
Sickeningly Sweet - amasad
https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2019/03/sickeningly-sweet
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gnicholas
> _“I have a very simple rule,” he says. “I eat fruit, but I don’t eat
> anything that has sugar added to it._

I'm curious to know how people actually draw lines around sugar intake.
Presumably fruit juice is not allowed? What about foods that have fruit juice
as an ingredient? Do you decide based on what the ingredients are, or how much
of the ingredient there is? Seems like there's a number of reasonable ways to
make rules, but it isn't immediately apparent which one is most principled, or
easiest to stick to.

EDIT: Any explanation on the downvotes? I'd love to know how folks draw lines
around eating sugary foods. If you've got it all figured out, please share
your secrets!

~~~
ipython
We are sugar free in our house w/3 kids and draw the line at fruit juice. Not
allowed in our house. We will blend our own smoothies that have some bananas
and berries but also include greens.

It is very hard to avoid sugar completely. It’s in everything especially
anything marketed toward kids.

~~~
hvidgaard
The issue is not juice in and of itself, but the amount. A small glass a day
is a good way to get some of the benefits from fruit.

We're not sugar free, but sweets are for occasional eating, not for week days.
We watch a Disney show every Friday, and my children get to make a small bag
of candy (100g) for that. They rarely eat it all. Beyond that we simply load
them with greens, and make sure there is always some green that they like and
some they have to taste. Hungry when they get home from school? Grab a carrot.
Hunger 1 hour before dinner? Take an apple. Need an late lunch snack? Eat some
nuts. The battle is won if parents give their children healthy eating habits
in their daily life.

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micael_dias
Sugar really is an addiction and it's very hard to escape it due to its
vicious cycle. You may stop eating for a while but as soon as you think "just
this once" it's very hard to stop again. Or maybe it's just me and my lack of
will power but I did quit tobacco. I think tobacco not being sold and
advertised everywhere I go probably helped.

~~~
baroffoos
I haven't totally given up sugar but I eat foods with less sugar now and
whenever I try something with a high sugar level again its really disgusting.

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currymj
After the Brian Wansink thing, I have a natural skepticism of nutrition
science coming out of Cornell, especially with a hypeworthy subject, glossy
photos and a PR campaign.

~~~
mindfulplay
I am more wary of any nutrition study though .. A lot of these scientists aim
for newspaper coverage than actual honest research or science. Most of these
are touchy-feely social science stuff that shouldn't be in the category of
science to begin with.

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skybrian
I'm not quite sure if this is talking about the same research but it seems
relevant:

"Important note: there’s a lot of craziness out there around “keto” diets, and
this does not mean that a ketogenic diet prevents cancer or is a treatment for
it. No, what it means is that if you’re a cancer patient taking a PI3K
inhibitor, a ketogenic diet could help the drug to work, and that’s it. In
fact, in at least one rodent model (AML), putting the animals on the diet
actually accelerated the cancer before the PI3K inhibitor treatment began, so
be aware."

[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/11/16/pi3...](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/11/16/pi3k-inhibitors-
youre-doing-it-wrong)

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paulcole
Is this the thread where we humblebrag about how we find desserts (sometimes
even bread) too sweet?

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geowwy
I think everyone agrees sugar is bad, but I'm pretty sure it's only part of
the picture.

The amount of sugar (and other sweeteners) we eat has actually gone down in
the last 20 years, but we haven't seen a drop in obesity or other metabolic
diseases at all.

My gut feeling is vegetable oils are another part of the problem. Unlike
sugar, we keep eating more and more of them. And unlike sugar, we only started
eating them around 100 years ago.

There are a few nutrition people talking about vegetable oils but it doesn't
have the same mass consciousness as sugar. Maybe because there are still old
school nutritionists telling us we should avoid saturated fats.

~~~
bkovacev
In Serbia, at least the northern part, a lot of people (used to) cook on pig's
(or mangulitsa's) fat instead of vegetable oil. We rarely used any oil aside
from pumpkin seed oil and olive oil for salads. Unsure what's the popular
opinion on that, but it's a worthy replacement.

~~~
black-tea
I only use lard and butter for cooking and have done for years. I hope people
keep using vegetable oil, though, because it makes lard really cheap.

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mey
Am I reading this wrong or has the study not actually started yet?

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cryptonector
If you get sugar lows easily, as I do, you learn to hate sugar. I try hard to
avoid sugar.

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ars
I can give up sugar, but I can't give up chocolate, and chocolate without
sugar is inedible.

I did get some 70% chocolate though, just enough sugar to be edible, but not
sweet exactly.

~~~
cryptonector
I eat 100% chocolate _only_. I can't stand the sugar even in 87% chocolate --
I find that inedible.

Not all 100% chocolate is great, but some brands are excellent.

~~~
amasad
What's your favorite 100%?

~~~
cryptonector
Callebaut. I buy 5lb bags of 100% chips.

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RickJWagner
Sad but true. All those Reese's Peanut Butter eggs that are now being sold are
deadly.

If you have some, send them to me. I'll dispose of them.

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randomacct3847
I’m on a lazy keto and never been one to crave sweets so it wasn’t that
difficult for me to give it up completely. Occasionally if I’m having a rare
drink I’ll make a margarita with truvia and can’t really taste any difference
between it and real sugar.

