Food and Weight

[Cudzoziemiec]

Whatever the composition of our food, sugars, fats, etc, I bet we eat more overall than in 1958 or even 1998.

[hellymedic]

Whatever the composition of our food, sugars, fats, etc, I bet we eat more overall than in 1958 or even 1998.

I think I read somewhere that we eat less (fewer calories).

We don't move very much though. Car ownership has increased, housework has eased, with labour-saving devices, walking is not so popular a mode of transport and our jobs are more sedentary. We also sit in warmer houses....

Recommended dietary allowances from then...

[Cudzoziemiec]

I suppose we could eat more food (bulk) but fewer calories - in that we eat more stuff like salad now than in the past. Why that would make people fat I've no idea!

[hellymedic]

We don't move.
We stuff our faces whilst sitting in heated rooms in front of a TV.

People ate three meals per day in the 50s and did not snack much between meals. They did not drink sugar.

[mattc]

Before the age of 10 I was very small.

I think that's normal.

[hellymedic]

Before the age of 10 I was very small.

I think that's normal.

Yebbut how small?

I weighed half a stone for every year of my life from 5 up to 13 or 14...

[Julian]

I remain unconvinced that solid sugar in isolation is as bad as the latest pundits seem to say.
I remember eating far more sweeties in my mis-spent childhood than I seem to see in the hands of the yoof of today. Sweet shops are a rarity and it's not so easy to by single 'penny sweets'.
Our generation had rotten teeth but little obesity.
I do believe that sugar solution is harmful.

I rarely see a child eating sweets but they seem to have cans of Lucozade or Red Bull permanently welded to their hands...

[simonp]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

[hellymedic]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

Fruit juice, J2O, ordinary Coca Cola and lemonade all broadly are 10-11% sugar. Total volumes of these drinks are significant. It's possible that some folk shun fizzypop thinking 'natural fruit juice' is healthier; nutritionally it's similar. If people drink it rather than water, it becomes an issue.

[Chris S]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

Yes, but 19l of fruit juice is part of a much bigger story: Clickity.

[simonp]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

Yes, but 19l of fruit juice is part of a much bigger story: Clickity.

I thought fruit juice was the problem, because it contains fructose?

[Chris S]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

Yes, but 19l of fruit juice is part of a much bigger story: Clickity.

I thought fruit juice was the problem, because it contains fructose?

Well, it's part if the problem. If, that is, you subscribe to the "It's all sugar's fault!" line of thinking - and accepting that "Sugar" is a generic term for Sucrose, Fructose and Glucose in various forms.

I've been eating and drinking the stuff since I was a nipper, and waddya know - my mouth is full of fillings, and I (did) have the beginnings of metabolic syndrome.

Since I stopped eating (and drinking) sugar, I've started to lose body fat, my blood pressure has dropped to normal, my fasting blood sugar has dropped to normal, and I have much much better appetite control. From where I sit, Gary Taubes has a point.

(This discussion is merging with the Sugar thread over there ----------> )

[hellymedic]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

Yes, but 19l of fruit juice is part of a much bigger story: Clickity.

I thought fruit juice was the problem, because it contains fructose?

Not all fruit juice has much fructose. Fruits vary in their sugar content. Fructose has the advantage of being sweeter per gram than sucrose, which is sweeter than glucose. As you know, different sugars have different metabolic pathways.

[simonp]

Stress is thought to be a major factor in metabolic syndrome:

http://www.turner-white.com/pdf/hp_jun06_stress.pdf

[simonp]

Fruit juice consumption in the uk is 19l per person per year. That is about 50ml/day which equates to about 5g sugar per day. So not a significant contributor.

Yes, but 19l of fruit juice is part of a much bigger story: Clickity.

I thought fruit juice was the problem, because it contains fructose?

Not all fruit juice has much fructose. Fruits vary in their sugar content. Fructose has the advantage of being sweeter per gram than sucrose, which is sweeter than glucose. As you know, different sugars have different metabolic pathways.

Yes, indeed. I do not think fruit juice is substantially different in glucose/fructose mix to sucrose, or indeed to HFCS. They’re all broadly similar.

Despite the sugar consumption having been dropping for some time, it’s still higher than the WHO recommendation, which is 10% of calories at most from refined sugar. The sugar industry, of course, lobbied hard for 20%. At the time the guideline was drawn up, the argument for it was dental health, not metabolic health.