60 minutes show on sugar

[Mighty Frugal]

You all have inspired me. Typically I put a juice box for both my boys snacks/lunch at school. It's 100% fruit juice and very convenient. But I will switch that to water in reusable water bottles.

My kids rarely get pop-perhaps once a month or less. but they are both candy addicts! We have a bowl of gummy this and gummy that in our cupboard and they ask for a treat almost daily. I am very bad at giving in to their pleas because I grew up very poor and only had treats after Halloween.

But I am now only going to let them have one treat a week. This week I gave them one on Monday and told them nothing more because they will get tons of treats on Easter...

After Easter I am throwing out those treats in the cupboard

I found bread-I think its a Kosher egg bread (?) that only has 4 ingredients and I don't believe sugar is one of them. Will check tonight

This scares me as I am a big time sugar addict. Just love sweet!!! I gave up chocolate for Lent and have every intention of getting myself into a chocolate coma come Easter Sunday. But perhaps after that I will try to rein in my sugar consumption as well...sigh....

[mira]

I haven't watched this yet, but I plan to!

Consuming too much sugar has so many detrimental affects on our health that it would seem reasonable to assume that only eating a little of it/in moderation is common sense! BUT, since it is rife in products it really doesn't belong in (why is American pre-packaged sliced bread so sweet? And why are so many cereals marketed as being 'healthy' laden with sugar?); in cheap products that cash-strapped people might go for and in so many convenience foods that we eat regularly, it's maybe not so easy to avoid if you're not particularly health-conscious or an avid food-label-scrutinizer.

I LOVE sweets and have a little something sugary every day. But since I don't want to rot my teeth or weaken my immune system, I try to limit my consumption.

[catherine]

My great-aunt, whom I adored, was just a paragon of cheer and moderation and good living. I spent my summers with her in this idyllic cottage on the CT shore. We ate very regularly, routinely, and very well, albeit simply. She had a Russell Stover's box of chocolates in the drawer in her living room table, and every evening, she'd ask me to get her her "little black pill." She's have ONE chocolate--every night. She died at 92. She lived on her own until the very end; her only daily medication was an aspirin; she dressed well, looked great, and stayed engaged in life.

Moral of the story: Take one Russell Stover chocolate QD (once a day) for a long life and good health.

[Mighty Frugal]

My great-aunt, whom I adored, was just a paragon of cheer and moderation and good living. I spent my summers with her in this idyllic cottage on the CT shore. We ate very regularly, routinely, and very well, albeit simply. She had a Russell Stover's box of chocolates in the drawer in her living room table, and every evening, she'd ask me to get her her "little black pill." She's have ONE chocolate--every night. She died at 92. She lived on her own until the very end; her only daily medication was an aspirin; she dressed well, looked great, and stayed engaged in life.

Moral of the story: Take one Russell Stover chocolate QD (once a day) for a long life and good health.

Totally going to follow this advice! Your story was so sweet and tranquil. I'll bet those summers will forever be in your memory. Thanks for sharing

[Jemima]

If I remember correctly, the guy said there really isn't any difference between HFCS and other simple sugars, which I assume includes not only cane sugar but honey and syrups like maple syrup ( which I LOVE on oatmeal).

Honey isn't a simple sugar. Here's a quote from one of my favorite books on herbalism, Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrad Buhner:

"Honey, often insisted to be just another simple carbohydrate (like white sugar) actually contains, among other things, a complex assortment of enzymes, organic acids, esters, antibiotic agents, trace minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, hormones, and antimicrobial compounds. One pound of the average honey contains 1,333 calories (compared with white sugar at 1,748 calories), 1.4 grams of protein, 23 milligrams of calcium, 73 milligrams of phosphorus, and 16 milligrams of Vitamin C, and vitamin A, beta carotene, the complete complex of B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, iodine, sodium, copper, manganese, high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, and formic acid. Honey, in fact, contains more than 75 different compounds...."

I doubt that all of that is metabolized in the same way as refined sugar or HFCS.

Honey has also proven useful for external and internal ulcers, burns and other wounds, and respiratory ailments. I've been taking three to six tablespoons of raw honey a day and my allergies are all but gone.

So there.

[Jemima]

People used to work their butts off! Not like me who spends waaaay too much time on the computer and watching tv. Day to day life I think was more arduous. Does anyone else agree??

I agree. Our sedentary lifestyle also plays a large part in the epidemic of osteoporosis in this country. Sitting at a computer all day and watching TV at night is an unhealthy way to live. Many people also choose passive activites for the weekend, such as going out to dinner and catching a movie afterward. We seem to think "leisure" translates into doing not much of anything.

Rather than quote your later post, I also agree about the "hidden" sugar in foods. In addition to the bread and cereals you mentioned, there's a rather large amount in regular peanut butter, most yogurt, and many prepared foods. I've even gotten supposedly healthy gluten-free bread that was too sweet because a lot of fruit juice was used in the recipe. These foods sell, so there's nothing to deter food companies from continuing to load ordinary food with sugars.

[Suzanne]

Honey's fine as long as it is honey! Sadly, there are unscrupulous beekeepers who feed their bees on bee candy, and not just in the winter because they've taken all the honey. Bee candy is mostly HFCS, so the "honey" produced from this is not the nutrient-dense version made when bees are feeding on flower nectar. Then there's processing, where the honey is heated to high temperatures and often has water added before being strained and poured into jars. Honey from China is often tainted with lead and antibiotics, and then there's plain old counterfeit honey; around 1/3 of the honey eaten in the USA is Chinese in origin, although it's often routed through other countries. Chinese honey is banned in Europe. http://grist.org/food-safety/2011-08...m-china-in-us/

Another thing: bee candy/syrup, which may be tainted with pesticide, is now suspected of being a cause of bee colony collapse. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...apse-disorder/

It's better to buy honey in the comb from a local beekeeper who's not feeding bee candy.

[Rogar]

Honey isn't a simple sugar. Here's a quote from one of my favorite books on herbalism, Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrad Buhner:

"Honey, often insisted to be just another simple carbohydrate....

So there.

I won't belabor the issue, but since I looked it up...the dried weight of honey is 96% simple sugars. I guess I will leave it up to someone else to decide if it is metabolized differently or has health benefits that outweigh the risk, but it's mostly glucose and other simple sugars witht small amounts of other ingredients.

[ApatheticNoMore]

With honey, unless you are eating it in baked goods or something, there is also the fact that you are unlikely to eat very much of it at a time. It's too intense really.

[krystal]

I have been taking too much sugar since quite a long time in the shape of soft drinks but I exercise and I am trying to keep myself in shape.I shall watch the 60 minutes show.I think I must do it.Thanks for sharing.