Sugar

[deanna in AR]

http://beingmommydaily.com/this-family-ate-no-sugar-for-a-whole-year-what-they-found-out-was-shocking-2

[Bob Niland (Boundless)]

The harsh re-exposure reaction was interesting, and familiar (and not just because wheat re-exposure causes similar unease). I ate some wheat-free restaurant cheesecake a couple of months ago, and felt terrible, presumably due to the high sugar content.

These folks weren't necessarily low carb, so I don't think the reaction was likely due to physiological insulin resistance (which it might have been in my case).

So if Big Food doesn't want you to try going wheat-free and/or sugar-free for a month just to see what happens, this is why. Too many people won't ever go back.

[Lynda (Fl)]

I won't go back but I still like the taste of sugar, darn it! I have had to watch my sugar and carbs for most of my life or I suffer fatigue. It would be nice if I could quit liking it all together. I do notice a difference in quality, though. It's been three years of clean eating and I don't crave it, so guess that will have to do. I hope the children in this family really internalized this message, it will pay dividends.

[Randal]

I remember a couple years ago looking at food labels and seeing maybe 20 grams of sugar and thinking, not bad. Now there's no way I'd eat something with that much sugar, unless it was the occasional fruit (and I rarely eat fruit).

[Loanne]

I love the taste of sugar and most things sweet, but suffer bad headaches, brain fog, and general lifelessness afterwards from real sugar products.  I still love it, but am afraid to eat many foods artificially sweetened for fear I won't be able to stop...just a weird thing I hope to get past some day. 

[VibeRadiant]

I was buying some organic yoghurt today and I saw coconut yoghurt.  I looked at the nutrition label and it had 27 g of sugar! Turns out it was coconut flavoured, but still - why does one need 27 g of sugar in a serving? Probably to hook the brain and reel it in.
So I bought natural yoghurt and I will add shredded organic coconut to it myself.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Randal,


No matter what the topic is, when you don't pay any attention to it or the results, then you really are DOOMED.  The result is nearly always the lowest level of nutrition and quality.  Few things are as important as what you place in your mouth.  When you become "too busy" to care, thats when poor to bad nutrition starts playing havoc with your health.  Unless you have a personal chef to prepare your food, you have to take the time to find the right provisions.  Eating in restaurants or doing "take out" as a way of life is for the lazy.  These places prepare dishes for taste and mouth feel and are a profit-making concern. 

[Linda R]

Randal,


No matter what the topic is, when you don't pay any attention to it or the results, then you really are DOOMED.  The result is nearly always the lowest level of nutrition and quality.  Few things are as important as what you place in your mouth.  When you become "too busy" to care, thats when poor to bad nutrition starts playing havoc with your health. Unless you have a personal chef to prepare your food, you have to take the time to find the right provisions.  Eating in restaurants or doing "take out" as a way of life is for the lazy.  These places prepare dishes for taste and mouth feel and are a profit-making concern.

I recently had a visit from a former neighbor, a fellow who was always there to fix things for me when needed, a wonderful kind of neighbor that I truly miss.
When he walked in, I noticed he was favoring one leg and I asked him about it. "Oh, just the damned arthritis acting up again, nothing to worry about."
Before long he was down on my kitchen floor in order to repair one of my kitchen drawers, and when he slowly got back up and stood on his feet,  I noticed that he winced. He then said his diabetes was causing problems with the nerves in his feet.
His wife is at least 50 pounds over weight, has Crohn's Disease and works at a Casey's making their popular pizzas. Bob talked about going there when she is working and she makes the thin crust just for him because that is healthier.
I mentioned, again, that he should really try avoiding grain. He immediately told me that his doctor tells him it is perfectly OK to eat oatmeal every morning. I asked, "What's wrong with bacon & eggs?"  "I don't have time for that, I can just pop my oatmeal in the microwave and it's ready in minutes!"


The idea of not eating wheat or any grains is just unthinkable to my friends.
Too busy
Too set in their ways
 

[Lynda (Fl)]

Classic case of picking information you want to hear.  It's a lot of aggravation/effort to second guess yourself and your professionals. Plus you can blame someone else when things go wrong. Wish I didn't do it myself, sometimes.  I know how much it hurts just looking at a great person like your neighbor, seeing him suffer and not being able to help. Arthritis pain was the first noticeable improvement my DH and I felt.  Such a shame: shame on the medical profession and politicians.

[Linda R]

Classic case of picking information you want to hear.  It's a lot of aggravation/effort to second guess yourself and your professionals. Plus you can blame someone else when things go wrong. Wish I didn't do it myself, sometimes. I know how much it hurts just looking at a great person like your neighbor, seeing him suffer and not being able to help. Arthritis pain was the first noticeable improvement my DH and I felt.  Such a shame: shame on the medical profession and politicians.

Yes, it truly does.
They moved to the western side of the state about three years ago and I can see that Bob's health is definitely going downhill. He's counting the months till retirement.


My 2nd husband died due to complications from diabetes and I watched another dear friend lose more and more of his lower extremities as diabetes waged war on his body till it killed him as well.


Sometimes I just want to scream.........................

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Randal,


Your logic is impeccable.  It is just heartbreaking to watch this suffering.  But, I keep saying to myself that this is their choice and the result of all the food choices made for a very long time.  I feel no remorse or guilt or anything more than a shrug and meaningless sympathetic words when these same people develop serious health problems.  Their mouth.  Their choice of food.  Their food placed in their mouth by their own hand. 

[Lynda (Fl)]

'I don't have time'...  this is usually said from the depths of a recliner, in front of the tv! These tasks could be done the night before, with the active part taking less than five minutes. I'm sorry, this is just the adult version of 'I'm not goint to, and you can't make me'.  Children are so much more honest.

[Linda R]

Damn, Randal!
I am so proud of you....................


Most guys I know can't boil water!

[Lynda (Fl)]

He is rather inspiring, isn't he, Linda?  The people on this forum are what happens when you turn your BS meter on yourself. It's just amazing what gets done when the excuses stop and how little time it really takes.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Randal,


I'm laughing at your description of authentic Chinese food in your local Chinatown!  I used to love going to Chinatown on the lower Eastside in NYC.
Authentic! Cheap! Eat what the Chinese eat! Sounded very exotic to me and I was always quite willing to explore he new and different.  As a college student, I never really thought to check the kitchen.  The bathrooms were disgustingly filthy.  Then, one fine day I decided to peek into the kitchen of a particularly busy place.  I'll spare everyone the details, but I quickly left without ordering and bought a cookbook on authentic Chinese
cooking.  I won't eat in a Chinese place unless I can see that the kitchen is spotless.  The cookbook is by Lin YuTang, the wife of a former ambassador to the US.  It is available on line cheap because it was written many years ago.  It is still the best in my opinion for a simple, easy, inexpensive meal with most of the ingredients acceptable to our way of eating.  I use potato starch or konjack root powder instead of cornstarch to coat the animal protein before I stir fry it. 


All you really need to do is chop up your food before you cook.  Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and a large fry pan will do if you don't have a wok.  Dinner is ready in minutes.  You can prep in advance.


And Randall, you really have come a long way since joining this blog.  Give yourself a hug!!!

[Lynda (Fl)]

Barbara, my mother once worked at a Chinese restaurant and she took two things away with her:
  1) You really don't want to know what they are doing back there.
  2) They do not eat the same foods, you couldn't swallow the native diet.
She loved that family, said she had never been treated so well.


Randal, better luck next weekend.  Can't explain the 'you have to eat what I want you to eat' attitude. People seem to take it personally, when it's only dinner.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Lynda,


Your Mother is right!!!    I remember that I ordered something and turned green when I saw that kitchen.  I had exams the next day and couldn't afford to get sick. 


The cookbook really has recipes for ingredients that we are familiar with here in this country.  Even bok choy and chinese cabbage were hard to come by in the 1960's and 70's.  The Chinese were always starving and food was always scarce, so they ate ANYTHING that could be eaten and some things that shouldn't have been eaten. I didn't want to find out what they considered a "delicacy"!  Their cleanliness habits are a bit different than ours.


My brother was an officer stationed in Vietnam.  To this day, he won't eat in any Oriental restaurant.  As an Officer, he was treated well by the local Vietnam Army liaisons and often had to attend dinners they hosted.  He noted that there was a scarcity of any animals in the jungles and cities.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Randal,


Beef and broccoli is delicious!  Add some nuts for variation in your stir fry.  Add different veggies too.  Onions and celery impart a sweetness.
Mushrooms.  You can saute them in butter first if you want.  Use any appropriate oil.  The real convenient thing is cutting up your ingredients in advance and refrigerating them until you need them.


The key is a very hot pan, animal protein with a starch as a "sealer" and lots of veggies. 

[Lynda (Fl)]

If you can find a Japanese restaurant, they have a totally different outlook on food.  They insist things are fresh and clean (compared to Chinese, especially). They are the ones responsible for sushi and tempura.  Chinese eat 100 year old eggs! It's just a name but, knowing how they are made, I wouldn't eat them.  I learned a number of recipes from a young Japanese chef and the difference was extreme. Man, could he cook. The downside was the recipes are restaurant size, too.  Fortunately, my son can eat thirty egg rolls the size of large Mexican burritos but only if they are my eggs rolls.  Thank you, Mino!

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Lynda,


The Japanese are known for their cleanliness and quality of food they eat.  The South Koreans are also considered to have a heritage of clean quality in their diet.  Can you share some recipes with us?  I'm good at stir fry, but a change  of pace is always welcome.    Used to love tempura.  Sure miss those panko breadcrumbs!

[Lynda (Fl)]

Let me see if I can find them.  I'll warn you now, Mino didn't cook by measuring (but it didn't seem to matter much).  These recipes are more a dab of this and a dab of that.  Can't seem to ruin them, really. I have gyoza (dim sum type) and egg rolls that you might like to make. I have a couple of others but these are basically the easiest and trouble free.  They use packaged wrappers but there's no reason you couldn't put the filling in something else.  I've always regretted I couldn't duplicate his stir fry, the man was a wizard.  I'll get back to you on this.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Lynda,


Thanks!
I make nori (seaweed) rolls with all kinds of filling.  When I can find coconut wraps I use those too.  Until we had the discussion here about resistant starch and cooked-cooled rice, I stopped rolling them in rice like you see at the grocery store.