower income families. It was a time when kids were little and the big park was a meeting place for families.

Guess who the smokers were? Families who looked like they could not rub two cents together. More well off families thought smoking was an unhealthy habit you killed your kids for taking up.

Here in fancyville, light up and you get the evil eye. Except for cigars of course, then you just get the weird eye.

This is where you begin to realize that it is about the money. Taxation in my country is supposed to be written law via a legislature. Now we have judicial taxation! Just ask a tobacco company! -Piggy

[thechenman]

Everybody should have the freedom to eat whatever they like up to the point where my tax money goes towards their healthcare. Obese people have significantly higher healcare costs than people of average weight or lower.

I could be wrong, but don't "obese" people pay taxes too? I'm with Piggy on this one...it's an individuals right to choose. What would happen if they banned tobacco because "smokers" are more prone to cancer and therefore have the potential to rack up higher medical costs.

[Orion21]

I am seeing a lot more the push for natural products vs. processed crap. It makes me sick when people actually try to argue they can't afford to eat healthy, yet if they did the math they are probably spending the same or more on junk food vs. natural healthy products becomes of the amount they consume. The issue is convenience, addiction and profits. It's more profitable for companies to produce food products, drinks etc with mass produced sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup than it is to source natural sugar products. First, how many people are aware that the government in the US actually pays farmers to produce corn? If the government is paying farmers to work, then the corporations can negotiate a bargain basement level price for the products that are much less healthy than the alternative like raw sugar from cane. Also, it's a pretty well known fact that food producers can manipulate their products to increase the amount people want to eat.

It's too much to write about, but as societies become more modernized health decreases, diets worsen and the cost to take care of them skyrockets. It's the fault of corporations, governments and mostly the people who choose to kill themselves with fast food and processed food products for the convenience. It comes down to personal responsibility and stores like Whole Foods exist to cater to those people who are trying to move away from the previous model and are willing to pay a premium for it's convenience.

[PigFish]

I could be wrong, but don't "obese" people pay taxes too? I'm with Piggy on this one...it's an individuals right to choose. What would happen if they banned tobacco because "smokers" are more prone to cancer and therefore have the potential to rack up higher medical costs.

..they are working on it mate! They are working on it! -R

[PigFish]

Healthy food can actually be had very reasonably if you plan for it and shop for it. Having been on a pretty tight budget I know.

Ladypiggy's and my meal last night consisted of a whole chicken which she roasted along with root veggies, onions and peppers. We bought the chickens on sale at 0.77 cts/lb. The potatos and the onions and the peppers the same, bought in bulk, on sale. She cooks nightly for us so we use the food and it is not wasted. We regularly eat leftovers, sometimes with something fresh, sometimes not.

I figure the meal for the both of us, minus her wine cost me about $8.00. We ate about half the chicken, our doggie got the guts, and shared in some of the chicken while we ate.

One can cook for one's self for a lot less than processed foods and one does not need an expensive outlet to get it. But someone in your family has to have the dedication to do the work. I usually shop, and Ladypiggy cooks. Frankly, a chicken at Casa PigFish is much better than a downtown highbrow restaurant at a total cost of $50 to $100 bucks!

The chicken we may heat and eat, turn to chicken salad or end up in a soup! I leave it to Connie. She is a wiz at making a tasty meal.

Eating well, as well as healthy is a choice. I would prefer it remain that way! It is often a choice dictated by laziness. If I were single, I would likely eat out everyday and hate it. I just don't like to cook and after working too lazy to do it. BUT, I am a fat PIG!!! -LOL

-the Pig

[Puros Y Vino]

The proliferation of low cost fast food is the killer. A lot more people are deciding to spend $5 at McD's to inhale a fat and sugar laden packaged coronary in 10 minutes vs taking an hour to cook something healthy and delicious at home. I'm not the skinniest guy myself but I'd be far worse off if I didn't cook my meals at home. If anything, I find cooking to be a stress reliever. It allows me to be creative at times. I pour a glass of wine and get to it. 20-40 minutes later the wife and I are seated and enjoying our meal.