Topic: Sugar

[Sat Santokh]

People talk shiat about sugar a lot.  What it seems like most people don't realize is that what is commonly called sugar isn't really sugar.  Sugar cane is actually healthy to your body.  Obviously just like anything else if you have too much of it, it would be bad for you.  Just thought I would point this out.  I went to a boarding school in India for the past six years of my life so it was extremely easy to find and buy.  I see how it would be hard to get it here though.

[Haack]

true dat. the majority of what they say is sugar is high fructose corn syrup, which is an evil monosacharide that can throw of your metabolic regulation and makes you gain weight like a mutha. but i know people who avoid fruit because of the sugar. lame.

[Skinny]

HFCS is bad but what about regular fructose or sucrose or how about regular corn syrup, how bad are those things?

[Haack]

fructose and sucrose are the complex sugars that are in fruits and naturally occuring foods containing disaccharides. they are good for you becuase they are slow burning carbs. corn syrup on the other hand is mostly made of corn starch and is pretty unhealthy in high amounts. basically with sugar, the natural ones i.e. fruit, cane sugar, beets, etc. are the good kind, and the proccessed starchy crap and HFCS are BAD

[CyanideSoda]

I love sugar cane. You can get mass amounts for really cheap in Lousiana. The stuff tastes great. As for the health factor my science teacher once told me this.

"Sugars are one of the more healthy things you can eat. But with the american culture, of course we proscess them, and make them bad for us. Because there's nothing more we want to do then kill ourselves"

To me unnatural sugars are ok in small amounts. Just don't eat to much, because it'l come back to you. I used to eat a bunch of sugar, i was put at risk when i was like 11. Not like bad, but the doctor told me i had to quit eating so much sugar or problems would arise. That was 4 years ago, so i quit, and i don't really eat much sugery foods anymore. It' makes you feel better.

[Ken PKChiro]

general rule, natural sugar, good in moderation, still problem with insulin spikes though,

unnatural sugar, not good.  simple

fruit/veggie drinks... really really bad.  we were never meant to take such high dosages all at once.  good though if you sip at it throughout the day though.

[Kiba]

I know alot of bodybuilders that avoid fruit when cutting because of the sugar. Although you might be right and that might be a myth.

[Haack]

body builders cut out fruits and virtually all carbs during the "cutting" phase (right before competition) in order to get their body fat and water retention at their lowest. however, without complex carbs the body cannot build muscle, thats why they only cut out fruits and carbs temporarily

[Gearsighted]

Wow, a bit of a confusion of terms going on. To just say "sugars are bad" or "sugars are good" is a pretty broad statement. In essence, every carbohydrate that we eat is composed of, and therefore is processed into some form of sugar. What we want to avoid is processed carbohydrates and unprocessed carbohydrates that have a naturally high glycemic index. These cause large spikes in insulin which has a whole host of effects. While there is a good bit of evidence that these can be beneficial in some instances (namely immediately post-workout: The Post-Workout Puzzle, especially when combined with the right ratio of protein) continually high insulin levels have been shown to have a pretty direct correlation to many of the "Syndrom-X" diseases of modern civilization, namely heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

This is why I've always been a huge fan of the Crossfit "World-Class Fitness in 100 Words," most-especially the beginning about diet:

"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. "

If you consider "sugar" in that statement to be "highly refined sugars" (i.e. table sugar, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Maple Syrup, Honey, etc.) and "starch" to be high-glycemic index carbohydrates (potatoes, breads and pasta, instant oatmeal, etc.) then you have a pretty simple guide to avoiding a whole host of diet-related problems.

For a bit more info, check out my article about the glycemic index and glycemic load here:

A Short Bit About the Glycemic Index

[Sat Santokh]

There is a substance in your body that converts starch into glucose anyways but at the moment it is evading me what it is called.  Anybody remember?

[Gearsighted]

Well, the enzyme that digests various carbohydrates is called amylase, though I'm at a loss as to whether this is the sole substance responsible for the complete digestion into glucose, or more-specifically, glycogen for use as fuel for bodily functions. I'll check a couple of my books to get you the complete answer.

[Sat Santokh]

thats right.  yeah thats right Salivary Amylase now i remember.