Is Sugar the new Cigarette?
Read this in the Guardian today:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us...
Why are we so fat? We have not become greedier as a race. We are not, contrary to popular wisdom, less active – a 12-year study, which began in 2000 at Plymouth hospital, measured children's physical activity and found it the same as 50 years ago. But something has changed: and that something is very simple. It's the food we eat. More specifically, the sheer amount of sugar in that food, sugar we're often unaware of.
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By the mid-70s, there was a surplus of corn. Butz flew to Japan to look into a scientific innovation that would change everything: the mass development of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), or glucose-fructose syrup as it's often referred to in the UK, a highly sweet, gloppy syrup, produced from surplus corn, that was also incredibly cheap. HFCS had been discovered in the 50s, but it was only in the 70s that a process had been found to harness it for mass production. HFCS was soon pumped into every conceivable food: pizzas, coleslaw, meat. It provided that "just baked" sheen on bread and cakes, made everything sweeter, and extended shelf life from days to years. A silent revolution of the amount of sugar that was going into our bodies was taking place. In Britain, the food on our plates became pure science – each processed milligram tweaked and sweetened for maximum palatability. And the general public were clueless that these changes were taking place.
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Why has Kessler, when he has had such success with his warnings on cigarette packets, not done the same thing for processed foods high in sugar? Because, he tells me, when the warnings came in on cigarettes, the game was already up in the west for the tobacco industry. Their new markets were the far east, India and China. It was no concession at all. The food industry is a different matter. For one thing, the food lobby is more powerful than the tobacco lobby. The industry is tied into a complex matrix of other interests: drugs, chemicals, even dieting products. The panoply of satellite industries that make money from obesity means the food industry's relationship to obesity is an incredibly complex one.
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Obesity is a problem in almost every country in the world. The poorer the country, the more likely they are to pour High Fructose Corn Syrup into their food, which is why you even see an obesity epidemic affecting the most impoverished of people.
HFCS seems to be in everything. What can you do?
No suggestions Flor, just want everyone to be aware of what they are eating. And I do believe that food needs to be properly labeled, like cigarettes.
Sugar does not cause diabetes. You either develop it when you are growing up when your pancreas does not make enough or any insulin (Type 1)
or after a while, your pancreas can't use insulin properly which is (Type 2)
you must have something in your mind, spill it out!
Sugar is almost present in every food we are eating. Just make sure to drink plenty of water and do at least 15-minute exercise to keep your body healthy.
change to brown sugar...
Y'know I am a mega Peanut butter fan,and whilst I know most have added sugar, I never buy the ones that have HFCS.
I believe Jamie Oliver was onto the whole too much sugar in our diets theory. He in fact suggested they did come with government health warnings.
I must admit despite always following a low cal diet for like forever, sugar is still my weakness. I am a total chocaholic!
everything has sugar in it... but chips have natural sugars....
Its refined sugar thats the problem:-(
if you smoke, you increase your chance of cancer..
if you drink alcohol, you increase your chance of liver disease.
if you eat lots of food, you increase your chance to get obese.
if you have lots of flatulence, you increase the risk of pooping in your pants.
if your wife finds out about your girlfriend, you risk dying in your sleep.
if your husband finds out about your boyfriend, you risk being involved in a multiple homicide.
Studies show all sorts of things...
So eat what you like, drink if you choose, smoke if want, sleep where you can..
Enjoy your life..
Natural foods” and “all natural foods” are widely used terms in food labeling and marketing with a variety of definitions, most of which are vague. The term is assumed to imply foods that are minimally processed and do not contain manufactured ingredients, but the lack of standards in most jurisdictions means that the term assures nothing. The term “organic” has similar implications and has an established legal definition in many countries and an international standard. In others, such as the United States, it has no meaning.
Because there is no legal meaning for natural foods, food manufacturers can include ingredients that may not be considered natural by some consumers.
The poultry industry labels chicken meat "all natural" after it has been injected with saline solution up to 25% of its weight, but there is no legal recourse to prevent this labeling
That's the problem LP, how can you "enjoy responsibly" when you don't even know what's in your food? You think you're eating healthy, but in fact even so-called diet food is chock full of sugar.
This is why there are such weight problems amongst the poor. They can't afford the organic good stuff so they're stuck buying meat injected with pink slime full of high fructose corn syrup! It's even in baby food!
Maybe that's the reasons why too many diabetics in Qatar.
Do you know what is printed on a Jack Daniel's bottle? "Enjoy responsibly". How is that? Why not print that on every piece of food and let the people decide how they wanna die?
LOL Lp. Ok, you are a bastion of health!
No problem, MM. I always eat an apple as it is, only the banana I peel most of the time.
The problem with fruit is that it's only healthy when eaten whole. If you turn it into juice, you take out the fibre, which makes the sugar in fruit unhealthy.
People now drink ffffaaaarrrr more juice than they used to!
MM, I doubt that it is in fruits from Syria or vegetables from Jordan or Qatar! And I sometimes bake my own bread (without HFCS). I also doubt that it is in Jack Daniel's Tennessee Sour Mash. And for sure it's not in my French cigarettes. I bet, however, that you will find it in Marlboro and other 'blended' cigarettes! So, everybody, except me, really has to be very careful. Listen to Miss Mimi!
There's sugar in chips Xena.
LP, the problem with High Fructose Corn Syrup is that it's put into EVERYTHING. Even meat. A lot of times people don't even know it's in the food.
I love my cigs.... and am not a sugar fan.... I would prefer a plate of hot chips over a slice of cake:-D
Its also the reason I stick to Atkins (when I have will power);-p
I am not fat. I don't like sugar. And everything else I take in measures. My body says when it is enough. You just have to listen to your body.