Americans' sugar bingeing

Yeah, if more of us actually read the food labels, we'd be cooking with fresh ingredients and not buying packaged. What I find even more shocking than added sugar is all the added salt.

I go weeks without eating sweets....then once I eat a couple of M&M's with peanuts...they are my favorite...they are addicting and if you think when you are eating.....the high frutose corn sugar is addicting.

I only use sugar in my coffee...tea without sugar.....It is a mental thing with me...I probably could go without sugar in my coffee, but I enjoy the taste, and I use the Raw Sugar.

I bake my own bread mostly whole wheat so I cook a lot with honey....

All the money spent on this research.....I think people understand sugar is not good for people in large amounts, just like anything we put into our bodies, 6 tsp for women, 9 tsp for men.... How long and how much money was applied to this project?

Hello WS

Sugar in its raw form. All day long.
Processed white sugar, NO.

And...

High Fructose Corn Syrup. Almost killed me. I eat nothing with HFCS in it. I read all labels. It is in everything. If it does not effect you...good for you. It gave me a front butt. I speak of my obesity with respect. Obesity is a disease.

I have never been an over eater. I got up to 312lbs. I was married at 312lbs. (My husband was/is a "normal" sized man who sees the beauty of the large female form). :blowkiss:

Since I figured out it was HFCS that was making me obese, I have begun to reverse a lifetime of obesity. I eat anything I want, as long as it does not have HFCS, and along with that you usually get total organic ingredients, which I also strive for: no growth hormones in dairy or meat, only organic cheese(regular cheese, yes KRAFT cheese, has industrial fillers: glue as a binder)no antibiotics, no modified corn starch, no partially hydrogenated anything...

For every food you love, it is made without these ingredients. If you are worried about cost, think about the idea that you are not really getting the food you are paying for with non-organic or foods that are mostly HFCS. It is a way to make food stretch, make it cheaper and make it more addictive. I wouldn't tell anyone what to do, let alone what they should eat: I have had enough of that for one lifetime myself.

But, stopping HFCS also cleared up many, many other health issues I was having. If you are a woman(of any size)and you find you have re-occurring yeast infections: I say stop with the HFCS for one month and see if you ever have an infection again: I haven't.

When you "get off" high fructose, after a while you realize how sweet foods really are without this added in. It is like a drug or alcoholic, it takes more and more for you to get your "fix" from the HFCS. With regular sugar you get your fix and move on, not with HFCS. It makes you hungry for more because you body does not get any nutrients.

I was starving to death while I was pushing 350lbs! I have watched my "front butt" or belly that was heading to my knees has now headed back to becoming just my belly again. If you have never had a front butt...it is quite the experience. I went though it during my teen years. I started working at McDonald's...guess where the front butt began?

Ever see Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock? It is a documentary about a man who eats nothing but McDonald's for a month. Now, no one really does this: breakfast lunch and dinner, but he was proving a point re: his health. I won't ruin the end but he decides McDonald's is best in moderation...ahem.

I do not eat fast food or any food not prepared by me. If I want a candy bar, I eat real dark chocolate, I eat real butter, real cream. I eat whole grains, oats, tacos!, pizza!, steaks, hamburgers and french fries...

I eat all and anything I want and I just loose and loose more and more weight. The nice thing about getting off High "sugar" is that you want to eat less and you want better foods so even though you can eat anything you want to eat healthy.

Well, that's my two cents about all of it, I sure would like to get the message out to young people so they won't have to go though decades feeling like they are somehow at fault for their weight.

And remember: Big is BEAUTIFUL. God/dess bless all the big ladies/men of the world. I am not trying to be skinny(not that there is anything wrong with that)but that is not my bag. I know I have a curvy body anyway, and now with the bloat of the HFCS gone, I have begun to have a figure for the first time in my life. And, it's a nice one...

...jmo...

Chiquita71 said:

Hello WS

Sugar in its raw form. All day long.
Processed white sugar, NO.

And...

High Fructose Corn Syrup. Almost killed me. I eat nothing with HFCS in it. I read all labels. It is in everything. If it does not effect you...good for you. It gave me a front butt. I speak of my obesity with respect. Obesity is a disease.

I have never been an over eater. I got up to 312lbs. I was married at 312lbs. (My husband was/is a "normal" sized man who sees the beauty of the large female form). :blowkiss:

Since I figured out it was HFCS that was making me obese, I have begun to reverse a lifetime of obesity. I eat anything I want, as long as it does not have HFCS, and along with that you usually get total organic ingredients, which I also strive for: no growth hormones in dairy or meat, only organic cheese(regular cheese, yes KRAFT cheese, has industrial fillers: glue as a binder)no antibiotics, no modified corn starch, no partially hydrogenated anything...

For every food you love, it is made without these ingredients. If you are worried about cost, think about the idea that you are not really getting the food you are paying for with non-organic or foods that are mostly HFCS. It is a way to make food stretch, make it cheaper and make it more addictive. I wouldn't tell anyone what to do, let alone what they should eat: I have had enough of that for one lifetime myself.

But, stopping HFCS also cleared up many, many other health issues I was having. If you are a woman(of any size)and you find you have re-occurring yeast infections: I say stop with the HFCS for one month and see if you ever have an infection again: I haven't.

When you "get off" high fructose, after a while you realize how sweet foods really are without this added in. It is like a drug or alcoholic, it takes more and more for you to get your "fix" from the HFCS. With regular sugar you get your fix and move on, not with HFCS. It makes you hungry for more because you body does not get any nutrients.

I was starving to death while I was pushing 350lbs! I have watched my "front butt" or belly that was heading to my knees has now headed back to becoming just my belly again. If you have never had a front butt...it is quite the experience. I went though it during my teen years. I started working at McDonald's...guess where the front butt began?

Ever see Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock? It is a documentary about a man who eats nothing but McDonald's for a month. Now, no one really does this: breakfast lunch and dinner, but he was proving a point re: his health. I won't ruin the end but he decides McDonald's is best in moderation...ahem.

I do not eat fast food or any food not prepared by me. If I want a candy bar, I eat real dark chocolate, I eat real butter, real cream. I eat whole grains, oats, tacos!, pizza!, steaks, hamburgers and french fries...

I eat all and anything I want and I just loose and loose more and more weight. The nice thing about getting off High "sugar" is that you want to eat less and you want better foods so even though you can eat anything you want to eat healthy.

Well, that's my two cents about all of it, I sure would like to get the message out to young people so they won't have to go though decades feeling like they are somehow at fault for their weight.

And remember: Big is BEAUTIFUL. God/dess bless all the big ladies/men of the world. I am not trying to be skinny(not that there is anything wrong with that)but that is not my bag. I know I have a curvy body anyway, and now with the bloat of the HFCS gone, I have begun to have a figure for the first time in my life. And, it's a nice one...

...jmo...

Click to expand...

WOW...what a wonderful post. I never heard the expression "Front Butt", but I have one..... I am going to WholeFoods today to check out the BOYCOTT....After reading your post, I greatly appreciated your insight, I will slowly begin to eat organic foods. I do have an automimmune disease...maybe this will help me feel better...and get rid of the "FB."

I think the high fructose corn syrup can be very harmful, but I question the way they list some of the foods. Who would use a cup at a time of cream substitute powder, ketchup, BBQ sauce, salad dressing, or lemonade powder? It should have been listed as invididual servings.

chesterp said:

WOW...what a wonderful post. I never heard the expression "Front Butt", but I have one..... I am going to WholeFoods today to check out the BOYCOTT....After reading your post, I greatly appreciated your insight, I will slowly begin to eat organic foods. I do have an automimmune disease...maybe this will help me feel better...and get rid of the "FB."

Click to expand...

Quote Respect chesterp

I shop at a store that is down south here called: "The Fresh Market" which is a smaller whole foods type of store. Since I have been eating organic, stores such as (I'm not sure what all stores everyone has but...)Kroger have now gotten in many of the products I used to only be able to get at the Fresh Market.

I hope this is a trend that is happening elsewhere in the country and I see that many "name brands" are headed in the natural direction. Using only natural ingredients.

We were meant to eat food. It is because of the cold war/nuclear age: we thought everything needed to be preserved for a hundred years. Fresh food was/is always better for us. All the chemicals and additives are catching up with us, that is why "obesity" is an epidemic. Not because people are eating, or eating lots of food: it is because it is NOT food we are eating and our bodies are reacting to that.

I say that humanity will end up apologizing and thanking the obese of the world because we show in an outward way how we are all starving to death because of our food having almost no nutritional value to it for decades. What these things such as HFCS do to our bodies does not always show on the outside, except with the obese. People who are not "getting fat" from it may end up with another disease. How many diseases(cancer?)are being caused from these chemicals? We could find out...

I am so thrilled about what has happened to my body since I started eating this way, I do want to share it with others. It was never being fat that bothered me(other than everyone in society hating me)but I did not feel healthy.

I have not dropped 50lbs in two months or anything drastic such as that. This is a normal everyday process where I eat what I like and do not beat myself up and as the weeks and months go by...my clothes fit better, I can bend and move, my limbs do not go numb, I can sleep better, poop better(sorry), everything is better. This may take a few years to happen, I don't know how small I will get: I have no idea what my body really looks like. I know now that I have been eating this poison all of my life(born in 1971)and it is no body's fault:

Least of all mine. We thought it was best to preserve food, and companies wanted to make a buck(what's a little more of a good thing gonna hurt?)and parents shopped and trusted brand names and did not know about things like HFCS.

I have to leave one or two exciting examples: french fries and ketchup. There are frozen french fries by companies that just took POTATOES(which are good for you!)and put some olive oil on them(which is good for you)and froze them without preservatives(you just can't leave them in your freezer for two months but why would you not want to scarf them? and you put them on the tray in the oven and make them crispy.

Its just a potato cut up with some olive oil to make them crispy in the oven. What's a calorie? That is not what was making us fat. Read the ingredients of Orida(brand name)frozen fries...and compare: more than just potatoes and oil there.

And Ketchup. Heins, whatever: HFCS! Ketchup should be only: TOMATOES, VINEGAR, SUGAR. The sugar won't kill ya if it is some brown rice syrup or some organic ketchups use honey. There are a million ways to make something sweet without the use of the military industrial complex helping mother nature out. She is the one who INVENTED sugar! And man, in his infinite wisdom figured he could improve on that.

Well, you can't. :woohoo:

Also: this stuff HFCS is in EVERYTHING. Next time you go shopping look at every label of what you are buying and look for HFCS. Your mind will be blown...bread, pickles! PICKLES(dill, not the sweet ones), how about bread crumbs! If you can find bread crumbs from a national brand that does not have HFCS let me know. I am looking...(well, I make my own but it would be nice to have some already made without the HFCS...)

...jmo...

Hello WS

I am all over this thread, but as you can see I feel passionate about this subject. I had to add another great example of how giving up these chemicals means you will never have to diet again.

I stopped drinking pop(soda)coke when I began this way of eating. I saw that it was just a cup of HFCS and I didn't need it. I sometimes have a european soda which is fruit juice and soda water. But:

If you pick up a coke from Mexico and a coke from the US...the one from Mexico does not have HFCS! This can be done at store such as The Fresh Market and Whole Foods where they have imported wines, beers, sodas. You can compare. My guess is that coke did not originally have HFCS in it, that is why our grandparents could have a coke or two and move on, imho.

When they realized the HFCS was cheaper than regular sugar, AND then that it made people more addicted to it...well, they were in corporate hog heaven. I do wonder how Mexico was so lucky to have escaped this fate?

Have you noticed since McDonalds, Doritos and the like have gone to China, India and other countries that previously have not had obesity issues are now reporting their own "epidemics?"

Sorry. I think I am done now. I feel blessed to have come to this awareness after a lifetime of struggle with my body. I am glad someone told me. :clap:

...jmo...I:blowkiss:WS

Way to go Chiquita71!! Your posts are inspirational!! When you say sugar in its raw form -- I saw some packages called "sugar in the raw" and I'm wondering if that is what you mean.

I have removed *most* of the HFCS from my family's diet. I live in Canada and here it is labeled as glucose/fructose and a few other sneaky names. I haven't lost any weight yet though.

Salt levels are terrible too. I wish I knew how to cook properly because then it would be easier to eat healthfully. I've got a 13 year old son who is kind of picky but eats non-stop and an uber picky 4 year old who, thankfully, loves veggies. I do let them have their treats but I try to do so in moderation. It is a challenge though!

My son is dying to try a Coke from Mexico!! I have no way of getting it for him though. Coke also makes a kosher version around Passover with real cane sugar but its always sold out when we try to find it.

Interesting...I would like to try a Coke from Mexico as well. Never knew that.

Thank you all for your stories. I too try to limit my sugar intake. It is a struggle. Sugar is a powerful drug.

You can get Sugar in the Raw at Target. In addition, the brand Archer Farms which is sold at Target carries many organic items that are delicious!
http://www.sugarintheraw.com/

This book is an excellent read and really should be read by all. It is about the fat, sugar, and salt that we have in our diets and so much more. Do it for your health and well being.

DAVID A. KESSLER, MD
The End Of Overeating
Taking Control of the
Insatiable American Appetite


http://www.theendofovereatingbook.c...ctt_nwtype=search&ctt_cli=2^9744^43083^706956

Brassband said:

Yeah, if more of us actually read the food labels, we'd be cooking with fresh ingredients and not buying packaged. What I find even more shocking than added sugar is all the added salt.

Click to expand...

And you'll be really surprised to know that they add Sugar (glucose) to Table Salt to prevent the potassium iodide from breaking down into iodine, which evaporates away.

http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/table_salt.html

Chiquita71..Great Posts!! I also have the Front Butt! Every Saturday I go visit my Parents and my Mom says the same exact thing to me.."You should walk into a room backwards" SHEESH!!!
About 2 1/2 yrs ago I just said NO more Coke!! The carbonation was killing my stomach and I just stopped drinking it. I havent had anything carbonated since but some days I would kill for a Diet Coke. I take one sip and GAG! I get by on Water, Iced Tea and Crystal Light but Ive noticed the Crystal Light makes me hungrier than normal. I think its the Aspartame. But you have given me a great idea. I havent tried giving up the HFCS and I'm also going to try going Gluten Free. My grandson has some anger/agression issues and the non-gluten diet is supposed to help. I've tried everything before. Even a gastric bypass. It's about time I do something sensible, healthy and take my time so it stays off this time. Thanks everyone for this thread. I appreciate it.
Ceci aka Dolly :blowkiss:

Chiquita71 said:

Hello WS

I am all over this thread, but as you can see I feel passionate about this subject. I had to add another great example of how giving up these chemicals means you will never have to diet again.

I stopped drinking pop(soda)coke when I began this way of eating. I saw that it was just a cup of HFCS and I didn't need it. I sometimes have a european soda which is fruit juice and soda water. But:

If you pick up a coke from Mexico and a coke from the US...the one from Mexico does not have HFCS! This can be done at store such as The Fresh Market and Whole Foods where they have imported wines, beers, sodas. You can compare. My guess is that coke did not originally have HFCS in it, that is why our grandparents could have a coke or two and move on, imho.

When they realized the HFCS was cheaper than regular sugar, AND then that it made people more addicted to it...well, they were in corporate hog heaven. I do wonder how Mexico was so lucky to have escaped this fate?

Have you noticed since McDonalds, Doritos and the like have gone to China, India and other countries that previously have not had obesity issues are now reporting their own "epidemics?"

Sorry. I think I am done now. I feel blessed to have come to this awareness after a lifetime of struggle with my body. I am glad someone told me. :clap:

...jmo...I:blowkiss:WS

Click to expand...

Keep posting away....as for the Grandparent's their Coke had Coke in it...

I love all your posts. I wish everyone in America would take it upon themselves and be more responsible for what they eat!!!

I still struggle with weight, say 20 lbs here and there on the yo-yo. I typically eat very well. I don't eat ketchup, ick. I love good wholesome food - REAL food I call it, lean meat and lots of vegetables. I am a rice addict though and just started mixing brown in with white about 70/30 in favor of brown and that's working well.

The problem for me is carbs = sugar.

Sugar makes me feel ill and I get constant yeast infections in my ear which makes my teeth hurt and gives me a headache, as well as the other yeast afflicted areas.

I agree that we eat too much sugar and I'm trying to cut down all the time, but you are right, it's in EVERYTHING that is prepared food.

For a fizzy drink - I buy Seltzer Water and then pour in some pomegranite juice and squeeze lime over ice. I don't like really super sweet things.

The only thing with HFCS that still affects me like fricking heroin are Red Vines.

Read the nutrition labels on artificial sweeteners. Think they're sugar free? Nope, not all of them!
I was sure surprised! I used to use the pink envelopes--never thought to read the label. Sugar added. Now I use Stevia but watch out there too---read the label, because not all brands marketed as Stevia are sugar-free. In the grocery I found three brands that contain sugar and one that is pretty much pure Stevia.

That's important to know if you have to stay away from sugar as I do (diabetic). Sure, there's not much but it's there. In some brands, anyway. Read, read, read the labels.

Golly, I had no idea, but yesterday I saw a display of Bayer Sugar Free Aspirin. I never dreamed that aspirin might have sugar in it (or on the coating)! I can't find much on the net about it except one post that says aspirin does not contain sugar and that companies are simply jumping on the sugar-free band wagon.

What'sThatClue said:

Read the nutrition labels on artificial sweeteners. Think they're sugar free? Nope, not all of them!
I was sure surprised! I used to use the pink envelopes--never thought to read the label. Sugar added. Now I use Stevia but watch out there too---read the label, because not all brands marketed as Stevia are sugar-free. In the grocery I found three brands that contain sugar and one that is pretty much pure Stevia.

That's important to know if you have to stay away from sugar as I do (diabetic). Sure, there's not much but it's there. In some brands, anyway. Read, read, read the labels.

Golly, I had no idea, but yesterday I saw a display of Bayer Sugar Free Aspirin. I never dreamed that aspirin might have sugar in it (or on the coating)! I can't find much on the net about it except one post that says aspirin does not contain sugar and that companies are simply jumping on the sugar-free band wagon.

Click to expand...

Tell me about it!! I've even had to start buying Sugar Free TUMS!!

Reading this thread makes me crave ice cream and M&Ms!

I have been reading this thread with fascination. All summer long I have been working to get healthier, get in shape, lose some weight. I started by giving up my diet Coke habit which, for me, was like a serious drug addiction. I don't even want to think about how much I could drink, especially when I was at the restaurant and we have those nice big 32 oz tumblers and the waitress would be so kind as to top me off every few minutes! YUM!

Suprisingly, I didn't lose an ounce, although everyone said I would. So then I decided to give up all fast food. Anything with a drive-thru. It was a sacrifice because I can eat some french fries. You'd think that would be good for a pound or two. Nothing.

Then I started walking with a friend. We started with 3 miles a day, and then went up to 4. We are going 5 days a week. Since the start of summer, with all that I am trying to do, I was down 2 lbs.

Then I read this book about eating WHOLE organic foods, not processed, no artificial sweeteners or colors or whatever. I thought it was a bunch of crap, but I was desperate. My friend was losing, so I tried it.

I am not hungry or craving or resentful of what I cannot have. I am going to the grocery store a lot more, but we are saving a ton of money from not eating out (I'm not sure if I'm ready for that level of temptation/decision making YET). I am down 6 lbs in 10 days. I don't know how long it will go on like this or last, but it is more than I have achieved all summer, so I'm going to keep trying. It is amazing to me what a difference this has made that those other "drastic" changes did not.

I don't know exactly what is in those processed foods that was keeping me from losing weight, even when I was making "healthy" choices (low fat mayo, Crystal Light, sugar free popsicles, etc) but something has changed.

ziggy said:

The only thing with HFCS that still affects me like fricking heroin are Red Vines.

Click to expand...

Oh, crap, this is named specifically in the book as BAD BAD BAD. She names names. It is almost completely made of corn/HFCS. It also has Glycyrrhetinic Acid which essentially "extends the lifetime of cortisol in the kidneys." Or something like that. Try to break this one. I love them too, and threw out a pack after I read that. Ick.

angelmom said:

I have been reading this thread with fascination. All summer long I have been working to get healthier, get in shape, lose some weight. I started by giving up my diet Coke habit which, for me, was like a serious drug addiction. I don't even want to think about how much I could drink, especially when I was at the restaurant and we have those nice big 32 oz tumblers and the waitress would be so kind as to top me off every few minutes! YUM!

Suprisingly, I didn't lose an ounce, although everyone said I would. So then I decided to give up all fast food. Anything with a drive-thru. It was a sacrifice because I can eat some french fries. You'd think that would be good for a pound or two. Nothing.

Then I started walking with a friend. We started with 3 miles a day, and then went up to 4. We are going 5 days a week. Since the start of summer, with all that I am trying to do, I was down 2 lbs.

Then I read this book about eating WHOLE organic foods, not processed, no artificial sweeteners or colors or whatever. I thought it was a bunch of crap, but I was desperate. My friend was losing, so I tried it.

I am not hungry or craving or resentful of what I cannot have. I am going to the grocery store a lot more, but we are saving a ton of money from not eating out (I'm not sure if I'm ready for that level of temptation/decision making YET). I am down 6 lbs in 10 days. I don't know how long it will go on like this or last, but it is more than I have achieved all summer, so I'm going to keep trying. It is amazing to me what a difference this has made that those other "drastic" changes did not.

I don't know exactly what is in those processed foods that was keeping me from losing weight, even when I was making "healthy" choices (low fat mayo, Crystal Light, sugar free popsicles, etc) but something has changed.



Oh, crap, this is named specifically in the book as BAD BAD BAD. She names names. It is almost completely made of corn/HFCS. It also has Glycyrrhetinic Acid which essentially "extends the lifetime of cortisol in the kidneys." Or something like that. Try to break this one. I love them too, and threw out a pack after I read that. Ick.

Click to expand...

Are red vimes te same as twizzlers? i cannot believe how bad these are. They are my faves. I thougt they were ok since they are fat free. I can eat a whole bag. from now on i will think twizzler cotisol! Maybe that will help keep me from buying it.