Comments on: Weekend Bonus: Sugar Is Poison

By: Kathy from Maine

Kathy from Maine — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:53:17 +0000

In his list of the seven foods on the McDonald’s menu that don’t contain HFCS, where the heck was beef, chicken (the broiled chicken, not the McNuggets), and the fish, not to mention the “cheese” that goes on top?

Also, the guy was flat-out wrong about the amount of fiber in a Paleolithic diet and the benefits of fiber. As another commenter stated, check out Dr. Michael Eades’ posts on fiber. Finally, how can he talk about the Paleolithic diet without mentioning meat?

The guy had a great message, but he needs to check his facts on some of his statements. He gets a bit sloppy at the end. There was something right near the end (in the last 10minutes) where he seems to be mixing up body fat with fat in the diet. I’ll have to watch the ending again to be sure.

Not sure if you’re still accepting comments here, but thought I’d try. I just found your blog the other day (actually, I’ve always known about it, having lived the low-carb life for about 12 years now, just never took the time to read it). Since then I’ve started from the beginning and have been reading every post. Ordered the Fat Head movie, too. Keep up the good work! You have yet another new fan!

By: Diogenes

Diogenes — Sat, 22 May 2010 22:56:16 +0000

“But nature never intended for us to be consuming loads of fructose in snacks, sodas and bread”

doesn’t fruit contain the most fructose than out of the above items?

Sodas are the worst. The fruits we eat today were genetically engineered to be sweeter and therefore higher in fructose than what our paleolithic ancestors consumed, and of course they could only eat fruit when they found it in season … no one was shipping it in from Brazil.

Even so, a little bit of low-sugar fruit is probably fine. The trouble is, people drink orange juice, eat bananas, then fill up on candy and sodas as well. It’s an overdose.

Jimmy Moore interviewed someone — can’t remember his name — who tried one of those all-fruit diets and turned himeslf into a type 2 diabetic.

By: Diogenes

Diogenes — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:17:43 +0000

blueberries and strawberries still have some fructose. I eat these kinds of fruits several times a week, almost everyday. However I also love low sugar fruits like avocado, grapefruit, etc. Is it dangerous long-term to enjoy these nutrient snacks several times a week cause of apparently ‘poisonous’ fructose?

I sincerely doubt it. It’s a matter of dose. There’s some fructose in fruit, but also good nutrients, as you noted. But nature never intended for us to be consuming loads of fructose in snacks, sodas and bread.

By: Diogenes

Diogenes — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:26:58 +0000

does this mean I shouldn’t eat grapes, berries, bananas, or strawberries? They have lots of fructose but also lots of nutrients and vitamins. I don’t have fructose ‘meals’ but I do eat some fruit that has high fructose but also high nutrients.

Keep in mind that the fruit produced today has been genetically engineered to be sweeter than what our ancestors consumed. I stick to low-sugar fruits such as strawberries and blueberries.

By: Ellen Ussery

Ellen Ussery — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:12:40 +0000

Somewhere in this talk didn’t he say that long chain fatty acids stimulate insulin production?

If so ,you can you or anybody else tell me how that works?

It can’t be a simple and direct as it sounds, could it. If so that would mean that eating those fats would be bad for someone who is very insulin resistant and over producing insulin.

That statement surprised me as well, and I’ve tried to find more information about it online. So far, nothing.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:39:07 +0000

Hi Tom,
I’ve watched this lecture several times now. It’s definitely an eye-opener. Prior to it he conducted a radio interview on KQED covering the same subject. I that one, he delves a little more into nutrition and public policy. Unlike your views expressed in Fathead, however, Lustig is a strong advocate for government intervention and he describes his position on that in the radio interview. In this lecture and the interview he points out that government policies created many of the dietary problems we faced already, but advocates for further intervention nonetheless. Although he tries to support his belief with an example of McDonald’s sometimes being the only clean, air-conditioned restaurant in some poor neighborhoods, Fathead points out that one can still make healthier choices once inside the restaurant. BTW, I LOVED Fathead and eagerly showed it to my mom. Thank you.

That’s where I part ways with some of the researchers who understand the dangers of these foods. I believe the answer is education and persuasion — and Lustig is persuasive. If people want to continue screwing up their livers with sodas after learning of the risks, so be it. Once we start outlawing everything the experts believe is bad for us, it’ll never stop.

Glad you enjoyed the film.

By: Dave Wilson

Dave Wilson — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:26:05 +0000

The danger of being in the water, post-Titanic, would be more from Hypothermia and less from actual freezing solid. Alcohol accelerates hypothermia because it dilates the capillaries in the skin (causing the flush we have seen from drinking) which counters the body’s attempts to conserve heat in cold conditions by withdrawing blood flow from the extremities and saving it around the vital organs.

This happens at far higher temperatures and shorter exposure times than actually freezing tissues.

If the core of your body is actually freezing solid, you are likely well past the point of hypothermia and into the dirtnap phase.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:44:13 +0000

There’s a legend (maybe only in chemistry circles) about the Titanic. There was ‘open bar’ as it was sinking and the story is that a few who imbibed and were drunk ended up in the water. They lasted long enough for a half-filled life boat to retrieve them because of the antifreeze properties of ethanol. Of course they would not have lasted too much longer, but long enough to be rescued. There are stories of drunks outside in winter not dying of exposure due to these antifreeze properties. I read about the hypothesis of Northern Europeans tending to higher blood sugar for its antifreeze properties during ice ages. Glucose is a polyalcoholic aldehyde that is related to ethanol. And sucrose (one fructose y one glucose) is definitely considered plant antifreeze. We’ve just figured out how to extract and concentrate it to levels that human bodies can’t adjust to.
I have discovered that no longer eating sucrose, HFCS, no wheat and no Frankenfats has positively changed my life. I’ve also started intermittent fasting (or feeding), IF, and I feel so much better than I have in a very long time. I got my 22 year old to watch ‘FAT HEAD’ and ‘My Big Fat Diet’ and she has been persuaded. Last Christmas, I was worried about her college partying ways. I made her a huge soft sculpture molecular sculpture ethanol pillow. That’s what she gets for having a chemist, goofy mother. I told her I would rather she sleep on an alcohol pillow than drink too much of the stuff. It made her laugh. Laughter is the best medicine and the best teaching tool too. Luckily she is being bombarded by all this life-saving information from you and Taubes and Wortman and she seems to be believing it. Thank you.

Interesting. I do seem to recall images of Saint Bernard dogs being sent out to rescue people stranded in cold climates, with that little barrel attached to their collars. I believe the barrel contained hard liquor.

Anytime a 22-year-old listens to advice from a middle-aged balding guy like me, I’m a happy man.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:47:15 +0000

I have a minor hypothesis about sugar. I’m very fair and I have Northern European ancestors. (By the way, sucrose is plant antifreeze.) We of the transparent skin -I like to say I can sunburn in a full moon- tend to have higher blood sugar and that acts as antifreeze for us as well as plants. Why? This is postulated to have been protective and adaptive during ice ages for the northern dwelling folks. Fast forward to the late 20th and early 21st centuries and now I’m being poisoned by excess blood sugar. My forebears also cultivated cows and other milk producers earlier than Middle Easterners and Africans because the north had a shorter growing season. The majority of the people on the planet can’t tolerate milk, but I can. Milk consumers of yore got most of their vitamin D, fat and calories in the cold, dark north this way probably.
Anyway, I have some health problems that I think were caused because of all the sugar, wheat flour and Frankenfats I consumed up until about 1 year ago. I’m annoyed further.
I forwarded the lecture to a science colleague. She read Taubes on my suggestion and says she will be showing the lecture in her class after the unit on metabolism. Another colleague says he will be using Taubes for teaching “Good Science, Bad Science”. I’m preaching the low-carb gospel to anyone and everyone who will listen, and to some who don’t at first appear interested.
On a lighter, unrelated note, from Jimmy Moore I’ve gotten a recipe for cauliflower fauxtatoes I can’t stop making. Steam a head until mushy; mash in a pot with melted butter and add 1/4 cup heavy cream. Then add salt and pepper and as much grated cheese of any variety you like until the cheese melts. I go through a couple of heads of ‘liflower per week and I drive my kids nuts by using the word fauxtatoes too much and every chance I get.

We’re big on the mashed cauliflower in our house. Haven’t heard the anti-freeze theory, but it’s interesting.

By: TonyNZ

TonyNZ — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:35:17 +0000

@Mark

Mike Eades said the following in a post a while back:

“Fiber, who needs it?”

You should eat a reasonable amount of greens, though more for micronutrients than fiber.