Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Discussion in 'Driver Health' started by Lepton1, Apr 27, 2013.

  1. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    I'll start this by telling the story of one of the hero's of my life: my nephew.

    My wife and I visited my wife's sister and her family at least once a year. They had a son and a daughter, both of whom were obese, especially the son. I'll call him Ben.

    When Ben was 17 I was struck with how he'd grown heavier and fatter since the year before. He was small boned, about 5'10" and weighed 350 lbs. He was working on his third chin.

    We didn't get a chance to visit them for another two years. When we walked in the door this wiry, athletic young man came up to me and said, "Uncle! How have you been?"

    I was shocked. He'd lost 190 lbs in two years. I asked how he did it.

    "I stopped drinking soda pop."

    "Really? That's it?"

    He told the story. Indeed, the only thing he changed at first was to stop drinking soda pop of any kind. He'd been drinking 6-10 cokes a day. In the first two months he lost 30 lbs. That got him more motivated, he started walking and eating fresh fruits and vegetables. At first he could only walk around the block. Pretty soon he was up to a mile a day. Then it advanced to a dog trot, then jogging as his weight dropped below 260.

    He said it all started when he watched Sugar: The Bitter Truth. After watching that he started with eliminating soda pop, lost the 30 lbs, then really made sure he eliminated high fructose corn syrup from his diet completely.

    Here's the link to the video, it's a 1.5 hour lecture by Robert Lustig, MD. It's informative, funny, and frightening.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

    By the way, the latest passion of my nephew? Rock climbing.

    He's turned his life around. Has a career, a beautiful girlfriend, and a great group of friends and family.

    Please watch this lecture and become a hero for your family. Every day I see truckers filling their gallon size sippy cups at truck stops, trucker's that are over weight. Take the first step. Watch the lecture, then make your decision regarding what you eat.
     
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  3. Reroll

    Reroll Light Load Member

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    A single 12oz coke has 140 calories. With an average of 8 per day, when he quit, he immediately dropped 1120 calories per day from his diet, no small amount. If we're talking about 20oz sodas, it was over 1800 calories, which is more than the entire daily consumption for some people.

    Using the same figures, if you fill up that 64oz cup twice a day, you're consuming almost 1500 completely empty, useless calories every day. If you're at a steady weight and do nothing else at all, simply quitting this habit will cause you to drop 3 lbs a week!
     
  4. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    You need to watch the lecture. It's far more than just the calories. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a patented invention from a Japanese company that was never adequately tested before approval by the FDA. In the lecture it explains how and why HFCS cannot be metabolized like normal sugar, creates new fat cells, and creates conditions for diabetes, heart attacks, and other degenerative diseases.

    It's way more than just the calories.
     
  5. Reroll

    Reroll Light Load Member

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    I'm a former chef and have followed the HFCS issues for a few years now. Although I tend to agree with you that it's not metabolized in the same way as sucrose, the jury is really still out on what the difference means. I'm not trying to defend HFCS at all, and I avoid it whenever I can, but I just want to point out that there is a lot of bad information out there, both pro and con.
     
  6. Milktanker

    Milktanker Medium Load Member

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    Good for your nephew, I've got a 16 year old step brother who is diabetic because he couldn't kick the sugar. He is obese and still downs a 2- liter of diet coke a day. Sadly he's not going to do anything about it until he has a serious wake up call.
    I myself have cut out soda and have lost close to 35 pounds now. I have a lot more energy now compared to when I was relying on caffeine to get me through.
     
  7. king Q

    king Q Road Train Member

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    It is just so difficult to eat correctly.
    Not the discipline , but the actual availability of the the correct types of food.
    If you are on the road it is even worse.
    I suppose stopping with the big things first is a great way to start.
     
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  8. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    Eating well on the road requires some planning. I stock up with a variety of dried fruit, oatmeal, granola, powdered milk, tuna fish, sardines, nuts, bread, crackers (low sodium wheat thins if I can find them), etc. If I can find a store that sells bulk items that's the place to stock up on the dried fruits and nuts. Canned vegetables are fine out of the can. All of what I stock can either be eaten without cooking or just add hot water. I keep a large thermos that I fill with hot water for free at any truck stop (and I bring my own coffee). Bananas, apples, oranges, and a small quantity of fresh sugar peas and bell peppers rounds out my stock (I haven't had a refrigerator or cooler in the truck).

    I'm planning on bringing a cooking pot and small gas stove. Then I'll likely be boiling some eggs and stock up with potatoes. A little meat will also be nice. One trick my wife taught me is that if you boil a nice cut of steak for a long time, skim off the fat, then the meat becomes very tender and pulls apart easily. Then you can shred the meat and let it dry. Later I've added that to oatmeal, so it can be reheated by adding hot water and you have a stew. I wish I could find a good supply of dried vegetables, but can't seem to find it.

    Unfortunately, truck stops usually don't sell healthy foods and it is expensive. Restocking on the road is all about finding a place where you can park a truck, and that usually means a Walmart.
     
  9. king Q

    king Q Road Train Member

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    The odd thing is that I actually like the foods listed.
    There is actually a thread about healthy foods.
    Even someone going by the name of Healthydriver or something similar with great advice.
     
  10. Lady K

    Lady K Road Train Member

    LINK

    They have sizes all the way from individual to 10 gal buckets... I've had some of their peanut butter powder (less calories/fat but all the flavor) works well for us... Was going to get some of the dried veggies for crunchy munchies instead of nuts, but haven't done it yet...
     
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  11. Dr_Fandango44

    Dr_Fandango44 Road Train Member

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    Nutrition is an interesting topic. I laugh at all these ads about diet. How you should eat this or that. Until you understand how food and calories work, how proteins fats and carbs affect the body, you will get nowhere fast
    you have to stop listening to these so called experts and find your own solutions.
    Diets don't work, pure an simple and as a testament to my youth I was a fat kid. My mum fed me way too much so I ended up the laughing stock of my class at school. Kids can be cruel.
    I hated being fat so I did something about it, and it took me 2 years to shed the excess pounds.
    but I've been stuck in a rut on and off and luckily my weight has never fluctuated much, usually between 173 - 185
    ive studied nutrition at length, and its a fascinating subject.
    I believe the Govt has got it all wrong about what we should eat. I ignore their propaganda anyway. The great scourge to losing weight is sugars, carbs IMHO. Keep carbs to the minimum and you have cracked it. We eat waaaaaay too much sugar/carbs. It's what you would call the typical western diet.
    But converting full time to a none or very little carb diet is NOT easy. It's downright difficult.
    The stuff I ate before I no longer eat. Believe me when I say that bread will always be a great weakness I adore bread, freshly baked crusty on the outside, doughy on the inside.
    So no bread, potatoes, bagels, donuts, rice, sweets, candy, sugary drinks, the list goes on. I have changed my life style and I eat s certain types of foods and that's it. I rarely exercise but I know it would be good to do so, but now my way of eating revolves around fresh veges, fruits in abundance, cheese, meat of all kinds, fish, and I only drink water but I do admit I drink Perrier. I like the fizzy stuff.
    You could say that my way of life and eating is very similar to the Atkins diet but I've modified it somewhat. If you can understand WHY the Atkins method works will perhaps give you that ah ha !! Moment. It did me. As a clue, it all revolves around the liver and its function and what happens when you deprive it of carbs. Fascinating stuff.
    Right now I'm 175lbs 5'11" and rarely exercise and yet I drive a truck. I sit all day and I can assure you, my metabolic rate is low. I can put on the pounds real quick. But I don't eat like a sparrow. I eat normal, meat with fruit and cheese. All good foods. Helps that I work my truck fridge to the limit. I've got a deep freezer in the pipeline so I can cook too.
    I found my solution, and it works. I feel fitter, healthy and don't feel bloated like I used to when I ate my fair share of carbs. I don't diet, because this is my lifestyle, my way of eating.
    Furthermore I don't believe in all this cholesterol stuff. It's blown waaaaay out of proportion. There's no evidence that high cholesterol causes heart attacks. Ive read extensively on the topic, books and papers written by people that should know, the doctors. . It's evidence that has been proven to be bogus and misleading. All you're doing is lining the pockets of all those greedy drug companies. I could care less what my cholesterol,levels are. Just pass me the cheese and all that lovely crispy bacon. Yummy.
    Good luck, find your niche, and study nutrition. That's the way to go, you can be smarter than these so called experts.
     
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