
Sugar: the evolution of a forbidden fruit - __Joker
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/sugar-the-evolution-of-a-forbidden-fruit/article19969475/
======
awjr
I don't think it's the fact that sugar is evil, but that it has been marketed
as better than fat. Low fat food high in 'hidden' sugars are sold to us as
better for us. Both have their issues, but looking at our diet over millennia,
high sugar diets are new to our bodies.

When we bring the car into the equation and the way it has transformed the way
we travel we suddenly have this health 'time' bomb that is beginning to
explode.

Now people may say it's down to the individual to make dietary decisions, but
this is more fundamental than this. In the same way the tobacco industry has
to pay for the damage it inflicts on the population through taxation, I can
see sugar taxes becoming something governments will implement to recover the
cost to the state of a unhealthy population.

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
De novo lipogenesis from sugar in humans is extremely inefficient. Sugar
really is less fattening, calorie for calorie, than dietary fat. So in at
least one sense sugar is in fact "better" than fat.

You can live in perfect health on close to zero fat intake. Sustained zero
sugar/carb intake is extremely stressful for the body and sends catecholamine
levels way up, accelerating aging.

The anti sugar thinking is basically some dumb ideas from diabetes research
extrapolated out. If you have a healthy pancreas there is zero reason not to
get a load of your calories from sugar. You just have to get sufficient
mineral and vitamin intake as well, so for this reason fruit juice is better
than white sugar.

~~~
Evgeny
_You can live in perfect health on close to zero fat intake._

I very much doubt that - quite the opposite, you can live in perfect health on
close to zero sugar intake. In fact, there are essential amino acids, and
there are essential fatty acids, so you can not live without either protein or
fat. There's nothing like "essential sugars", however.

 _Sustained zero sugar /carb intake is extremely stressful for the body and
sends catecholamine levels way up, accelerating aging._

I'm interested to see sources for "low carb accelerates aging" claim.

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
The idea of essential amino acids is silly because it's impossible not to get
enough from almost any diet. No experiment has ever succeeded in inducing an
EFA deficiency. It's like calling air essential. Well, yes, but that's not a
factor worth worrying about here on the surface of the earth.

Sugar/starch is more rightfully considered essential because glucose is
clearly the preferred fuel for animal cells. Glucose deprivation leads to
disease.

~~~
Evgeny
_No experiment has ever succeeded in inducing an EFA deficiency._

You may look up Pellagra. It is, of course, not a threat in a modern western
society, but it used to kill people. Not even an experiment, but something
that happened in nature. Yes, there are reasons to consider EFA deficiency.

Would a person die horribly if good sources of fat and protein are abundant,
but glucose is not? I don't think so.

 _Glucose deprivation leads to disease._

Again, I would like to see some source. What particular diseases? There are
whole groups of peoples (i.e. Inuit, Maasai) who were eating diets almost
entirely lacking glucose before Western foods became available to them.

Do you realise, at least, that the body can produce it's own glucose from the
excess fat (Gluconeogenesis)?

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
Pellagra is a vitamin B deficiency. It has nothing to do with EFA. I repeat,
there is no such thing as an EFA deficiency. Nobody has ever induced a disease
by restricting EFA intake because it's impossible to fail to get enough.

A person eating nothing but fat and protein will have chronically elevated
adrenalin and cortisol, will prematurely age, and be more prone to various
degenerative diseases.

~~~
Evgeny
_Pellagra is a vitamin B deficiency. It has nothing to do with EFA._

You could at least look up the first line of a Wikipedia article? Tryptophan
is an essential amino acid.

 _It can be caused by decreased intake of niacin or tryptophan,[1] and
possibly by excessive intake of leucine._

Anyway, in the absence of any sources there's not much I can gain from this
discussion, unfortunately.

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
You are confusing amino acid and fatty acid. Two totally different things. I
realize now I made a typo reinforcing your misunderstanding higher up.

------
ealloc
It's funny to think that once upon a time sugar was so precious it was kept
locked up in its own dedicated safe. In America these are known as "sugar
chests", you can fairly commonly find them as antiques.

King Louis XVI kept his sugar in a locked container and kept the key with him.
He would open it up for special guests and personally delivered small amounts
of sugar to each person. Similarly, in French noble households it was common
for the man of the house to control the sugar-key, and to distribute small
amounts of sugar to the family as he saw fit.

~~~
superflit
Does the expression "sugar Daddy" came from that?

------
tatterdemalion
There is an excellent book about the history and anthropology of sugar by
Sidney Mintz called _Sweetness & Power_. It documents the connection between
the consumption and production of sugar by the West and the development of
capitalism. It's fascinating.

