Hands up if you're FED UP with being told SUGAR IS THE DEVIL !!

[TheAnimus]

Yes, but we're talking about health and nutrition. Pure physiological needs. Cultural culinary/dining differences, no matter how small or great, are not relevant in the slightest.

Not really, you don't get a "snack" in china in the way you do here, not outside the modern cities. It's often these things that are the terrible things for health, that lovely bar of tasty often upsets the insulin cycle to boot. This is why people are pushing back against snacking.

[jim]

The cause is people being far too sedentary. Western food availability is excellent, but western life being dominated by being chained to a desk for most of their waking hours, and driving/busing to/from home, and sitting in front of the telly with dinner on their lap however, isn't good at all. Even when we count calories and balance our diet so we don't turn into complete lard asses, the way we live is still desperately unhealthy. If we had a healthy level of physical activity we'd actually have to eat far more calories to maintain a healthy weight.

Agreed, but IMO it's much easier to change your diet than your lifestyle.

[Lee H]

Zak33.

Turn off the news.
Stop buying papers
Remove all favourites to news websites.

Wait for 2 weeks and watch your quality of life and stress drop

The news media over here are told what to report to ensure we all feel bad and are scared of everyone and everything and stay in our homes all the time.

[wasabi]

If we had a healthy level of physical activity we'd actually have to eat far more calories to maintain a healthy weight.

I used to think that too - while doing crazy amounts of exercise and still being fat (although quite fit in a CV sense). But you have to differentiate between fats and carbs as well as keeping an overall eye on calories- i.e. ketosis is an important factor.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Stop buying tabloids

This 2l bottle of coke in front of contains 10.8% suger AMD I can quite happily get through this on an afternoon. 220g of sugar omg. Maybe they have a point.

[jim]

I used to think that too - while doing crazy amounts of exercise and still being fat (although quite fit in a CV sense). But you have to differentiate between fats and carbs as well as keeping an overall eye on calories- i.e. ketosis is an important factor.

Thing is, you can do "crazy amounts of exercise", but if you're doing a 9-5 job at a desk (or longer) it's never going to be a huge amount.

Compare it to someone who's on their feet all day and physically working, i.e. baggage handlers, builders etc - now those guys really can eat whatever they want and won't put on weight.

[Zak33]

I dont buy tabloids.... I dont buy paprs at all

I only use BBC Radio 4 and occasionally the BBC new app.

and STILL I know that Sugar = Satans Own Pocket Fluff

[Zak33]

Compare it to someone who's on their feet all day and physically working, i.e. baggage handlers, builders etc - now those guys really can eat whatever they want and won't put on weight.

they can still keel over from cholesterol or heart disease though chap

Skinny dudes die too

amd muscular ones

[TooNice]

The cause is people being far too sedentary. Western food availability is excellent, but western life being dominated by being chained to a desk for most of their waking hours, and driving/busing to/from home, and sitting in front of the telly with dinner on their lap however, isn't good at all. Even when we count calories and balance our diet so we don't turn into complete lard asses, the way we live is still desperately unhealthy. If we had a healthy level of physical activity we'd actually have to eat far more calories to maintain a healthy weight.

Hmm, I'd argue that people in Japan are even more sedentary. Longer commute combined with longer working hours on average than the West. But I'd say that the average portion size is about 2/3rd of the West. Obviously there are obese people even outside the sumo wrestling community, but fewer than the West. Western food probably isn't worse than Eastern food from a nutritional perspective, but portion size makes a difference. As someone with faster than average metabolism, I do prefer American Super Size portion, but my caloric needs is probably a little outside the norm.

Thing is, they don't really serve much purpose, in dietary terms. There's far more nutritional goodness in vegetables than in pure starch products - spuds, flour, rice etc are more cheap fillers than anything else.

If you eat it in moderation, then yeah, you'll be fine. Ultimately though, we were never meant to eat the vast quantities of carbs that we do these days, and I think it's causing far more problems for overweight people than they realise.

I am pretty much in agreement with mikeo01 regarding knowing your body and adjusting your diet according to it. There may be more nutritional goodness in vegetables, but most vegetables are so light on calories that those fillers are not optional for most. Most of the greens have about 15-35 calories per 100 grams, and few vegetables provide even 50 calories per 100g. My daily caloric needs is around 2800 (higher lately as I picked up some new sports), so I'd need about at least >8kg of vegetables per day! And at that quantity, I'd probably be taking *too much* of those goodness.

Now granted, you didn't say anything about a vegetable only diet, but the fact is that my 250-500g of vegetable intake is not insignificant volume wise, yet wouldn't provide the energy needed to even sleep for 8 hours. The purpose for staple food is simple: fuel for the body.

The reason I am not keen on a diet that seek to severely restrict one micro-nutrient, be it carb, protein or fat is because aside from the sometime lengthy adjustment period required, it removes so much versatility into what you can / can not eat, and I need some flexibility. It's a case of both I want the flexibility and sometime I need the flexibility. If you go cross mountain hiking for 2-3 weeks or longer, you won't always have the luxury of a carefully tailored meal. And in all likelihood, you won't be eating in excess of what you burn, but you may have to deal with the fact that at least 2/3rd of the calories will be from carbs.

Overall, I am largely in agreement of the content of this article: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/low-carb-diets

[jim]

they can still keel over from cholesterol or heart disease though chap

Skinny dudes die too

amd muscular ones

I nearly added that proviso, yeah. I imagine that a fair few will be suffering from diabetes and cholesterol issues, if nothing else. Burning off the calories is only part of the equation.

[Agent]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZp29Qeu8_U

To be fair, it's excessive sugar that's the issue. Coke is pretty bad.

[jim]

Coke is pretty bad.

snort snort...

[Lee H]

You know what - ignore all the warnings and enjoy your life.

I'd rather have 65 years of fun and debauchery as opposed to 75 years of dullness and rubbish rabbit food.

Anyway - I'd be lucky to hit 65 with my crohns disease and whatnot

[Saracen]

snort snort...

You just had to 'crack' that joke, didn't you?


Can someone pass me my coat, please.

[MrNeil]

If they want to put tax on sugar goodies then the goodies should be back to there original size and sugar content !! Then i will be happy ..
Not put tax on the goodies that are smaller and taste different now because of the lack of real sugar !!
I buy my US Pepsi Throwback made with real sugar from tesco and my twinkies Well worth the heartburn after a binge

[TooNice]

I'd rather have 65 years of fun and debauchery as opposed to 75 years of dullness and rubbish rabbit food.

Depending on what your idea of fun and debauchery is, a person may not even make it to 30. In the end it is a personal decision. Some people may find more fun in things other than food, and may need to a strict diet to get the most out of what they enjoy (e.g. certain physical activities).. or may find consuming a lifelong of "rubbish rabbit food" for a longer lifespan to enjoy whatever they find more fun than eating a more than fair trade off. Those people will be better off heeding the warnings that matter, which also mean having to sort the information from the disinformation.