Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Sugar is like any other foodstuff, quite alright and not at all harmful provided that it is not consumed regularly in large amounts.

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Realist, if like me you (one) enjoy tea and coffee with a spoonful of sugar added, what do you recommend as a substitute?
Please don't say sweeteners, yuk!
How about Stevia?

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Looking at my over extended belly, I am afraid this " outing " of sugar has come too late for me.
Now where did I leave that bloody chocolate?

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

I wouldn't spoil my porridge by sprinkling sugar on it. A pinch of salt is what you need. Unfortunately salt is also bad for you.

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Hi Ruthio

Like you I used to put sugar in my hot drinks, both tea and coffee. I did this from a young age where like most kids we were addicted to sugar before we were old enough to understand what it was and what foods were good and bad.

When I first realised that raw refined sugar was a terribly unhealthy thing, I switched to sweeteners, sadly again, in total ignorance. Then I learned how bad sweeteners were !

What to do !

Trust me when I say that I could not ever have envisioned at that stage drinking any tea or coffee without sugar, the idea was just out of the question.

Then something happened.

About 10-15 years ago, I decided to try switching to the various fruit teas and herbal teas available. Some I found awful, others more palatable. I liked the idea of healthy green teas but without sugar they seemed quite bitter but I found that Japanese rice tea was more naturally sweet and much easier to drink. I also found Chai tea to be very nice as I have a love for cinnamon and anything with that blend of "Christmassy" spices. Overall though the switch from regular teabag tea and coffee to these other offerings was fairly unsatisfying because it was so different. Nevertheless for 2-3 weeks I persevered with it.

After the 3rd week I really had had enough and so I made myself my first regular cup of Yorkshire tea with milk for 3 weeks. However crucially I left out the sugar. I was resolved to see how it now tasted.

Herein was the shock ! It was actually very much ok. My body was so thankful for that good old taste of regular tea bag tea that it wasn't concerned one iota about having no sugar.

A few more cups of sugarless tea later and wow I was a new man. Coffee, esp cappuccinos and lattes were equally fine to drink without sugar.

Therefore as you might expect, I don't recommend that you look for any sugar substitute at all.

Understand that due to the nature of sugar and its neuro action on your brain, that you have been and are being totally fooled by it. Its properties mean you THINK that you want and need it. There are scientific reasons for those cravings and dependencies.

Doing a cold turkey switch, trying to suddenly drink the same tea/coffee without sugar will never work. No more than a junkie suddenly coming off drugs.

You have to switch to something else first. What I think then happens is you detox without realising it. The new tastes of fruit and herbal teas are a relatively new/different experience so your body and mind don't associate the flavours with having to be supplemented with sugar. The switch lets you come down from your sugar dependency and once that happens what you actually crave is the old familiar taste of your regular tea and coffee and presumably the associated caffeine.

I can but suggest you try. Putting spoonful's of refined sugar in drinks is not a good thing and just like drinking sugary fizzy drinks, it will screw with your body and make you hungry when you needn't be which leads to overeating and getting fat.

Good luck if you give it a try.

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

I'm afraid I can't agree with those statements. Sugar has some specific properties not found in many other foods.

There are tons of articles across the web explaining this. Here is one that explains its addictive properties.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2235907/

"The reviewed evidence supports the theory that, in some circumstances, intermittent access to sugar can lead to behaviour and neurochemical changes that resemble the effects of a substance of abuse. According to the evidence in rats, intermittent access to sugar and chow is capable of producing a “dependency”. This was operationally defined by tests for bingeing, withdrawal, craving and cross-sensitization to amphetamine and alcohol. The correspondence to some people with binge eating disorder or bulimia is striking, but whether or not it is a good idea to call this a “food addiction” in people is both a scientific and societal question that has yet to be answered. What this review demonstrates is that rats with intermittent access to food and a sugar solution can show both a constellation of behaviours and parallel brain changes that are characteristic of rats that voluntarily self-administer addictive drugs. In the aggregate, this is evidence that sugar can be addictive."

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Thank you Realist for that interesting reply.

Oh God, that's really not what I wanted to hear
Cold turkey...not my favourite dish

But I promise I'll think seriously about it...after I've cut down from one teaspoonful to half.

Then I'll think seriously about it.

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Its heart breaking to read of very young children having to have more than several of their milk teeth extracted due to rot caused by sugary drinks.

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Sugar stinks!..especially when I find it in plain greek yoghurt and wholemeal bread,and it's even in cholesterol lowering drinks..jeeze!

Re: Is Sugar the bad boy it's made out to be?

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my question.
As usual I was interested in Realist's reply, it was very informative. I had forgotten about the insulin spike that occurs when eating simple sugars and this alone would be a good reason to abstain from the 'White Stuff' Also Realist, I was surprised to read about the connection between sugar and triglyceride's which is part of the bad part of cholesterol. Over the years I have suffered two Heart Attacks, and my cholesterol levels were around 5.5 not unduly high I thought, but under closer examination of the results my triglyceride levels were raised above the recommended safe limits. Although I try to eat healthily I do have a sweet tooth and perhaps my fondness for sugar (and smoking, which ceased back in 2004 after my first Heart Attack) may also have had a part to play in my illness. Incidentally, I know of people a lot older than me with cholesterol levels of over 9 and even 12 that have never had a Heart Attack, perhaps it is the composition of cholesterol rather than the overall level.....Thanks again everyone....This is what forums are all about....learning from each other.