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

[wasabi]

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.

Problem is, you do stuff in your teens and twenties thinking I don't care if I drop dead at 40, I'll be old and knackered then anyway. But you rarely just drop dead - more likely you're still pootling around feeling all the adverse side-effects of all the irresponsible stuff you did earlier. With 40 plus miserable years ahead of you too.

[Saracen]

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.

Agreed, it's a personal decision, but as wasabi said, odds are that a life of excess when young leads to major problems later on. Trouble is, the young are nearly all myopic about such things, being invincible, bulletproof and healthy and can't really get a grip, mentally, on not being so happening to them. It was not, for instance, going to happen to me.

Shame about how things turned out.

I regard life, and the body, as being a bit like a car. If you rev the nuts off it, drive it like you're in an F1 race all the time, use poor quality fuel and ignore any and all regular servicing and maintenance, you'll suffer excessive wear in all parts.

On the other hand, look after it properly and you can still drive it hard, and it'll last twice as long and give good service for ages, rather than rattling and clunking down the street, belching fumes, before blowing a gasket well before it's time.

And, if you do the maintenance, you can still race it on occasion without too much damage.

On the other hand, if you devote all your time to working on it and non-stop polishing, it'll probably look great but you won't want to get any fun from driving it for fear of scratching the paint.

Yup, personal decision, but my recipe for life (in retrospect) is moderation in all things. Hopefully, you spend less time in the garage in later life being worked on.

Anyone know a good mechanic? I've got a job or six needing doing.

[TooNice]

Don't get me wrong, I mainly intending to say that I understood Lee's point of view, but some choices doesn't rewon't a 10 years reduction in lifespan but 40+ years. Whether there is any debauchery worth such a loss one's lifespan remains a personal decision, but I suspect that many with a "just have fun" attitude may still want to draw a line somewhere. And indeed sometime you may not drop dead right off the bat, but suffer from a loss of quality in later life.

But I do maintain that it is a personal choice so I won't judge someone's choice regardless of what it is, so long as it doesn't affect my lifespan (so if you are going to smoke outside your own property, please be considerate of non-smokers around). I also hope that the system is relatively fair so that those who choose to take risks will bear most of the financial costs of the consequence (doesn't have to be perfect, but as good as we can get).

But beyond that, if you are legally adult, then you make your own choice. I have a sweet tooth, so I definitely wont shy away from a treat, but my everyday diet is otherwise fairly carefully balanced and I exercise at least 15 hours per week (granted not every sport is high intensity). I'd like to think I am following a moderate to decently healthy or at leasy active lifestyle (though I could use more sleep).

[Gerrard]

I regard life, and the body, as being a bit like a car. If you rev the nuts off it, drive it like you're in an F1 race all the time, use poor quality fuel and ignore any and all regular servicing and maintenance, you'll suffer excessive wear in all parts.

On the other hand, look after it properly and you can still drive it hard, and it'll last twice as long and give good service for ages, rather than rattling and clunking down the street, belching fumes, before blowing a gasket well before it's time.

And, if you do the maintenance, you can still race it on occasion without too much damage.

On the other hand, if you devote all your time to working on it and non-stop polishing, it'll probably look great but you won't want to get any fun from driving it for fear of scratching the paint.

Yup, personal decision, but my recipe for life (in retrospect) is moderation in all things. Hopefully, you spend less time in the garage in later life being worked on.

Anyone know a good mechanic? I've got a job or six needing doing.

A very good analogy, especially as you can take it further and say despite taking all these steps, it can still be written off due to some other idiot.

[b0redom]

Does anyone seriously still think that eating burgers and chips and drinking coke for every meal is good for you? At the moment I have a pretty high calorific intake. Much of that is likely to be sugar as it gets absorbed quickly. All the labelling is there for the hard of thinking. Maybe we should let evolution take care of itself....