
How Much Sugar Can You Avoid - hvo
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/100000004844838.mobile.html?_r=0
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smallnamespace
As someone who semi-regularly cooks, all the prepared food choices looked
really unappetizing to me.

It's easy to avoid added sugar if you make your own food: just don't dump
sugar in while you cook.

I think the bigger story here is that for most of human history, every single
household cooked because it was the only economical way to feed yourself
(restaurants have always been a luxury good). In the US, we've recently had
this weird economic inversion where it's become cheaper to feed yourself off
of junk food, so now cooking has become some sort of luxury good.

Come to think of it, exercise has followed the same path. In the past, only
the rich could avoid physical activity. Nowadays, it's rich people who can
afford pricey gym passes and personal trainers while their poorer compatriots
also work in a call center or some other sedentary setting.

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Nition
> It's become cheaper to feed yourself off of junk food

Has it really though, or are people just drawn to the convenience?

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disordinary
Cooking for yourself is only cheaper than eating out if you buy in bulk and
buy whatever is in season. Often the capital outlay of this makes it daunting,
not to mention the fact that people who are worried often don't have a car to
drive to the supermarket and therefore have to carry all those groceries by
hand or on the bus.

It's very hard to compete with the local burger chain which is within walking
distance and where you can get a burger, chips, a drink, and desert for only a
few dollars.

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charlieflowers
No, that's not true. Cooking for yourself is _easily_ cheaper than eating out.
You pay heavily for the luxury of having someone else prep your food.

You can go to the grocery store once a week, cook a few meals to last through
the week, and eat for $3 a meal without trying hard. Frugal people can eat for
$1 a meal easily.

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taeric
This can easily depend on what you eat. Both when eating out, and eating in.
As such, strawmen and assertions without data will be tough to argue against.

Specifically, I'm sure there are folks that spend more than I do. In either
category. Numbers would be interesting to see, and I'm sure someone has them.

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redial
If you compare the same meal and don't account for the time you spend cooking
it, it will be cheaper to do it yourself every time. If you go to fancy
restaurants it's not even close.

You just have to compare the price of a soda, ~$3 and up (usually $5), to its
price at the supermarket and you'll have your answer. Wine is also an easy
one, with at least 300% markup even on cheap bottles. Everything is marked up
like that (maybe calling it 'markup' is not really fair as they provide other
things and not just a meal, but you get what I mean.)

I've been cooking for years and not even trying to save money meals are less
expensive.

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taeric
You can't skip on the time. It is one of the main reasons to do fast food,
after all. And it has been a long time since I bought soda.

Still, I feel it is impossible to list ingredients and recipes without
building a straw man. Research on average amount spent eating out and eating
in would be nice to see.

My point is it is easy to save money doing either. It is equally easy to spend
more than makes sense doing either. My gut would be that eating in is cheaper.
My gut is also that it is easier to waste food at home. Is amazing how many
times we let something ruin in the fridge.

And again, neither of those gut checks are data.

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redial
Wine bottle prices and beer prices are available everywhere. It's not that
hard to compare them.

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taeric
And when I'm eating out, I'm not ordering those... When I'm having a night
out, beer. Maybe.

That is, since most eating out is at fast food locations, wine and beer are
irrelevant.

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redial
They are not irrelevant as _' hard data'_, which is what you requested. If you
want to have only anecdotes and personal experiences then by all means stay
with what _you_ order when _you_ go out.

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taeric
Sorta. That is hard data on price of some things. My question is data on what
people actually spend.

Consider, many people buy dollar beers at the bar. What I buy at the grocery
isn't even that cheap. So, again, straw man.

I'm not asking what people _could_ spend. But what they do spend.

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luckman212
Disgusting choices. I'm American (born and raised) and found almost nothing
edible on any of the pages. As others have pointed out, this seems like a
thinly-veiled fluff piece marketing prepared/packaged foods. I do indulge in a
Snickers bar myself once in a while, but come on - can't we do better than
salami on Wonder bread washed down with Coke for lunch?

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skookum
The article says "Challenge: Construct a day’s worth of eating, from items at
a typical supermarket we visited, that meets the guidelines for added sugars."
... then proceeds to let the reader build meals entirely composed of brand
name packaged foods.

This article is a pointless straw man, unless the point is a covert attempt at
making the reader realize they should skip the food with the brand names on it
and eat real food instead... but that seems way too nuanced for the NY Times.

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brianwawok
8 packaged trash foods or an apple. I would literally die if those were my
choices. You know how hard it is to get 2500 calories from apples?

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altoz
The dinner choices were the worst. Where's steak or grilled chicken?
Basically, the only meat options were a hamburger (with bun) or kosher hot
dogs.

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Filligree
Is this seriously the kind of food that Americans eat? If this is at all
realistic, then I don't see why anyone is surprised at the obesity epidemic.

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lobotryas
It's not, of course. But it takes a lot of awareness to eat well in the US,
especially if you follow traditional nutrition advice such as that taught in
most high schools (if you were lucky).

Recently I had a friend complain about his weight so we went shopping for
groceries together. After he loaded his cart with the usual stuff we went
through the labels and he was shocked at bow many empty carbs and sugar he was
eating (he had plenty of canned fruits, instant oatmeal, apple sauce, bananas
and grapes, all stuff that's usually considered "healthy").

Helped him pick out some chicken, fish, vegetables, nuts and real cheese
instead.

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zeroer
Lots of people don't realize that fruit in excess can be just as bad as candy
in excess, due to the sugar.

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thoughtsimple
Pretty awful choices on everything but breakfast. Where are the whole foods.
The only fresh fruit was blueberries with low fat yogurt and an apple listed
twice.

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haddr
Orange juice for breakfast is really without added sugar?

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analog31
Yes, but the juice itself is a sugar bomb.

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jschwartzi
What was really surprising is that there's sugar in every single deli meat.
Even beef has sugar in it.

It's still cheaper than an equivalent amount of beef jerky though. Speaking of
jerky, I've noticed that cheaper brands are actually pork jerky.

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ejcx
What's important to remember is that everything is okay in moderation.

If you're looking to improve your health/diet then don't buy in to "good
food", "bad food", "sugar is evil", etc mumbo-jumbo. Count your calories.
Health articles usually make me really angry, and this one is no exception. I
totally agree with what it says, though "that still lets you make good
decisions".

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bluedino
The article stresses that everyday foods can contain a ton of added sugar
without people realizing it. So read the labels when you buy and evaluate all
your options, there's more than just soda to keep your eyes out for.

