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Is It Time to Treat Sugar Like Smoking?

Smoking tobacco hit Europe at roughly the same time ish (circa 16c) as sugar (although both were used for a lot longer in the Americas).
Sugar started to become a real problem during and since the Industrial Revolution (circa 1800) opening up the market for sugar to the masses.

We have finally accepted that smoking tobacco shortens lifespan. I wonder how long it will be before we realise that eating sugar to the levels that it becomes a toxin may also shorten one's lifespan?
 
Guzzler said:
So your argument for eating a non nutrient is that is a preservative?
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Whatever makes you think that sugar is not a nutrient?
Pure processed sugar may not be a balanced diet but it will supply energy to the body.
Our shared problem is to do with too much sugar in the blood which is the main energy source for the body unless you switch over to ketogenesis.
In hospital you can be put on a saline and glucose drip to keep you alive, and glucose is a sugar.
 
LittleGreyCat said:
Whatever makes you think that sugar is not a nutrient?
Pure processed sugar may not be a balanced diet but it will supply energy to the body.
Our shared problem is to do with too much sugar in the blood which is the main energy source for the body unless you switch over to ketogenesis.
In hospital you can be put on a saline and glucose drip to keep you alive, and glucose is a sugar.
Click to expand...
Could you give me the nutrient breakdown of sugar, please? We are talking about sugar here arn't we, that is table sugar which is a man made thing, one molecule of fructose bonded to one molecule of glucose to make sucrose. I did not say that sugar is not an energy source.
 
LittleGreyCat said:
Whatever makes you think that sugar is not a nutrient?
Pure processed sugar may not be a balanced diet but it will supply energy to the body.
Our shared problem is to do with too much sugar in the blood which is the main energy source for the body unless you switch over to ketogenesis.
In hospital you can be put on a saline and glucose drip to keep you alive, and glucose is a sugar.
Click to expand...

It’s energy for sure, but it burns quick and dirty, leaving behind untold damage. It has no micronutrients that I’m aware of and cannot be used to build and maintain the body. You most certainly could not live on it indefinitely, unlike fat and protein. Perhaps that was what @Guzzler meant?

Edit: cross posted.
 
Jim Lahey said:
It’s energy for sure, but it burns quick and dirty, leaving behind untold damage. It has no micronutrients that I’m aware of and cannot be used to build and maintain the body. You most certainly could not live on it indefinitely, unlike fat and protein. Perhaps that was what @Guzzler meant?

Edit: cross posted.
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I thought that was what I said :).
 
Interestingly, honey as a preservative and sweetener goes back to Egyptian times. Maybe as far back as 5 to 10000 years ago.
 
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Listlad said:
Interestingly, honey as a preservative and sweetener goes back to Egyptian times. Maybe further.
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Although to be fair, according to some anthropologists, the ancient Egyptians were riddled with heart disease and tooth decay. That said, I believe this is thought to be due to their grain agriculture and fondness of bread.
 
Jim Lahey said:
Although to be fair, according to some anthropologists, the ancient Egyptians were riddled with heart disease and tooth decay. That said, I believe this is thought to be due to their grain agriculture and fondness of bread.
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And before that? In Georgia some 5500 years back?
 
LittleGreyCat said:
Whatever makes you think that sugar is not a nutrient?
Pure processed sugar may not be a balanced diet but it will supply energy to the body.
Our shared problem is to do with too much sugar in the blood which is the main energy source for the body unless you switch over to ketogenesis.
In hospital you can be put on a saline and glucose drip to keep you alive, and glucose is a sugar.
Click to expand...
How much sugar is too much?
 
Guzzler said:
It is debatable whether sugar is a food at all. It is 100% carbohydrate with no nutritional value whatsoever. It is said by some that if sugar had been invented very recently it would at best be given the label 'Additive'.
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It wasn’t invented- it’s extracted.
 
To be fair sucrose is also heavily refined from raw sugar. It’s not exactly a natural extract anymore than vegetable oil is pressed from vegetables. But yes, invented is arguably incorrect.
 
Strange word 'extracted'. Something that dentists are doing more and more to children's milk teeth.
 
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