Carbs...Sugar...And Other Stuff

originally posted by: slider1982
You are welcome,

www.whatthehealthfilm.com...





Diet advice opinion is like a ass hole, every body has one.....


If you want to believe sugar is bad go ahead, the thing that is causing the obesity epidemic is crooked diet advice sponsored by not just big Pharma but the companies themselves...

"Mixed messages and uncertainty is our biggest asset"..

Remember doctors saying smoking was not just ok but actually good for you!!, who funded that little chest nut???, sound familiar????, keep people sick and we will make Trillions...


I will stick to eating like a Kenyan Marathon runner thanks, high Carb, high refined sugars, low fat... I am now a healthy weight with more energy than I know what to do with cycling thousands of miles a year, climbing Kayaking and looking great bypassing anything I thought possible from my body, also not crying into a bucket of KFC wishing I was fit and ordering a "water" because It is healthy may have something to do with...



There is are no endurance athletes worth a damn eating low carb and restricting sugars, and believe me the average Joe raising a family doing a double whilst attempting to get to the gym a few times a week could take a leaf out of their book...

Of course someone will say they got fit and lost weight eating Bacon and Big macs!!!!,

Do whatever makes you great....


RA

Please...DO NOT base your diet off of that god awful documentary. It's a PETA hit piece meant to convince people that eating meat is bad for you.

The documentary “What the Health” espouses the fairy tale that all major diseases (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many others) can be prevented and cured by eliminating meat and dairy from the diet. It is a blatant polemic for veganism, biased and misleading, and is not a reliable source of scientific information.

Science Based Medicine

Very informative and useful article! Sure, we should be careful to what we eat. Sugar is really addictive. I like sugared drinks, but since I found out they belongs to the foods that kill testosterone, I try to avoid them.

a reply to: blend57

Wow, that was beautiful.

Thank you for your time and effort.

a reply to: blend57

Have you looked into paleo at all (I know there is some bad stigma around the term). I see you mentioned it a few times but didn't go into further detail. It almost sounds like you are adhering closer to paleo, which completely encompasses the keto life style. I think paleo goes a little bit further in demonizing all of the added chemicals that go into processed foods.

Have you looked into grass fed beef? I started down that road and now I can't stand the taste of regular ground beef from the grocery store, it almost tastes putrid in comparison.

Have you looked into MSG? That was a fun one to try and get rid of, which led directly into keto/paleo.

Do you think that some of the improving health benefits require almost a 'belief' that this way of life works? When I started the results began to appear after 3-4 months and once I witnessed the results, my doubt kind of disappeared. That is when I really started to feel GOOD. My eczema of 7 years disappeared. My exercise habits went from a constant struggle to being a delight. Recovery times halved. Mood improved and outlook on life became ecstatic. Maybe it was just the proper time passing for the full effects to be felt, but I have a suspicion that belief really helped as well.

It always made me wonder how some of these companies could produce foods and at 1/2 the price that I could produce these dishes at home from raw ingredients. Like the $10 or even $5 pizza. Really? That thing has be at least 50% pure chemicals to sell it at that low of a price.

If you have some more time in the future, would you be willing to post some of your keto recipes? I just discovered using squash and zucchini in a spiral slicer is a great substitute for pasta noodles. Marinate them in garlic & onions for about 5 minutes .... mmmmmm


Edit to add:

Sorry, one more question. What do you think about the ancient grains such as spelt? I tried to introduce a little rice back into the diet with bad results but with spelt (maybe twice a month as a treat) I haven't had any adverse effects. Are you 100% keto or closer to 85% 90%?

Thanks for your effort. I'm still reading.

a reply to: blend57

I'm right with ya! I love that your food pyramid still has a very small amount of carbs. I've never thought completely eliminating them was good (at least for me). But we have been fed lies about the food pyramid for too long.

I've got a suspicion about nut allergies also, peanuts are one of the most pesticide ridden crops. I've always wondered if people were having more of a reaction to the chemicals and not the nuts. When I was in grade school not a single child had a nut allergy, now it seems it is rampant, same with eggs.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: blend57

I'm right with ya! I love that your food pyramid still has a very small amount of carbs. I've never thought completely eliminating them was good (at least for me). But we have been fed lies about the food pyramid for too long.

I've got a suspicion about nut allergies also, peanuts are one of the most pesticide ridden crops. I've always wondered if people were having more of a reaction to the chemicals and not the nuts. When I was in grade school not a single child had a nut allergy, now it seems it is rampant, same with eggs.

I've wondered that about peanuts too! It is weird how the allergies seemed to just crop up. And it seemed to "spread" pretty fast:

To Which Foods Are People Allergic?
More than 170 foods have been reported to cause allergic reactions.
Eight major food allergens – milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish and crustacean shellfish – are responsible for most of the serious food allergy reactions in the United States.
Allergy to sesame is an emerging concern.

Food Allergies Are on the Rise
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reports that the prevalence of food allergy in children increased by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011.
Between 1997 and 2008, the prevalence of peanut or tree nut allergy appears to have more than tripled in U.S. children....

I also find it interesting that there are over 170 foods people are allergic to, and now sesame is becoming one. There is some serious stuff going on with our food! I don't know what it is, but seems like more and more people are just not capable of eating the same things/way we used to.

a reply to: ClovenSky

Do you think that some of the improving health benefits require almost a 'belief' that this way of life works? Have you looked into MSG? Have you looked into grass fed beef? Have you looked into paleo at all? What do you think about the ancient grains such as spelt?

Thanks for the response and great questions! I think that if I hadn't experienced it personally, I would've never changed my diet. For me it is all about results. By that I mean that cutting carbs/sugars out of my diet garnered me better results than leaving them in. So, I did my own little scientific study on myself (not on purpose, but it happened) and found what others said to be true. Grass fed when I can, only, it is not as easy to get where I live. I try to visit local grocery stores (support the community) because they seem to have higher quality meat than chain grocery stores. For instance, my local grocery store buys their meat from local farmers and has a butcher on site. The chain sores have their meat usually all shipped in. I checked out the paleo diet to a degree, but my lifestyle, I could never be that strict with my food..it's not who I am and I limit my food intake to whatever is in season really. So, I don't go out of my way to find alternate foods that will satisfy my urge to eat grains...I really have no urge to eat them anymore honestly, they do bad things to me..but others they may not affect at all. Hopefully that answered your questions. Thanks for the response and your thoughts!



blend

originally posted by: Assassin82
Very well put together post. I myself have been pursuing more knowledgable dietary changes. And you are absolutely correct....there is far too much information and disinformation to easily come to a conclusion.

Right now, I'm trying to eliminate the carbs and sugar from my diet. It is a ruthless process. THEY...ARE...EVERYWHERE! And to try and eat healthier costs a lot more money. Meats and greens are what I'm aiming for. I just have to accept the fact that there are less options and to resist the sugar/carb cravings.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together! May I ask if this is part of a personal venture for you? Or is it a part of your profession?

This is a personal adventure! : P Although I love to help people out, I'm really not qualified.

originally posted by: Assassin82
"I realized that what the evidence all points to is: We are all different and need different things. Food is as personal as a medical condition, as complicated as an emotional issue and as unique to each one of us as each of our personalities."

This right here is very important!! There is no one "universal" diet. There is a diet that is most optimal for each person and each person must find the diet that works best for them.

Yep, everyone needs something different. As I said, Eskimos need high fat diets, Athletes need carbs, weight lifters need proteins. Everything stems around who you are as a person and your lifestyle choices. Thanks for the questions and posts!

originally posted by: skunkape23
Fruits, berries, nuts, meat, veggies.
I don't really sit down and eat "meals."
If I'm hungry I eat a handful of something.
No sodas or candy.
Minimal consumption of grains. I do enjoy the occasional fresh bread or corn on the cob(with lots of butter,)but that is a treat.
Get plenty of exercise.
That's pretty much my regimen.
I'm in my mid 40's and fit as a fiddle.
Thanks for your input. It all makes sense.

Thanks for sharing this! I snack throughout the day as well. Those are similar to my eating habits but I do eat cheese..my body craves it. I don't drink milk or eat any other dairy so that may be the reason.

originally posted by: jokei
a reply to: blend57

Very good, well researched thread - we need more of this here, thankyou.

I heartily agree, sugar is a huge problem. It's a lazy and cheap way for food producers to make food "nice" and the health impact is shocking.

To be clear, I'm a Type-1 diabetic - so there's likelihood I'm biased. It truly is a huge pain in the...
Essentially, large amounts of sugar flood your system, making it very hard work for your pancreas to try and balance it all out and if this goes on too long, your pancreas can just give up. This will leave you with a lifetime dependance on Insulin and constantly having to monitor what you eat and to have to calculate what you're consuming and take insulin accordingly.

I can no longer go out with my mates, drink lots of booze and crash out. I go out, have a moderate amount of alcohol and try to keep a grip on the calculations. My problem was getting drunk and falling asleep without taking insulin, then you end up in hospital (no fun).

There's research suggesting that refined sugars are highly addictive.
health.howstuffworks.com...

We need to start being more thoughtful about what we eat and not just take the convenient options.

There is a ton of research that suggests sugar is highly addictive! And you're right, it's compared to coc aine because it floods your system with "feel good " hormones exactly like coc aine does. My personal experience is this is true, otherwise it wouldn't have taken me a few months to get back to good eating habits. The intensity and addiction level may vary from person to person though, so some may be able to break the sugar habit more easily than others.

Thanks every one for your comments and thoughts!

blend57

a reply to: blend57

Blend.. you put a LOT of time and research into this thread. The information is greatly appreciated.. thank you for sharing this with us here on ATS. I have some reading to do...

a reply to: blend57

(Guys, I know this looks tedious, but please read it.)



The Sugar Industry Long Downplayed Potential Harms

The sugar industry funded animal research in the 1960s that looked into the effects of sugar consumption on cardiovascular health — and then buried the data when it suggested that sugar could be harmful, according to newly released historical documents.

The internal industry documents were uncovered by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and described in a new report in the journal PLOS Biology on Tuesday. The report’s authors say it builds on evidence that the sugar industry has long tried to mislead the public and protect its economic interests by suppressing worrisome research, a tactic used by the tobacco industry.

The documents show that in 1968 a trade group called the Sugar Research Foundation, known today as the Sugar Association, funded a research project on animals to shed light on the connection between sugar and heart health. But when the research pointed to a mechanism by which sugar might promote not only heart disease but also bladder cancer, the industry group ended the study and never published the results.

The sugar industry has long insisted that sugar has no unique role in promoting obesity, diabetes or heart disease, though numerous studies by independent researchers have concluded otherwise. Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at U.C.S.F. and an author of the new report, said that even though the newly discovered documents are 50 years old, they are important because they point to a decades-long strategy to downplay the potential health effects of sugar consumption.

“This is continuing to build the case that the sugar industry has a long history of manipulating science,” Dr. Glantz said.

www.nytimes.com... tentCollection=Well®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article

And please read this from the same article

Last year, an article in The New York Times highlighted some of the previous documents that Dr. Kearns had uncovered, which showed that the sugar industry launched a campaign in the 1960s to counter “negative attitudes toward sugar” in part by funding sugar research that could produce favorable results. The campaign was orchestrated by John Hickson, a top executive at the sugar association who later joined the tobacco industry. As part of the sugar industry campaign, Mr. Hickson secretly paid two influential Harvard scientists to publish a major review paper in 1967 that minimized the link between sugar and heart health and shifted blame to saturated fat.

Sugar causes heart disease, and they covered it up? Sure looks that way.

Great article, Blend. Fantastic, in fact.

This will take me a while to go through, I will comment as I read sections of it. I am not much for eating a lot of sugar, I have reactive hypoglycemia. I can get a crash if I drink a ten ounce glass of juice. I get a super buzz off sugar, then the sugar gets wiped out by too much insulin and a nitrogen compound gets created which dilates my blood vessels and stimulates burning fats, that dilating drops my blood to my head. I feel like I have been on a merry-go-round for too long.

Easiest way to fix the problem I have found...when I start feeling it come on...I drink some water, half a glass stops it from getting bad. It's called ostothatic Hypotention or something like that. I have had this all my life, it is bad when I eat a lot of nitrates...like leafy green veggies or a real lot of lunchmeats high in nitrates or nitrites. The thing that triggers the dilation is nitrous oxide.

So that is why I studied diabetes. I studied what causes the cells to get locked up. Sugar is a contributing factor, but not really the cause. The receptors on the cells get bound by glutamates, possibly glutamine too but that I am not sure of. Isothiocyanates can bind some cell receptors too, cyanide excess in the diet and from gut microbes eating sugar can cause that problem. Chloride in Salt can actually clear some of the isothiocyanates off the receptors, so can glucose knock off the glutamate bound to the other receptors, but both can raise BP if the cells are bound. It is a very complex subject. If the receptors get bound too long, they actually deactivate, leaving less energy receptors to get power. Potassium is my problem, I should lower consumption of it so I won't utilize so much insulin. I think Taurine actually moderates the insulin, but not if a person gets it with energy drinks, that just clears the receptors and boosts energy, and not fix the issue.

I am trying the taurine now, it will be a while before I have evaluated it. One thing I noticed, I craved more junk food with the taurine controling my temporal lobe epilepsy, this led to a spike in my BP even though the taurine actually brought it down initially. I guess I just can't be eating that junk food because of my tachychardia, I got a little carried away, believing I could eat more tyramines like my wife with a fully functioning comt gene can. It was fun going to BK and getting some burgers and drinking a coke and eating pizza and a bunch of oven onion rings and some tater tots with homemade mayo and sour cream tartar sauce. But three days eating junk food without increasing my seizure activity made me overconfident, my BP went higher than normal and I could feel the effect. For me with a hundred ten to hundred twenty heart beat, one forty over ninety five is just right while sitting, it goes higher when standing and lower when laying down. I should have known better, I could not eat that way even before I got the epilepsy, I just wanted to believe I had discovered a miracle cure. It will take me a couple of days to get back to normal, the taurine did help with keeping my BP from moving around when I stood and sat. So I went overboard....I messed up.

a reply to: blend57

I followed you all the way, read all of it, my friend. Very well done and composed. Incredible amount of research and documentation. YOU and others of your ilk are the reason that ATS holds a position of insight and intrigue.

My Bride and me are currently in ketosis. It's really not so hard. Years ago, we did Atkins, and that worked also. What is different this time around is that there are SO many more resources and products available to bridge the gap between what we crave and what works. Example? Almond flour. It's a Godsend. There are also SO many things a creative person can do with cauliflower. I am a cook. I am a creative person. I am making my family happy, and we are loosing weight and feeling better and sleeping better and perFORMing better and our collective blood pressure and other thangs are better. No more GERD.

The first couple of days are irritating. After that, it's all good. Pizza? yeah! Hamburger buns? yeah!

I miss two things: Noodles and beer. Interesting thing is that alcohol has no carbs. Hello Whiskey! Vodka! Rum, my olde friend! Bye for now beer and wine.

Various recipes suggest Zoodles -- which are noodles made of zuchinni. bleachh!!! I will say this: Zuchinni chips are pretty damn good. They have crunch and flavor.

I am about 30 lbs. overweight. two weeks ago, I was 40 lbs. overweight. I feel good. Thank you so much for your insighful and informative thread!!

a reply to: blend57

My truth is much like yours: IF we ingest carbs, they are burned first, and the excess is stored as fat. If we limit carbs, the fat is burned, and little is stored. Total caloric intake still matters, however getting into ketosis is a blessing. The really cool thing is that once a person is there, after a week you can subtract the fiber from the carbs, and still remain in ketosis.

I am feelin' reaaaaaaaaaaaly gooood. Strong. baaaad.*



*but still nice.

EPIC thread!

My problem is sugar. I can eat half a bag of Reeses sitting here at the computer after dinner, and chase it with a few peppermint patties. I'm not overweight, but I'm going to be if I don't stop.

Among the other things they concealed about it, they also didn't mention how addictive is it. I think they knew it. They know it's addictive.

You addressed this Blend, and here it is again

My overwhelming sugar cravings make sense when you consider that research shows you can actually get hooked on the sweet stuff. Scientists have found that sugar is addictive and stimulates the same pleasure centers of the brain as coc aine or heroin. Just like those hard-core drugs, getting off sugar leads to withdrawal and cravings, requiring an actual detox process to wean off. (Read How to Do A Sugar Detox Without Going Crazy here.)

dailyburn.com...

I'm starting now. Going to try it cold turkey. Wish me luck because I think my addiction is pretty bad. Sigh. From what I read the actual withdrawal only takes about five days. Surely I can do that. Red Velvet cake. Cherry pie. Butterfingers. Ice Cream. Thing is, the articles say once you kick it, other foods taste better, and sweeter.

Self discipline. I'll have to look for it. Maybe I left it at my office.

a reply to: blend57


Rah Spect for the amount of research and time you spent on putting this together!

a reply to: blend57

Maybe your body is telling you that you should eat that because it makes you feel better, more energetic, more awake and fresh.

I;'d rather eat sweets than nuts for instance as nuts make you feel bloated, short of breath and dry.

Which of those sound better?

I just spent about 10 minutes detailing my absolutely wonderful dinner I prepared tonight -- for only 4 carbs each!!! And then I touched some errant button on the keyboard, and the screen flashed and the progress wheel turned, and it was all gone. Well, maybe that menu didn't belong on this thread.

Here is something that does: I have been using Lactaid milk, because of a presumed lactose intolerance. WELL. Most milk is fairly high carb!! WTH??????? Cheese is curdled milkfat and it's not so bad????? CREAM, pure cream, not so bad!

Here is another thing: When something is listed as "low-fat" it will be higher in carbs. Fat is reduced and carbs are added, so we feel sated.

I think we are all mostly carb addicts, and being fed by the so-called health and nutrition lobby. Hidden carbs are a sabotage for those of us that are making it work.

great post! I agree that most of us are different...I think a lot about fitness and weight loss has to do with our genetics. several of my good friends are skinny as a rail and eat junk non stop...I look at food and gain wait. For me it is all about sugar/carbs being the devil. I have diabetes and kidney disease and sugar/carbs have just been killer for me. What has been an absolute blessing has been intermittent fasting. My A1C went from 8.0 to 6.8 and my urine protein dropped in half after a few months of intermittent fasting!

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: blend57

Blend.. you put a LOT of time and research into this thread. The information is greatly appreciated.. thank you for sharing this with us here on ATS. I have some reading to do...

I'm glad you found something of value in it! And thank you for stopping by to comment. I appreciate it!

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
a reply to: blend57
Sugar causes heart disease, and they covered it up? Sure looks that way.

I read that while I was researching. It is a bit damaging not only on the sugar companies, but to the researchers who helped cover it up too. This is the online PDF of the study. This excerpt shows they also manipulated the dental info too:

These internal documents show that the SRF initiated CHD research in 1965 to protect market share and that its first project, a literature review, was published in NEJM in 1967 without disclosure of the sugar industry’s funding orrole. The NEJM review served the sugar industry’s interests by arguing that epidemiologic animal,and mechanistic studies associating sucrose with CHD were limited, implying they should not be included in an evidentiary assessment of the CHD risks of sucrose. Instead, the review argued that the only evidence modality needed to yield a definitive answer to the question of how to modify the American diet to prevent CHD was RCTs that exclusively used serum cholesterol level as a CHD biomarker. Randomized clinical trials using serum cholesterol level as the CHD biomarker made the high sucrose content of the American diet seemless hazardous than if the entire body of evidence had been considered. Following the NEJM review, the sugar industry continued to fund research on CHD and other chronic diseases “as a main prop of the industry’s defense.”51 For example, in 1971, it influenced the National Institute of Dental Research’s National Caries Program to shift its emphasis to dental caries interventions other than restricting sucrose. The industry commissioned a review, “Sugar in the Diet of Man,”which it credited with, among other industry tactics,favorably influencing the 1976 US Food and Drug Administration evaluation of the safety of sugar.51 These findings, our analysis, and current Sugar Association criticisms of evidence linking sucrose to cardiovascular disease 6,7 suggest the industry may have a long history of influencing federal policy. ...

I left it out of the thread because that subject would've added a ton more pages..lol. Thank you for posting it!

originally posted by: argentus
a reply to: blend57

My truth is much like yours: IF we ingest carbs, they are burned first, and the excess is stored as fat. If we limit carbs, the fat is burned, and little is stored. Total caloric intake still matters, however getting into ketosis is a blessing. The really cool thing is that once a person is there, after a week you can subtract the fiber from the carbs, and still remain in ketosis.

Yes. Keto is awesome for people who can do it. I really did feel ten times better after I tried it. And, as I said, I used it while I was finding out what food choices worked well for me. I think I still eat that way for the most part, just adjusted the "diet" some to suit me personally. Like adding back in the 25 grams of sugar and pulling out most of my carbs (I eat way less than the 20 grams suggested). Those were things I needed to do to make it sustainable for me. But, again, I'm not looking for quick weight loss, I'm looking for overall health and life changes. Which is what you and your family sound like you're doing! Nice job! (and I don't drink but once every couple of years, but vodka is a favorite of mine as well. lol)

Thanks for adding your thoughts to the thread!

originally posted by: angeldoll
EPIC thread!

My problem is sugar. I can eat half a bag of Reeses sitting here at the computer after dinner, and chase it with a few peppermint patties. I'm not overweight, but I'm going to be if I don't stop.

I'm starting now. Going to try it cold turkey. Wish me luck because I think my addiction is pretty bad. Sigh. From what I read the actual withdrawal only takes about five days. Surely I can do that. Red Velvet cake. Cherry pie. Butterfingers. Ice Cream. Thing is, the articles say once you kick it, other foods taste better, and sweeter.

Self discipline. I'll have to look for it. Maybe I left it at my office.

OMG!! You are a better person than me! lol. I couldn't go cold turkey, had to wean myself off. And I caved a few times, but eventually got back to a healthy diet. But, I had a lot of emotional stuff going on at the time as well so maybe that was also a factor. Emotions are directly tied to our food habits, which I knew but didn't really know until I went through it. I'm so glad you are going to try to eat healthier! Best of luck to you! ( I know you can do it!!)

originally posted by: sekerofknowlege
a reply to: blend57


Rah Spect for the amount of research and time you spent on putting this together!

Thank you , kind sir/madame. I appreciate you taking the time to drop in and say so!

Actually, I am overwhelmed by the amount of support this thread got. ATS members are amazing honestly and I'm grateful that so many people showed in interest in the subject. Plus all the responses that shared information or additional thoughts. They were very informative and interesting to read.

Thanks!
blend