BlogHer - American Heart Association - Comments

Not familliar

mashadutoit — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:49:07 -0500

I'm not familiar with the products you mention - I mean I know what they are but not more than that :).

But all sugar, "added" or otherwise is from a plant ingredient - usually cane. People get confused about that, thinking fructose is not as bad as cane sugar.

If its highly refined, as it is bound to be in a fruit juice - it gets absorbed by your body too quickly, and that is where most of the harm lies. Grape juice is particularly bad.

So whether is made from honey or grapes or cane or whatever - too much of it, too refined, not good for you.

Even So People Have to Change and Choose

paulag01 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:21:13 -0500

Great article...love it.

Even if they go the way of the tobacco industry for any real change to happen people need to shift their relationship to what they eat. After all people are still smoking despite warnings. And, lables or no lables, people have to realize that a high fiber, low added sugar cereal is better than a donut yet there is a long line at the "runnin' on dunkin'" drive thrus. (not so sure about those froot loops!)...

If somehow people could actually have truth in labeling on ANY product, now that would be a major paradigm shift.

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

http://www.thepaulagcompany.com

Learn 5 Steps to Move from Fear to Freedom (free)

To answer your question

Kelly Logan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:13:20 -0500

"Is The Food Industry Following In The Steps Of The Tobacco Industry?" - I certainly hope it does. The food industry seems to be intent on making us fat and sick. It's time to put a stop to that, and placing the entire responsibility on the consumer is unfair.

Kelly

I blog about how to lose weight slowly and safely.

Thanks for the encouragement....

Catherine Morgan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:29:51 -0500

Thanks for the encouragement. I've added your blog to my Google Reader.

:-)

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan

at Catherine-Morgan.com and Women4Hope

Added Sugars

Elana Centor — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:13:32 -0500

The added sugar issues is very complex because nutrition labels include natural plus added sugar. But, I found <a href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12354500/Data/Add_Sug/addsug01.pdf">this list</a> from the usda that shows added sugar for lots of products. Yikes. On the issue of Kashi oatmeal, if I am interpretting the data correctly the "fruit juice " on the label counts as added sugar.

When you really start looking at the added sugar issue it takes your breath away. I am planning a followup post this week that takes a deeper dive into this issue and the implications for what we buy at the grocery store.

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&Careers FunnyBusiness

ketchup

Cellulite_Analyst — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:59:01 -0500

Hi, Gena. Your comment about ketchup caught my attention becuase I just wrote a post about America's favorite condiment. It wasn't always the fructose-laced concoction it is today. In fact, ketchup used to actually make a meal MORE nutritious. Imagine that! Traditionally, ketchup was a fermented food rich with enzymes and other nutrients. For most of its existence, ketchup didn't even contain tomatoes. Crazy, huh! There is an interesting recipe for a nutritious version of tomato ketchup in Sally Fallon's popular cookbook "Nourishing Traditions."

If you are interested, here is the ketchup post I mentioned (although I have to warn you, it's probably more than you ever wanted to know about ketchup!)

http://www.celluliteinvestigation.com/2009/09/most-wanted-list-real-ketchup.html

Warm regards,

The Cellulite Analyst ~ http://www.CelluliteInvestigation.com

Encouragement for recovering sugaholics!

Cellulite_Analyst — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:42:43 -0500

It's funny that you drew that reference to the tobacco industry. Just yesterday I spoke with a doctor who made that exact same comparison.

I just wanted to give some encouragement for everyone trying to get over a sugar addiction. It gets easier! I cut sugar out of my diet about 2 years ago (refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup). The body can definitely get past this craving. I pretty much went cold turkey. I think the thing that helped the most was that I started adding healthy fats back into my diet at the same time (and by healthy fats, I mean coconut oil and organic butter from cows who eat grass, etc, not just salmon and flax seed).

What's even more encouraging, is that my boyfriend made the switch, too. I never thought he would voluntarily do without his Mountain Dew and Gatorade. It's definitely worth the effort so keep at it!

The Cellulite Analyst at http://www.CelluliteInvestigation.com

Doing the math -

Alanna Kellogg — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:29:41 -0500

I missed this entirely so thanks for posting -- and it would be great to cross-post to the Food & Drink category too, Elena.

I wonder about the Kashi and V-8 references however -- while they may have sugar, aren't they natural sugars from the plant ingredients, not "added" sugars? To me, they're completely different than your other two examples of highly processed snack wells, commercial cookies and even the commercial yogurt.

Alanna Kellogg
Kitchen Parade &
A Veggie Venture

How Do You Convince People to Detox on Sugar?

Gena Haskett — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:51:21 -0500

Because it is embedded in our self worth that sugar makes you feel good or it is a security blanket, i.e. "gotta have my Ding-Dongs at my break." I agree about the reduction in sugar and I stuggle with it every day. Some days are bad and I run for the sugar hit.

I'm better than I used to be. I use to drink cans of soda a day. I do read labels and stay away from HFCS when I can. I don't buy ketchup any more.

I think this is going to be harder to convince people. The media has a financial stake is accepting money from advertisers.

Supermarkets are not going to put their collective necks on the line until consumers demand de-sugared process foods.There are entire lines of food products that would have to disappear or be reformulated.

This is going to be a big change. I don't know if the country has the brains to understand how big. We have been running on stupid for some time.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Great post...

Catherine Morgan — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:26:04 -0500

Great post Elana. This is important information for all women.

:-)

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan

at Catherine-Morgan.com and Women4Hope