Sugar: The Bitter Truth

[Ted Hutchinson]

Sugar: The Bitter Truth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM) In this you tube video Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology explores the damage caused by sugary foods.

This takes about an hour and a half so allow plenty of time. It does get a bit technical at times but stick with it and you'll find the last few slides summarise the situation.

[Naominjw]

Wow!!! Sugar to hide the salt making people even thirstier to drink yet more....

I am sooooo glad that I do not drink sodas. I feel frustrated hearing about guys who lose weight just by cutting out a coke per day. I can't cut out what I don't drink. No fruit juices, sugared tea or coffee either. Wish so, just so I could cut it out to lose weight. I gained it suddenly while on a medication for a few months, and just never lost it afterwards. :-(

I'm not done listening to the lecture... so far it is really good..... Thanks a lot for posting this.

[houghchrst]

I have developed a taste for sparkling water which cuts my soda consumption in half. It seems the only thing missing is the sugar and flavoring. With the sparkling you can taste the bit of salt, it is miniscule, but it really, to me, tastes like pop without the sugar. Drink sparkling water for a while and then when you drink a soda you can actually taste the bit of salt in it.

[Smithc]

Is setzer the same thing as sparkling water? They sell it by the cans and it much less expensive than some of the other ones.

I think selzer/sparking water is also a great choice for the kids. They just like to feel like they are opening a something.

[Naominjw]

Well, I watched the video twice now, and sent the link to family and friends. My younger daughter and one of my friends have watched it now, too.

My younger daughter is studying to be a dietitian. I told her about the dig the lecturer made about dietitians propagating the error that a calorie is a calorie...and contributing to obesity with misinformation. She says that is not what they are being taught anymore. Now they understand nutrition better and that a calorie is NOT a calorie. They aren't all created equal.

I was thinking how I can get rid of gluten from my diet, eggs, soy, etc. etc. but I have never been able to do something like cut down on sweets. It was easy to eliminate things entirely because I could not have it, period. Now I wish a doctor had just told me that corn syrup should be added to the list of what I cannot have. It would not have eliminated all sweets, but by cutting out that ingredient, it would have made my sweet intake more NORMAL - more like what people used to consume.

Since I was able to eliminate these other ingredients without temptation because if I can't I can't - there is then no internal struggle of will power for me - I thought, well, then, I just need to add "corn syrup" to my list.

I can do that.

I really wish the doctor had just TOLD me that years ago rather than tell me to go on cholesterol med (which I took briefly then learned NOT to take it and use nutrients instead. I had good LDL:HDL ratio and a scan showed ZERO plaques in my arteries around my heart).

I know better than to say I am going to cut out all sources of fructose and sugars from my diet. I already know I'd be destined to failure. I've tried that before. I am not sure that is even healthy. However, I CAN cut out all corn syrup, which will greatly reduce my consumption over-all.

I LOVE that this lecture showed the biochemistry of it. I finall understood the WHY... why NOT have fruit juice, and why NOT have corn syrup, and slapped myself on the forehead... and said, "OH!"

My good friend who also watched it, and I are now both corn-syrup-free. That helps, I think. My younger daughter (the one in dietetics) already eats such a healthful diet, alreday was not consuming it just because she doesn't eat processed foods, sodas, etc. My other daughter... well... sorry... there is no way she can give it up entirely, but at least she had already cut back on her soda consumption.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for this video link!!! I can say this lecture has been life changing for some of us.

Oh - I went through my cupboard looking for corn syrup in the list of ingredients and gladly found it in only one thing I was eating at home (ketchup). I rarely have ketchup, so I'll look for some next time without the corn syrup.

Yes, I do "get" the fact that added sugar is bad, period. But at least sugar is a molecule of glucose (good) linked to a molecule of fructose (bad) and is not AS bad as pure fructose... especially with the fiber removed (as in juice & corn syrup).

[houghchrst]

You know Smith I have no idea. I just stick to the sparkling water because I really don't want to buy something and hate it and have it be a waste.