Sugar:The Bitter Truth

[Ramsey]

I wonder what weight loss one would realize after quitting high fructose corn syrup....

 

hrmm.

 

20 lbs in 4 weeks and counting.

[TTQ B4U]

20 lbs in 4 weeks and counting.

 

What's your routine...better food, exercise, I know the drill, but am curious as to what you are doing.

 

Thanks!

[Farkas]

The water we drink and bathe in has carcinogens in it.

 

The air we breathe has carcinogens in it.

 

The sun above us bombards us with harmful radiation.

 

All synthetic materials are created by chemical processes that NEVER existed in nature before us, and so may have unintended consequences. This includes the clothes you're wearing now, in constant contact with your unprotected skin.

 

Fuck it. Pass the maple syrup and Milk Duds.

 

EXACTLY how I feel about everything..

[Ramsey]

What's your routine...better food, exercise, I know the drill, but am curious as to what you are doing.

 

Thanks!

 

like 60%/30%/10% protien,carbs,fat. No processed foods, no added sugar, proper carb timing.

 

High rep, hight intensity training.

 

All set-up through Steve Lenager.

[mrs.cos]

I hate how most bread has HFCS in it. Pisses me off to no end.

 

make your own bread.. its easy as fucking cake, seriously.. we started making it.. and it lst longer and you can add your own little variences to too. (we add garlic and rosemary to ours..) you can also substitute 50% whole grain flour to make it healthier.

 

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/yeast-breads-and-rolls/sandwich-and-loaf-breads

 

we make the Classic Sandwhich Loaf Prep time is probably 20 minutes total and a mixer with a hook is helpful. (i use our kitchenaid)

 

Bread lasts us about a week before its devoured.

[TTQ B4U]

make your own bread.. its easy as fucking cake, seriously.. we started making it.. and it lst longer and you can add your own little variences to too. (we add garlic and rosemary to ours..) you can also substitute 50% whole grain flour to make it healthier.

 

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/yeast-breads-and-rolls/sandwich-and-loaf-breads

 

we make the Classic Sandwhich Loaf Prep time is probably 20 minutes total and a mixer with a hook is helpful. (i use our kitchenaid)

 

Bread lasts us about a week before its devoured.

 

Thanks for posting this link. :thumbup: We'll try this in the morning.

[mrs.cos]

Thanks for posting this link. :thumbup: We'll try this in the morning.

 

Just for a warning, if you grew up in a house with fresh breads all the time, this bread doesnt give off the "bread being baked" smell (i know its not really a warning.. but i was waiting for the smell and it never came)

 

 

Good luck, let me know how you like it.

 

I'd like to point out that, i didnt grow up in a DIY house and most of my cooking up till this last year has been very unhealthy, lots of pre-made stuff (skillet sensations, pre seasoned and cooked chicken) I have done alot and still have a long way to go, to fully change our eating habits, but i feel that cutting out eh HFCS was a big first step. I used to buy applesauce evey week for his lunches, untill i started reading the labels.. and the organic/no sugar added brands just tasted awful. I think thats what really did it for me.. was just starting to read ALl the labels.. I want to be healthier... and oddly, its easier than i thought.. hell in some cases, its WAAAAY easier..

Granola bars are another whores of the HFCS industry.. We now make our own granola bars.. i haven mastered them yet and it usually just turns into ceral for the yogurt toppings.. (i dont buy premixed yougurts anymore iether.. we buy the big container of Stonyfield Organic and i mix fresh fruit and homemade granola for that too).

 

I feel like a big hippy when i talk about this stuff, which i am ok with, but for the most part, its just becoming smarter with our diet.

[Trouble Maker]

We now make our own granola bars.. i haven mastered them yet and it usually just turns into ceral for the yogurt toppings..

 

I think I posted it earlier, but if not, we've made our own. Have only done it once so far but I really liked how the turned out and they stayed together well. I will ask the g/f tomorrow when she is awake because she originally found the recipe and post it up (or a link). I really like that you can put into them exactly what you want as far as extras like dried fruit, nuts, etc.

[mrs.cos]

I think I posted it earlier, but if not, we've made our own. Have only done it once so far but I really liked how the turned out and they stayed together well. I will ask the g/f tomorrow when she is awake because she originally found the recipe and post it up (or a link). I really like that you can put into them exactly what you want as far as extras like dried fruit, nuts, etc.

 

Thanks! we usually go pretty traditional.. flax, sunflower seeds, raisins or crasins.. we also dont put alot of honey or brown sugar in.. he doesnt like sweet stuff very much.

[gaewsky1]

In for the recipes for the granola bars and breakfast bars.

 

Thanks. Very interesting.

[TTQ B4U]

Just for a warning, if you grew up in a house with fresh breads all the time, this bread doesnt give off the "bread being baked" smell (i know its not really a warning.. but i was waiting for the smell and it never came)

 

Thanks for the heads up. I understand. I have several other types of bread recipes but they are more of the really soft kind that goes well with dinners, but not sandwiches.

 

I'd like to point out that, i didnt grow up in a DIY house and most of my cooking up till this last year has been very unhealthy, lots of pre-made stuff (skillet sensations, pre seasoned and cooked chicken) I have done alot and still have a long way to go, to fully change our eating habits, but i feel that cutting out eh HFCS was a big first step.

 

I did grow up in a house where mom cooked everything from scratch but once I left, the wife and I fell victim to two full time jobs, etc...so in the same boat as you. The penny-pinching side of me though, I shop at SAMS Club and grill/freeze my own chicken, steak, etc....takes time, but I usually spend a full day once every 4-6 weeks on the weekend stocking up and cooking. Way better for us and cheaper in the long run. I blanch all our own veggies too. Food Saver bags, containers, etc...keep them fresh for so long it's amazing. Well worth the investment. Just stock up and take the big hit and do that once per year.

 

I used to buy applesauce evey week for his lunches, untill i started reading the labels.. and the organic/no sugar added brands just tasted awful. I think thats what really did it for me.. was just starting to read ALl the labels.. I want to be healthier... and oddly, its easier than i thought.. hell in some cases, its WAAAAY easier..

 

Exactly the same here. We've not purchased store bought app sauce for years.

 

Granola bars are another whores of the HFCS industry.. We now make our own granola bars.. i haven mastered them yet and it usually just turns into ceral for the yogurt toppings..

 

I'll PM you my wife's recipe that works really well. It does however have brown sugar and Honey in it. We like the sweet side of them. All the usual good stuff minus any nuts as my son is deadly allergic. Hers require refridgeration, but just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they are soft and great. I actually eat too many of them

 

(i dont buy premixed yogurts anymore iether.. we buy the big container of Stonyfield Organic and i mix fresh fruit and homemade granola for that too).[

 

Have you ever made your own yogurt from scratch? I'm starting up a batch again this week as it's been a while. Just add whole milk, let the bacteria take over and within just a few days you'll have the best stuff you've ever had and it keeps going. Just take a tablespoon of that put it in another starter batch and go from there. I"ll PM you those details too. I think Chris Green is into this too.

 

I feel like a big hippy when i talk about this stuff, which i am ok with, but for the most part, its just becoming smarter with our diet.

 

Here too, but I'll take some ribbing for being the best wife my wife ever had in place of eating all the crap most everyone else does. My kids are ages 6.5 and 3.5 and have gone since June of 2008 without being sick with anything beyond a case of the 24hr flu. Zero Doctor visits, runny noses, etc. nothing. Me too. My wife hardly ever gets sick. Knock on wood.

 

Back to the kitchen

[Mallard]

In for the granola recipe's too.

 

I've been trying to eat healthier and cut some of this stuff out of my diet, but it's tough with the amount of travel I do.

[mrs.cos]

So far this recipie from Smitten Kitchen has been my favorite as far as flavor.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/3879684274_f9e84ee1a5.jpg

Smitten Kitchens Granola Bars.

Makes 12 to 16 granola bars

 

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed (I used unsweetened)

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

2/3 cup honey

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cup dried fruit, or a mix of dried fruit (I used chopped apricots, cranberries and raisins)

 

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12-inch baking dish (lacking this, I used a 9×13-inch) and line it with parchment paper.

 

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

 

While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

 

You can store these in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or two, as you would cookies, however, I prefer to store mine in the freezer. I find that they stay the most crisp this way as all granola tends to soften at room temperature after a day or more.

[HotCarl]

Cane sugar Coke tastes so much better anyway.

 

FYI, Pepsi is releasing throwback pepsi, mountain dew and dr pepper this week. All made with actual sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I tasted one and didnt like it too much, apparently its the fastest way to type 2 diabetes too eek

[Trouble Maker]

In for the granola recipe's too.

 

I forgot.

 

Off to ski soon, I will try to remember this afternoon (for now looks like Damreds posted hers).

[Mallard]

FYI, Pepsi is releasing throwback pepsi, mountain dew and dr pepper this week. All made with actual sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I tasted one and didnt like it too much, apparently its the fastest way to type 2 diabetes too eek

I watched the video and this is a point where I'm confused and probably missed something. I thought the point was that all sugar is bad in your diet, but HFCS was especially a worry because they are adding it to all foods after removing the fat. Didn't he say that the health effects of HFCS and sugar are the same?

 

Just so I understand it better, what I got out of it is:

 

Glucose = good

Sucrose (table sugar) and Fructose (HFCS) = bad, but the effects can be negated if taken in with fiber or if ingested after exercise.

 

So it shouldn't matter if the label says "sugar" or "HFCS" because the sucrose is broken down into fructose and glucose almost immediately anyway, right? Or is it not the same because HFCS has a higher concentration of fructose reaching the liver? This is one point (the difference between ingesting sugar vs. HFCS) I either missed or he didn't touch on too much.

[Science Abuse]

People, watch the video, it contains valuable stuff you don't know. Period.

 

I've read through a great many people saying, essentially; "I don't need to see the video, cuz I already know it's bad", that's not the only point.

Cutting out HFC is only about 30% of the lecture. Also, "Why" is always as important, if not MORE important, than "what". Take an hour and a half away from watching house, listenting to rap music, and flash dancing or whatever the fuck kids do these day and watch a smart guy tell you how things work.

 

Another piece of advice: Eli is a sharp chap, and if he says watch it, watch it.

[Science Abuse]

I watched the video and this is a point where I'm confused and probably missed something. I thought the point was that all sugar is bad in your diet, but HFCS was especially a worry because they are adding it to all foods after removing the fat. Didn't he say that the health effects of HFCS and sugar are the same?

 

HFC is not really sugar, it's not glucose, and your body processes it differently than sugar. Eating large amounts of both has the same effects, the difference is the way that HFC runs through your plumbing, it ends up in a place where it's harder to get rid of. It also stimulates the production of stuff that sugar does not. Glucose is unhealthy, Fructose is a poison.

[Ramsey]

HFC is not really sugar, it's not glucose, and your body processes it differently than sugar. Eating large amounts of both has the same effects, the difference is the way that HFC runs through your plumbing, it ends up in a place where it's harder to get rid of. It also stimulates the production of stuff that sugar does not. Glucose is unhealthy, Fructose is a poison.

 

 

sugar is sucrose.

[Science Abuse]

sugar is sucrose.

 

which is made of...?

[Mallard]

which is made of...?

Glucose and Fructose. But he said that bond is so weak it's almost immediately broken, so you use the glucose to energy and process the fructose the same as you would in HFCS, right?

 

Glucose isn't unhealthy...it's what every living thing on earth needs/uses for energy. Why would you say that. Even the video has no problem with glucose, it's a simple carbohydrate.

[Ramsey]

which is made of...?

 

http://cdavies.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/simple-sugars-fructose-glucose-and-sucrose/

 

????

[Science Abuse]

Why would you say that.

I said Fructose is not Glucose, that's all. It's a direct quote from Dr. Lustig.

[excell]

We watched this last night and it was worth every minute. Thanks Eli.

 

The takeaway here is that all sugar should be consumed in moderation, which includes looking at basically everything you buy. HFCS, "sugar" (sucrose), and especially "fructose" which I've seen added in place of sugar and/or HFCS - especially in "diet" yogurt - are being added to almost everything we eat. It's not just limited to cutting out soda or fruit juice; in an effort to remove the fat from our food, it was replaced with carbs which taste bad, so sugar is added to offset the taste of carbs. Now you have every condiment, most packaged foods, heck even meat loaded with or treated with a sugar product. That's what he's saying - it's not a question of HFCS versus sugar, it's a question of EVERYTHING WE EAT being loaded with almost ANY KIND of sugar. We're simply eating too much sugar.

 

Add in a few other digestion-specific scientific issues, such as the negative effects on how sugar is metabolized in the presence of carbs, a lack of fiber which is natures natural check against negative digestion of sugar, and we're exacerbating the problem.

[Ramsey]

We watched this last night and it was worth every minute. Thanks Eli.

 

The takeaway here is that all sugar should be consumed in moderation, which includes looking at basically everything you buy. HFCS, "sugar" (sucrose), and especially "fructose" which I've seen added in place of sugar and/or HFCS - especially in "diet" yogurt - are being added to almost everything we eat. It's not just limited to cutting out soda or fruit juice; in an effort to remove the fat from our food, it was replaced with carbs which taste bad, so sugar is added to offset the taste of carbs. Now you have every condiment, most packaged foods, heck even meat loaded with or treated with a sugar product. That's what he's saying - it's not a question of HFCS versus sugar, it's a question of EVERYTHING WE EAT being loaded with almost ANY KIND of sugar. We're simply eating too much sugar.

 

Add in a few other digestion-specific scientific issues, such as the negative effects on how sugar is metabolized in the presence of carbs, a lack of fiber which is natures natural check against negative digestion of sugar, and we're exacerbating the problem.

 

This