Dr. Robert Lustig: How Sugar & Processed Foods Impact Your Health

[trophy33]

 

[timewerx]

Both refined sugar and the natural sugar you can get from fruits sometimes mess me up.

I rarely eat fruits so it might be an advantage. I eat vegetables though. Otherwise, I have no problems with carbs and a high carb diet. Maybe exercise fixes it because I exercise a lot with running and cycling. I also practice intermittent fasting which gets me into ketosis more than 12 hrs a day.

But not even exercise fix eating too much refined sugar.

 

[Lost4words]

Carnivore diet looks interesting...

(Not just marrow bones!!)

 

[FireDragon76]

Lustig has sugar as his hobby horse, but in reality, it's overall calorie consumption that is the primary driver of obesity and diabetes.

 

[trophy33]

Lustig has sugar as his hobby horse, but in reality, it's overall calorie consumption that is the primary driver of obesity and diabetes.

You seem to stick to many old theories. However, the current knowledge points to another direction and Dr. Lustig is an expert in this field.

Its not about calories as such, its about what kind of calories and what a specific food does in our metabolism. A calorie from a cookie or cola is not a calorie from an apple and a calorie from an apple is not a calorie from fish or beef.

Though the constant overconsumption of calories leads to problems, its basically impossible to constantly overeat with the right food. So we would get to the addictive sugar/alcohol and anti-nutrients again, in a circle.

Neither plants nor animals want us to eat them, so they have no reason to put addictive chemicals in their bodies. Plants even put defensive poisons in their bodies for us to not eat them.

However, plants want us to eat their fruit, therefore they put fructose, as addictive as cocaine, there, for us to eat as much as possible. The modern fruit, non-existent in history, was cultivated by humans to have much more fructose than before. And the ultra processed food companies went even crazier with their products' - highly concentrated fructose, salt, seed oils, combination of tastes, carefully developed and tested in labs for us to suppress any satiety signals and to consume without end.

 

[FireDragon76]

You seem to stick to many old theories. However, the current knowledge points to another direction and Dr. Lustig is an expert in this field.

Its not about calories as such, its about what kind of calories and what a specific food does in our metabolism. A calorie from a cookie or cola is not a calorie from an apple and a calorie from an apple is not a calorie from fish or beef.

Though the constant overconsumption of calories leads to problems, its basically impossible to constantly overeat with the right food. So we would get to the addictive sugar/alcohol and anti-nutrients again, in a circle.

The amount of sugar consumed by the average American has actually gone down in the past twenty years, but obesity has continued to rise. In addition, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in the US has also fallen during this time period.

Nobody gets fat just consuming pixie sticks and hard candy. Sugar doesn't even contain many calories per gram, and carbohydrates actually have a slight thermogenic effect in general (they tend to increase metabolism rather than be stored as fat). Sugar can cause other health problems, like tooth decay, and it's an ingredient in many less healthy, highly processed foods (biscuits, cakes, pastries, candy bars- all of which typically contain alot of fat), but it isn't the primary driver of obesity.


A useful video about why sugar isn't the primary driver of obesity. Nicolas Veerhoeven is involved with metabolism research:

 

[timewerx]

The amount of sugar consumed by the average American has actually gone down in the past twenty years, but obesity has continued to rise. In addition, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in the US has also fallen during this time period.

Nobody gets fat just consuming pixie sticks and hard candy. Sugar doesn't even contain many calories per gram, and carbohydrates actually have a slight thermogenic effect in general (they tend to increase metabolism rather than be stored as fat). Sugar can cause other health problems, like tooth decay, and it's an ingredient in many less healthy, highly processed foods (biscuits, cakes, pastries, candy bars- all of which typically contain alot of fat), but it isn't the primary driver of obesity.


A useful video about why sugar isn't the primary driver of obesity. Nicolas Veerhoeven is involved with metabolism research:

You're probably right. These holidays, my refined sugar consumption have one up for obvious reasons but I didn't gain any weight at all.

My weekly exercise duration have remained the same although possibly burning more calories per week due to higher intensity of workouts (much more running than cycling).

However, I don't feel "right" when eating more refined sugar. I feel more tired and more sleepy than usual.

 

[timewerx]

Neither plants nor animals want us to eat them, so they have no reason to put addictive chemicals in their bodies. Plants even put defensive poisons in their bodies for us to not eat them.

However, plants want us to eat their fruit, therefore they put fructose, as addictive as cocaine, there, for us to eat as much as possible.

Ironically, eating vegetables have no side effects to me. Fruits on the other hand gives me similar side effects as eating too much refined sugar.

But because fruits are a lot more expensive than vegetables where I live, we rarely buy fruits! Only during special occasions.

 

[FireDragon76]

You're probably right. These holidays, my refined sugar consumption have one up for obvious reasons but I didn't gain any weight at all.

My weekly exercise duration have remained the same although possibly burning more calories per week due to higher intensity of workouts (much more running than cycling).

However, I don't feel "right" when eating more refined sugar. I feel more tired and more sleepy than usual.

If you give alot of sugar to kids, they tend to run around more and get excited. In fact, sugar used to be blamed for hyperactivity. It's only in adults that have lost insulin sensitivity, that a person becomes sluggish after eating sugar.

Assuming a person has low body fat, and a low intake of saturated fat, sugar will probably just be burned off as energy.

 

[timewerx]

If you give alot of sugar to kids, they tend to run around more and get excited. In fact, sugar used to be blamed for hyperactivity. It's only in adults that have lost insulin sensitivity, that a person becomes sluggish after eating sugar.

Assuming a person has low body fat, and a low intake of saturated fat, sugar will probably just be burned off as energy.

It's also possible due adaptations from intermittent fasting with exercise, my body is turning the sugar quickly into fat.

I do gain fat quickly that is visibly noticeable and by pinching skin on the abdomen but also lose them quickly on a weekly cycle.

Possibly a survival adaptation so I don't waste energy needlessly.

 

[Larniavc]

Carnivore diet looks interesting...

(Not just marrow bones!!)

Ha! You canines are rookie level carnivores. Maybe come hang out with us obligate carnivores to see how the professionals do it?