Sugar the real culprit?

[Doubting Thomas]

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this here or in one of the science forums, but since this is primarily about me, I'm going to post it here in the fitness forum.  Mods can move it if necessary.

Since last summer, I've been making some life changes.  I've noticed that some of my favorite T-shirts didn't fit comfortably any more, and digging the bathroom scale out of storage was shocked to find that my weight was up higher than it had ever been.  So rather than dwell in despair I knew I needed to change myself.  I've always been a pretty husky guy but I didn't want to reach 300 lbs.  Plus I've been wanting to lose my gut and moobs for a long time.

I decided to eat a lot healthier so chose to eat a salad or something healthy like that for lunch every day.  Mainly, and this is the fun part, I dug my mountain bike out of the shed, cleaned it up, and started riding it since August of last year.  I started just doing a few miles at a time but now my weekly goal is to get at least 25 miles in.  The weather and my personal schedule hasn't always cooperated, but in March I rode 115 miles.

However, all that bike riding wasn't helping me lose weight.  I use the Runtastic app on my phone which logs all my miles and calories burned.  Even after I built up endurance enough to ride some 18 miles at a time, I still wasn't dropping much weight.

A friend of mine posted a link to an online article (sorry, don't have the link handy) about a scientist in the late 60's who proposed that the standard idea that eating saturated fats from meat is what causes heart disease is wrong, and instead it's sugar which causes obesity and heart disease.  He was marginalized and basically laughed out of the scientific community for this idea.  Now, scientists are taking a closer look and seeing that he was probably right all along.  The scientific community has been getting it wrong because people are eating low fat diets but still putting on weight and having high cholesterol.

So after reading that and a few other articles suggesting a closer link between sugar and obesity/heart disease, I decided to cut a lot of sugar out of my diet.  I gave up drinking soda a couple years ago, although once in a great while I'd have one.  But now I've resolved to not drink any until my weight comes down.  Also, no more candy, cakes, pies, ice cream, etc.  Which is kind of hard because I have one hell of a sweet tooth, and chocolate is my favorite.

I've only been doing this for about a week, and already I've lost 10 lbs.  I weigh myself every morning and log it in my Runtastic account, and it's nice to see the graph finally keep going down.  I haven't cut all sugar out completely, since I still eat fruits like bananas and pineapple, and I haven't decided on a no-carb diet though I've been eating lower carbs than before.

But I think there is a huge connection between sugar and obesity.  I know my case is just one case, but losing 10 lbs in such a short time is amazing.  Especially after I'd been doing everything else and not having any success at all.  I was totally frustrated with any lack of progress and about to give up, but now I have a new-found resolution to keep at it.

I do plan to keep on my bike not just because it's exercise, but because I enjoy it.  However, I'm going to kick my cheap Walmart mountain bike to the curb since we bought me a new Vilano hybrid bike which is much bigger and will fit me better.  It is supposed to come today and I can't wait to try it out.

[Athene]

I'm guessing that the cholesterol our bodies manufacture due to heredity, and as a response to inflammation play a bigger role in the development of heart disease than dietary cholesterol. And as I understand it, sugar triggers an inflammatory reaction when it's consumed, so there may actually be something to that. I normally adhere to a controlled-carb maintenance diet, that consists of a higher-than-average amount of animal protein. My cholesterol is inversed; The good levels are abnormally high, and the bad cholesterol is well below average, according to the doc.

I also consume a lot pistachios, cashews, and/or almonds daily; Much more than I'd be comfortable eating if I ate a standard American diet, because of their high caloric content. Peanut M&Ms are great for chocolate/ sweet cravings; They have a medium glycemic index.

Congratulations on the weight loss, btw. It sounds like you're doing great.

[Doubting Thomas]

I got my new bike yesterday and put it together last night. It sure rides better than my old mountain bike. It's almost effortless to glide down the street on it. All this time I thought it was me having trouble riding well, but it was the bike. I'm sure I can do 20 miles or more in one stretch on this bike. It's like a Cadillac compared to my old one.

[mralstoner]

Humans are primates, and our digestive system evolved from fruit eaters, seemingly. So, sugar in the form of wholefood fruit sugar, shouldn't be a problem.

But with sugars in liquid form, the glycemic index is very high, and might cause problems, because it's a sugar-bomb exploding in your system.

Also, your mouth wants to chew and suck the sugar out of fibre-rich foods. And in liquid form, you don't get that satisfaction from chewing, so you tend to drink and drink in vain, not getting the proper satisfaction from wholefoods. Hence you overdrink sugary drinks.

The moral is: whatever diet you eat, a wholefoods diet is the first easy step in fixing dietary problems. You can then quibble til the cows come home about which wholefoods are good or bad. That's a harder question to answer.

If I drink sugary drinks, or even fruit puree, I can wake up in the middle of the night sweating and shaking, because my body can't handle high glycemic foods. I think my body overshoots the insulin, and I get a hypo i.e. low blood sugar, ironically. But wholefood fruit is no problem.

[mralstoner]

One caveat about wholefoods. Nuts contain enzyme inhibitors and can be harmful in large quantities. Many a natural-health seeker has damaged their digestive system by thinking that nuts are natural and therefore good. Myself included. That's why some who eat nuts only do so after soaking and sprouting them.

You might also include gluten grains in the list of harmful wholefoods.

[paulpablo]

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this here or in one of the science forums, but since this is primarily about me, I'm going to post it here in the fitness forum.  Mods can move it if necessary.

Since last summer, I've been making some life changes.  I've noticed that some of my favorite T-shirts didn't fit comfortably any more, and digging the bathroom scale out of storage was shocked to find that my weight was up higher than it had ever been.  So rather than dwell in despair I knew I needed to change myself.  I've always been a pretty husky guy but I didn't want to reach 300 lbs.  Plus I've been wanting to lose my gut and moobs for a long time.

I decided to eat a lot healthier so chose to eat a salad or something healthy like that for lunch every day.  Mainly, and this is the fun part, I dug my mountain bike out of the shed, cleaned it up, and started riding it since August of last year.  I started just doing a few miles at a time but now my weekly goal is to get at least 25 miles in.  The weather and my personal schedule hasn't always cooperated, but in March I rode 115 miles.

However, all that bike riding wasn't helping me lose weight.  I use the Runtastic app on my phone which logs all my miles and calories burned.  Even after I built up endurance enough to ride some 18 miles at a time, I still wasn't dropping much weight.

A friend of mine posted a link to an online article (sorry, don't have the link handy) about a scientist in the late 60's who proposed that the standard idea that eating saturated fats from meat is what causes heart disease is wrong, and instead it's sugar which causes obesity and heart disease.  He was marginalized and basically laughed out of the scientific community for this idea.  Now, scientists are taking a closer look and seeing that he was probably right all along.  The scientific community has been getting it wrong because people are eating low fat diets but still putting on weight and having high cholesterol.

So after reading that and a few other articles suggesting a closer link between sugar and obesity/heart disease, I decided to cut a lot of sugar out of my diet.  I gave up drinking soda a couple years ago, although once in a great while I'd have one.  But now I've resolved to not drink any until my weight comes down.  Also, no more candy, cakes, pies, ice cream, etc.  Which is kind of hard because I have one hell of a sweet tooth, and chocolate is my favorite.

I've only been doing this for about a week, and already I've lost 10 lbs.  I weigh myself every morning and log it in my Runtastic account, and it's nice to see the graph finally keep going down.  I haven't cut all sugar out completely, since I still eat fruits like bananas and pineapple, and I haven't decided on a no-carb diet though I've been eating lower carbs than before.

But I think there is a huge connection between sugar and obesity.  I know my case is just one case, but losing 10 lbs in such a short time is amazing.  Especially after I'd been doing everything else and not having any success at all.  I was totally frustrated with any lack of progress and about to give up, but now I have a new-found resolution to keep at it.

I do plan to keep on my bike not just because it's exercise, but because I enjoy it.  However, I'm going to kick my cheap Walmart mountain bike to the curb since we bought me a new Vilano hybrid bike which is much bigger and will fit me better.  It is supposed to come today and I can't wait to try it out.

I've heard so many articles on this type of thing.  Sugar and carbs vs meat and protein.

It's obvious that eating processed sugary foods are relatively bad for you.  But I also wouldn't recommend just just eating any time of meat either.

My personal philosophy is pretty simple, try and eat lots of good stuff, treat myself with some bad stuff, do lots of push ups and running on the cross trainer when I notice my stomach is poking out a bit too much.  

You're doing the right thing by not giving up sugar entirely I tried that for a short time and almost fainted.  Plus that was just crazy how obsessed I got with wanting sugar, I'd have dreams about drinking cartons of fruit juice.

[Doubting Thomas]

Well, right now I'm cutting way down on sugar and carbohydrates, at least until I get rid of my gut and lose all the weight I think I need to. I'm still losing weight even though it bumped up a bit from last Friday night when we all went out to Rib Crib and I drank one beer at the bar. But it's still going down further than I've been in a long time, and I can tell that my gut is starting to shrink. When I'm down to where I want to be then I'll give myself the occasional sweet treat but do it in moderation. I've always had a sweet tooth but need to keep it in check.

I'm still going to get on my bike and ride as much as I can, but to be honest I haven't been on the new bike much due to work, weather, and just life in general. The new bike is much easier and better to ride, so I'm going to continue to devote myself to getting in about 100 miles a month. As my miles keep racking up and my weight keeps dropping I'll feel like I'm in much better health.