The Emerging Health Threat of Sugar

[Israel Chai]

It shows his portrayal of pharma is a caricature and not true.   The logical fallacy was when you equated "enjoying cigarettes" even though they are bad and the makers don't care if they're bad (all true) with "gaining health benefits from medicines made by people u and muman claim are supposedly bad and make things to purposely harm people."   The health benefits belie the claim!

Enjoyment of cigarettes doesn't change they are unhealthy and the makers are purposely putting out unhealthy things people enjoy.   Must I explain everything to you?

Oh you're trying to condescend, cute, adorable really.

[angryChineseKahanist]

Drugs are glamorous

[Israel Chai]

Drugs are glamorous

You really have to do telemarketing to understand how Americans can get convinced to do meth.

[muman613]

http://www.cdapress.com/news/fit_for_life/article_7957258b-3df5-5fda-abbb-fb4da33ab7f0.html

How addictive is sugar?
Posted: Saturday, November 1, 2014 12:00 am
Judd Jones/Special to The Press | 0 comments

This week, I am going to be a bit of a buzzkill on all that Halloween candy - and for that matter, the upcoming sugary treats which are always part of the holiday season.

Let's look at the question, "How addictive is sugar?" and see if it is valid to compare sugar to other known addictive substances like alcohol, nicotine or heroin. We all know that too much sugar is unhealthy and most of us have a sweet tooth; for some, that may be putting it mildly.

Over the last 10 years, there have been numerous studies done on sugar and its affect in and on the human body. Most of the studies have shown that sugar has a strong impact on key centers in our brain.

When sugar hits our cerebral cortex, it triggers the nucleus accumbens - our brain's reward and pleasure center - spiking dopamine levels. This stimulates and drives the same cravings comparable to those induced by highly addictive drugs. The overall findings from the research suggests sugar can drive cravings and addictive behavior in the same fashion as drugs like cocaine and opiates. The intense neural effects of sugar on your dopamine levels in your brain may be the biggest reason many us have difficultly controlling our consumption of foods high in sugar.

Next, let's take a look at the simple carbohydrates which make up sugars such as sucrose, fructose, glucose and lactose. These sugars are composed of either one sugar (monosaccharides) or two sugars (disaccharides) in their chemical makeup.

Here is a breakdown of the most common types of sugars we consume:

* Sucrose, which consists of glucose and fructose together is found in plain white table sugar as well as turbinado sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar. It is often a main ingredient in baked goods, drinks and candy.

* Fructose, typically found in fruit-juice concentrate, is almost twice as sweet as sucrose, and is attached to all the natural nutrients of fruit and fruit juice.

* Glucose, which is the basic form of sugar in our bloodstream, is often listed on labels as dextrose. It's the body's immediate source of cellular energy, so you'll see it a lot in sports energy bars and drinks.

* Lactose, which is mildly sweet, is a naturally occurring sugar found in milk and dairy products like yogurt. For many people, it can be a challenge to digest, which is where the term lactose intolerance comes into play.

Simple carbohydrates, or sugars as we know and love them, are very easily converted to energy in the body. This quick conversion often leads to an equally quick rise in blood sugar, which needs an insulin response from your pancreas. Insulin is an essential hormone which has a huge effect on our body.

The primary function of insulin is to control how the body uses the carbohydrates and fat we get from eating. Insulin allows our muscles, liver and fat cells to take up sugar as glucose which has been absorbed into the bloodstream from what we eat. It allows our blood sugar in the form of glucose to enter our cells and start fueling our bodies with glucose instead of fat.

If you spike your blood sugar regularly, over time you can develop what is known as insulin resistance, which research has proven to trigger chronic conditions and diseases like metabolic syndrome, obesity and Type II diabetes, to name a few.

While the dopamine in your brain loves that sugar high, your body can have a very hard time dealing with the sugar, especially when our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin. If you retain too much glucose in the blood, it becomes toxic and leads to complications like blindness, nerve damage, kidney damage and even death. As with most addictive substances, too much of anything can be a very bad thing, so chronically elevated blood sugars often cause severe harm.

With the overconsumption of sugar in most of our daily diets, it is not surprising to see that people who, for example drink heavily sweetened beverages, have as much as an 83 percent higher risk of Type II diabetes.

Research has shown that the overall effect sugar has on us can have a very negative impact on our cardiovascular health, weight and hormone balances, all of which ties back to overconsumption and addictive behavior. People who try to break their sugar addiction can experience withdrawal-like symptoms like anxiety, headaches, shakiness and extreme mood swings.

The bottom line to the addictive nature of sugar is pretty clear. The effects of sugar on our hormones and dopamine response in our brain makes sugar very addictive, and the subtle nature of sugar's effects on us makes it easy to overlook in our day-to-day consumption.

So 'how much sugar should we consume each day' is a tricky question. Some would say little to none, but that frankly is not realistic. Most nutritionists recommend your sugar intake should not exceed 6 to 7 percent of your daily calories. For example, if your calorie intake is around 2700 per day, you should limit your sugar to 47 grams. Of course, if you consume popular candy bars or sports drinks, you will exceed the daily-recommended amount - and then some - fairly quickly.

If you follow recommended dietary guidelines, does this still open you to an increasing chance of developing a sugar addiction? I think for some, this would be true, so cutting back on sugar to a bare minimum in adults and especially in children would be wise for our overall health and fitness.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

http://www.cdapress.com/news/fit_for_life/article_7957258b-3df5-5fda-abbb-fb4da33ab7f0.html

How addictive is sugar?
Posted: Saturday, November 1, 2014 12:00 am
Judd Jones/Special to The Press | 0 comments

This week, I am going to be a bit of a buzzkill on all that Halloween candy - and for that matter, the upcoming sugary treats which are always part of the holiday season.

Let's look at the question, "How addictive is sugar?" and see if it is valid to compare sugar to other known addictive substances like alcohol, nicotine or heroin. We all know that too much sugar is unhealthy and most of us have a sweet tooth; for some, that may be putting it mildly.

Over the last 10 years, there have been numerous studies done on sugar and its affect in and on the human body. Most of the studies have shown that sugar has a strong impact on key centers in our brain.

When sugar hits our cerebral cortex, it triggers the nucleus accumbens - our brain's reward and pleasure center - spiking dopamine levels. This stimulates and drives the same cravings comparable to those induced by highly addictive drugs. The overall findings from the research suggests sugar can drive cravings and addictive behavior in the same fashion as drugs like cocaine and opiates. The intense neural effects of sugar on your dopamine levels in your brain may be the biggest reason many us have difficultly controlling our consumption of foods high in sugar.

Next, let's take a look at the simple carbohydrates which make up sugars such as sucrose, fructose, glucose and lactose. These sugars are composed of either one sugar (monosaccharides) or two sugars (disaccharides) in their chemical makeup.

Here is a breakdown of the most common types of sugars we consume:

* Sucrose, which consists of glucose and fructose together is found in plain white table sugar as well as turbinado sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar. It is often a main ingredient in baked goods, drinks and candy.

* Fructose, typically found in fruit-juice concentrate, is almost twice as sweet as sucrose, and is attached to all the natural nutrients of fruit and fruit juice.

* Glucose, which is the basic form of sugar in our bloodstream, is often listed on labels as dextrose. It's the body's immediate source of cellular energy, so you'll see it a lot in sports energy bars and drinks.

* Lactose, which is mildly sweet, is a naturally occurring sugar found in milk and dairy products like yogurt. For many people, it can be a challenge to digest, which is where the term lactose intolerance comes into play.

Simple carbohydrates, or sugars as we know and love them, are very easily converted to energy in the body. This quick conversion often leads to an equally quick rise in blood sugar, which needs an insulin response from your pancreas. Insulin is an essential hormone which has a huge effect on our body.

The primary function of insulin is to control how the body uses the carbohydrates and fat we get from eating. Insulin allows our muscles, liver and fat cells to take up sugar as glucose which has been absorbed into the bloodstream from what we eat. It allows our blood sugar in the form of glucose to enter our cells and start fueling our bodies with glucose instead of fat.

If you spike your blood sugar regularly, over time you can develop what is known as insulin resistance, which research has proven to trigger chronic conditions and diseases like metabolic syndrome, obesity and Type II diabetes, to name a few.

While the dopamine in your brain loves that sugar high, your body can have a very hard time dealing with the sugar, especially when our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin. If you retain too much glucose in the blood, it becomes toxic and leads to complications like blindness, nerve damage, kidney damage and even death. As with most addictive substances, too much of anything can be a very bad thing, so chronically elevated blood sugars often cause severe harm.

With the overconsumption of sugar in most of our daily diets, it is not surprising to see that people who, for example drink heavily sweetened beverages, have as much as an 83 percent higher risk of Type II diabetes.

Research has shown that the overall effect sugar has on us can have a very negative impact on our cardiovascular health, weight and hormone balances, all of which ties back to overconsumption and addictive behavior. People who try to break their sugar addiction can experience withdrawal-like symptoms like anxiety, headaches, shakiness and extreme mood swings.

The bottom line to the addictive nature of sugar is pretty clear. The effects of sugar on our hormones and dopamine response in our brain makes sugar very addictive, and the subtle nature of sugar's effects on us makes it easy to overlook in our day-to-day consumption.

So 'how much sugar should we consume each day' is a tricky question. Some would say little to none, but that frankly is not realistic. Most nutritionists recommend your sugar intake should not exceed 6 to 7 percent of your daily calories. For example, if your calorie intake is around 2700 per day, you should limit your sugar to 47 grams. Of course, if you consume popular candy bars or sports drinks, you will exceed the daily-recommended amount - and then some - fairly quickly.

If you follow recommended dietary guidelines, does this still open you to an increasing chance of developing a sugar addiction? I think for some, this would be true, so cutting back on sugar to a bare minimum in adults and especially in children would be wise for our overall health and fitness.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.

You just quoted someone who does research and works for a corporation.   But before you slandered all corporate researchers as liars cheats, and frauds (when their point of view disagrees with yours, of course).   It is blatant hypocrisy.    You just try to discredit whomever disagrees with your bias (or the research of whomever disagrees with your bias).  And the "reason" behind your ad hominem attacks suddenly doesn't matter if the individual in question supports your view.

[angryChineseKahanist]

You really have to do telemarketing to understand how Americans can get convinced to do meth.

eek. I hate telemarketers. you'd have to take meth to do telemarketing.

 

[Israel Chai]

You just quoted someone who does research and works for a corporation.   But before you slandered all corporate researchers as liars cheats, and frauds (when their point of view disagrees with yours, of course).   It is blatant hypocrisy.    You just try to discredit whomever disagrees with your bias (or the research of whomever disagrees with your bias).  And the "reason" behind your ad hominem attacks suddenly doesn't matter if the individual in question supports your view.

Translation: awawawa [logical fallacy awa], awawa.