Is Sugar Toxic?

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BFJOU Is Sugar Toxic?

I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can, Thompson told me, because I believe ultimately its something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer. Cantley put it this way: Sugar scares me.

Sugar scares me too, obviously. Id like to eat it in moderation. Id certainly like my two sons to be able to eat it in moderation, to not overconsume it, but I dont actually know what that means, and Ive been reporting on this subject and studying it for more than a decade. If sugar just makes us fatter, thats one thing. We start gaining weight, we eat less of it. But we are also talking about things we cant see fatty liver, insulin resistance and all that follows. Officially Im not supposed to worry because the evidence isnt conclusive, but I do.

 

[lesa]

One thing to keep in mind- unless the label specifically states "cane sugar" you are not eating real sugar. The other sugars are GMO's- either beet or corn... That is my concern with sugar.

 

[Durgan]

Years ago listening to the radio regarding an interview from an old lady family physician, who had practised from about 1900, she was asked if she could abolish one single thing from the diet, what would it be? Here answer was, "beyond a doubt it would be sugar". It always stuck in my mind, not that I practiced until much later. Now I don't even have it in the house in all its many forms, or use products containing any added sugar.

 

[catjac1975]

Thou I do eat sugar I restrict it and often use honey. I have read of it's health risks. Back in the 80's I read a very informative in depth article concerning aspartame and have kept it to this day. It predicted brain cancer and other neurological disorders as a result of it's use. The article discussed the nuance of how it was approved by the FDA and traced the individual people fighting against it within the FDA and how that fighting suddenly stopped. The multibillion dollar product got approved. I wonder if any of the predictions have come true. I have tried to keep it out of my household thou there are probably many products that have it that I don't know about. I do not eat a lot of packaged food so I hope I have kept it out of my diet. There is so much crap within our food supply that it would be impossible to trace the dangerous source.

 

[baymule]

I cannot give up my sweets. I make a mean lemon chess pie, angel food cake, egg custard, angel lime pie, blackberry cobbler, blueberry buckle, fresh strawberry pie with gingersnap crust............. oh, and I like sweet tea too. In all respect, I like sweets, but do practice moderation. Except for the chocolate chip pecan pie I made several weeks ago and 4 of us killed the whole thing, shrugs, oh well. I do eat lots of veggies and watch my weight. I exercise and stay active. I go to the doctor maybe once every 3-4 years when I get sicker than my home remedies can cure. I made strawberry fig preserves this summer and they are awesome on cornmeal pancakes. If sugar is poison, then I am glad that people in my family typically live to their 100's, sugar and all. My great grandmother (died at 102) and grandmother (died at 96) both developed diabetes controlled by diet in their mid 80's. I love my great aunt for letting my great grandmother eat whatever the he11 she wanted. At her age, what was it gonna do? Kill her? My mother is 89 and chows down on my cooking. That scrawny little woman can pack away the groceries. And she is disappointed when there is no desert.........sigh.......back to the kitchen.......

 

[baymule]

Ooooooooohhhhh........and I can't believe I forgot to mention CHOCOLATE! Chocolate pie, chocolate chip cookies, hot chocolate, Hershey bar chocolate, M&M's, chocolate cake, chocolate chocolate chocolate...

 

[so lucky]

I am one who is convinced that sugar is toxic, and aspartame is even more toxic. Catjac, I know what you are referring to when you talk about aspartame being suddenly approved by the FDA. I think you can trace a lot of it back to one influential polititian named Donald Rum*f#$d. That is not too specific is it? so much of what we are told is good for us, turns out to be bad for us. You just have to do your own research and not take what the "experts" tell you too seriously. I have read that the aspartame in diet Coke turns to wood alcohol when left out in the sun, as millions of cans were when they were sent to Desert Storm soldiers.

I crave chocolates, too. Sometimes I think I would sell my soul for a snickers bar. I'm glad they only cost 80 cents. but overall, I avoid the use of sugar as much as I can. I don't bake cakes, cookies, and rarely pies. We don't have cookies and candy on hand, and my grandkids have stopped asking for candy from me, by now. Oh, and the biggie: We never buy soda pop. I always drink water when I go out to eat, even at a dreaded fast food joint.
In my family, my sister has type 1 diabetes, Juvenile diabetes. The rest of us, even my 87 year old mom doesn't have it. Neither did Dad, when he died at 92.

 

[catjac1975]

Well that's why they say everything in moderation.

 

[Durgan]

In general, the human population does not practice moderation. Attributed to Oscar Wilde, "Nothing succeeds like excess."

Moderation indeed!

The prevalence of obesity in Canada increased by about 10 percentage points for men and eight for women; in the U.S. it climbed by 10 percentage points for men and 12 percentage points, respectively.

Among Canadian men, 24.3 per cent met the definition of obesity, compared with 32.6 per cent of their American counterparts.

The gap was even wider among women: 23.9 per cent of Canadian women were considered obese, compared with 36.2 per cent in the U.S., meaning that Canadian women are now about as obese as American women were 20 years ago.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BCBKS

 

[hoodat]

We need a certain amount of sugar for energy but that need is small compared to the amount most of us eat and in Nature it is in the form of fructose, not sucrose (which refined sugar is). Nevertheless, since sugar is needed and relatively scarce in the wild, primates brains such as monkeys and humans are programmed to seek it out. Many of our other harnful diet habits are similarly programmed. Our brain is programmed to seek out the proper nourshment in a natural environment where we haven't lived for thousands of years. (Since the development of agriculture)