Food: What The Heck Should I Eat?

[guest587]

This is a great book and what I'm presently reading...

Chronic disease affects half of all Americans- among the culprits are dementia, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, neurological problems, depression, attention deficit disorder, autoimmune disease, allergies, reflux, irritable bowel, thyroid disorders, hormonal and menstrual problems, and skin problems, including eczema, psoriasis, and acne. The cost are staggering. Medicaid and Medicare are the single biggest drain on our federal budget. Annual spending on health care in 2016 was $3.35 trillion, or $10,345 per person (nearly $1 in $5 of our entire economy). And 80 precent of that goes toward the ongoing treatment of chronic lifestyle diseases that are preventable and reversible.

Food is the most powerful drug on the planet. It can improve the expression of thousands of genes, balance dozens of hormones, optimize tens of thousands of protein networks, reduce inflammation, and optimize your microbiome(gut flora) with every single bite. It can cure chronic diseases; it works faster, better, and cheaper than any drug discovered: and the only side effects are good ones- prevention, reversal, and even treatment of disease, not to mention vibrant optimal health.

...Don't get me wrong: We still treat patients holistically using advanced testing, carefully selected combinations of supplements and medications, and other lifestyle tweaks to create balance and healing. But our main 'drug' is food. It's that powerful when applied correctly. Functional medicine is the best model we have for addressing our chronic illness epidemic. It is the medicine of why, not the medicine of what. It is about why you have the disease, not just naming what disease you have. It strives to treat the underlying cause of the disease rather than merely suppressing its symptoms.

Most Americans don't eat food anymore. They eat factory-made, industrially produced food-like substances, or Frankenfoods, that contain trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate(MSG), artificial sweeteners and colors, additives, preservatives, pesticides, antibiotics, new-to-nature proteins, and heightened allergens caused by genetic breeding and engineering. We call these anti-nurtrients.

...Our industrial food system, sponsored and supported by our government policies, has taken over our bodies, minds, and souls.

...Without the confidence that comes from knowing how to prepare quality foods, people are left vulnerable to the aggressive marketing tactics of the food industry, which is all too eager to sell us highly addictive, poor-quality, man-made food-like products that fatten us up, along with their bottom line. Major packaged food companies are like drug dealers pushing their addictive products.

We have to cook our way out of our addiction to bad food. Shopping, cooking, and eating are political acts with far-reaching benefits to our health, the earth, the economy, and beyond. Michael Pollan, in his book Cooked, says, 'The decline of everyday home cooking doesn't only damage the health of our bodies and our land but also our families, our communities and our sense of how our eating connects us to the world.'

Cooking is fun, freeing, and essential to achieving health and happiness. Unfortunately, we have handed over the act of cooking, this unique task that makes us human, to the food industry. We have become food consumers, not food producers or preparers, and in doing so, we have lost our connection to our world and to ourselves.

I aim to help rebuilt that connection for you.

~ Mark Hyman, MD

excerpts from Part I, FOOD: What The Heck Should I Eat?

 

[mccoy]

Eric, I'm heavily into nutrition, healthspan and longevity, there is a specific answer to the question: what the heck should I eat. In addition, recent science is usually validating the suggestions of the Raja Yoga diet as written in the SRF lessons. Anyway:

-Number one class of food to be eaten is vegetables, especially so the green-leaved.
-Fruit is OK but subject to your personal tolerance to glucose. Moderate amounts are usually good.
-Nuts and seed are usually very good
-beans are usually good, starting with small amounts
-whole grains are usually good, in moderate amounts
-Fresh dairy products are very good according to Sri Yukteswar. According to modern science there is a debate, which I construe, it depends on individual tolerances and quantities.Lowfat or nonfat is best to check your blood lipids.
-Meat is usually detrimental, unless eaten in moderate amounts and together with vegetables
-Fish is better than meat, in moderate amounts, although there are ethical drawbacks.
-Mushrooms are good
-eggs re good in moderation

The very bad food includes all sort of junk food, sodas, fries, big steaks, all excess, all white sugars except some zero-calories ones.

[guest587]

Thank you Mccoy,

I would be happy to share the words of Dr. Mark Hyman with you as I read.

He breaks it down as you have here, and elaborates. If you're interested in hearing his thoughts on meat for example, I can dive into this chapter with you.

I intend on sharing something I read last night about the industry, which is so damn infuriating. Just like there is, "Big Brother" or "Big Pharma" so there is with our food industry.

And so many "healthy" lies... Where science is, "fixed" biased and usually 'suaded by serious financial backings.

Question...

would you like me to quote excerpts like this?

"Or like this?"

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Eric this guy recommends dead animals for food. I just can’t understand that. I mean we are yogis and I’m sensitive to killing our brother and sisters the animals. To see them lying there cut up and lying on my kitchen table offends my senses. They are evolving like us. I mean could you imagine cutting up your dogs and putting them on the table with spices to eat? How is it different if you have a pet lamb, cow or pig? Are they somehow inferior? And to think of the production and business of killing animals is repugnant 🤮. I stay as far as I can from the meat markets and the meat department at stores. It is cruelty production and processing. In fact these  animals may be just as good pets. Violence towards animals seems very cruel to me and against the principle of ahimsa and definitely has caused unimaginable destruction to nature.

Paramahansa Yogananda has said that we will eventually live off cosmic energy, eating meat 🥩 is a lingering dark habit of the Kali Yuga. Let’s put this into context. We are moving into the age of energy; the Dwapara yuga. Let’s share for instance Sri Yukteswar’s book on eating; The Holy Science. In it he explains from many angles that human beings are not meant to eat meat. In fact the way are bodies are built biologically; we are similar to other vegetarian  animals. Meat of all kinds become toxins in the body, which add to a host of other problems like sexual aberrations, moods swings, violent temperament and ecological disasters. I will start a thread on this if necessary. Vibrations of energy enter our bodies. If those vibrations are of violence we absorb them.



Sorry I just can’t imagine chopping the head off a lamb! People can make violence look good with other tasty things beside it but you still are ingesting dead animals who were slaughtered violently. These defenseless animals have done nothing harmful to us. What right have we to take their lives? I do believe that animals can sense violence in us and that I have seen them react violently towards humans because of it.

[guest587]

Of course, you are welcomed to your opinion- and Dr. Hayman is welcomed to his. You have chosen a different path, and you will find this hard to understand but I believe there are many true paths offered here on this planet- all of which belong to God. I intend on continuing to share what I discover, and if mccoy is interested in what he has to say about meat- I will do so(seeing as the question was directed at him). You can also ask me what he has to say on vegetables. He goes into all food types. Who knows, you might find what he's learned about vegetables more interesting. And you still might learn something after-all. I would encourage the discussion of The Holy Science in a separate thread as I intend to make the focus of this thread around the book.

I would love for us all to read something together and jump into it. I don't own The Holy Science and would like a hard copy(I don't want to read off the computer screen). Eventually I might pick this up. Or if you'd like to gift me a copy, I accept.  I have also created a thread with your interest in vegetarian eating, here:

http://spiritualportal.net/index.php/topic,8286.0.html

Titled, "Cooking with Legumes" by Swami Vidyadhishananda.

As I am begin to read more books and attempt to share what I discover with others- I notice those who have not read the book often have the most negative things to say about the author or the book. It's a curious phenomenon. The very same happened as a friend gifted me, "The Flivver King." As I was gifted it, another friend had the most negative things to say about Uptain Sinclair. When I finished reading the book I asked him what he thought about it, and to my surprise he said he never read it. So, I mean no offense as I make this observation.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Eric, in regard to this statement you made above. "And you still might learn something after-all. I would encourage the discussion of The Holy Science in a separate thread as I intend to make the focus of this thread around the book".

Thanks for the link from by Swami Vidyadhishananda, Eric. i did look at it before and most likely will again as long as i'm not around others at a time i'm reading it and consuming legumes (lol trying to keep gas out of my digestive track). i really do not care to support anybody now who encourages a meat eating diet, wasting my time, energy and money, since there is so much reputable and reliable advice from vegetarian dieticians, which i can learn from, who need our support and for many other reasons besides food. i have really improved my moods since being a vegetarian so i do not need to get sidetracked again with american culture and the cheeseburger generation. Its already done enough harm and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

[guest587]

That's okay Steve, to each their own. Actually- if you want to include the discussion of vegetarianism here, or provide excerpts from The Holy Science- I welcome it. It might be nice to compare notes, and I think it will help attract others who might wish to participate and include their own thoughts.

Another excerpt from the book, which tells us a little more about the author Dr. Mark Hyman:

Furthermore, even scientists are sometimes guilty of supporting their preferred theories with near-religious fervor. As a result, they believe only the studies that confirm their points of view. We call this cherry-picking the research. After reading thousands of papers on human nutrition over 35 years, even I get confused. But I find my way beyond the headlines because I understand the methods and can analyze the actual data to learn what the studies demonstrate- or, equally important, what they don't demonstrate.

...As a doctor, I have also seen how my patients respond to different dietary and nutritional interventions. I have developed a way of eating that frees you from a dangerous fear of food and creates a sane, sustainable, flexible diet. I don't take money from any vested interest, nor have I spent my life proving any particular nutritional school of thought. I have been both a vegan and an omnivore. I have eaten low-fat, high-carb diets and low-carb, high-fat diets, and I have recommended and overseen all sorts of regimens for tens of thousands of patients over 30 years of medical practice and advocacy.

...Once, I advocated and prescribed low-fat vegetarian diets, but as new research convinced me that fat was good, I changed my recommendations. I am not married to a particular point of view. I am curious about what lies beneath the money and the egos behind the research. I am interested in one simple thing: What should we eat to stay fit and healthy? I want to live long, feel great, and avoid disease, and I don't want to eat anything that will threaten that goal. And I want the same thing for you.

[mccoy]

Eric, I did a quick search and came out with the basic concepts, the pillars of the pegan diet, the one which Dr hyman advocates. Pegan = Paleo+Vegan.

I must say my impression is favourable across the board, although I don't agree with some points. But, in answer to Steve, as you say, there are many specieses of birds who flock together. Many birds are not particularly evolved spiritually, so they don't mind about meat, or perhaps they even need a little of it. On the other side, point # 8 below, Dr. Hyman is clear that meat must be eaten in moderation, as a condiment, where vegetables are the main dish and meat is the side dish. That's a pretty sensible observation.

Anyway, if we want to discuss Dr. hyman's Pegan diet I would suggest we stick to his pillars as reported in the book cited by Eric. We may discuss every single point.

Let’s look at the 13 pillars of the Pegan diet, as outlined in my new book, Food: What the Heck Should I Eat?:

1Stay away from sugar. That means a diet low in anything that causes a spike in our insulin production — sugar, flour, and refined carbohydrates. Think of sugar in all its various forms as an occasional treat, that is, something we eat occasionally and sparingly. I tell people to think of it as a recreational drug. You use it for fun occasionally, but it is not a dietary staple.
2Eat mostly plants. As we learned earlier, more than half your plate should be covered with veggies. The deeper the color, the better. The more variety, the healthier. Stick with mostly nonstarchy veggies. Winter squashes and sweet potatoes are fine in moderation (1⁄2 cup a day). Not a ton of potatoes! French fries don’t count even though they are the No. 1 vegetable in America.
3Easy on fruits. This is where there could be a little bit of confusion. Some Paleo champions recommend eating mostly low-sugar fruits like berries, while some vegan advocates recommend all fruit equally. I find that most of my patients feel better when they stick to low-glycemic fruits and enjoy the others as a treat. Stick with berries, kiwis, and watermelon, and watch the grapes, melons, and so on. Think of dried fruit as candy and keep it to a minimum.
 4Stay away from pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and GMO foods. Also, no chemicals, additives, preservatives, dyes, artificial sweeteners, or other junk ingredients. If you don’t have that ingredient in your kitchen for cooking, you shouldn’t eat it. Polysorbate 60, red dye 40, and sodium stearoyl lactylate (also known as Twinkie ingredients), anyone?
 5Eat foods containing healthy fats. I’m talking about omega-3 fatty acids and other good fats like those we find in nuts, seeds, olive oil, and avocados. And yes, we can even eat saturated fat from fish, whole eggs, and grassfed or sustainably raised meat, grassfed butter or ghee, and organic virgin coconut oil or coconut butter.
6 Stay away from most vegetable, nut, and seed oils, such as canola, sunflower, corn, grapeseed, and especially soybean oil, which now accounts for about 10 percent of our calories. Small amounts of expeller or cold-pressed nut and seed oils like sesame, macadamia, and walnut oils are fine to use as condiments or for flavoring. Avocado oil is great for higher-temperature cooking.
 7Avoid or limit dairy. Dairy doesn’t work for most people, so I recommend avoiding it, except for the occasional yogurt, kefir, grassfed butter, ghee, and even cheese if it doesn’t cause any problems for you. Try goat or sheep products instead of cow dairy. And always go organic and grassfed.
 8Think of meat and animal products as condiments or, as I like to call them, “condi-meat” — not a main course. Vegetables should take center stage, and meat should be the side dish. Servings should be 4 to 6 ounces, tops, per meal. I often make three or four vegetable side dishes.
 9Eat sustainably raised or harvested low-mercury fish. If you are eating fish, you should choose low-mercury and low-toxin varieties such as sardines, herring, anchovies, and wild-caught salmon (all of which have high omega-3 and low mercury levels). And they should be sustainably harvested or farmed. Check out http://www.cleanfish.com/and http://www.foodthebook.com/to learn more about your fish options.
10Avoid gluten. Most gluten comes from “Frankenwheat,” so look for heirloom varieties of wheat like einkorn. Eat wheat only if you are not gluten-sensitive, and, even then, only occasionally. Dr. Alessio Fasano of Harvard, the world’s top gluten expert, has done research showing that gluten damages the gut — even in nongluten-sensitive people who show no symptoms.
11Eat gluten-free whole grains sparingly. They still raise blood sugar and can trigger autoimmunity. All grains can increase your blood sugar. Stick with small portions (1⁄2 cup per meal) of low-glycemic grains like black rice, quinoa, teff, buckwheat, or amaranth. For type 2 diabetics and those with autoimmune disease or digestive disorders, a grain- and bean-free diet may be key to treating and even reversing your illness. Stick to the 10-Day Detox Diet or even a ketogenic diet for diabetes.
12Eat beans only once in a while. Lentils are best. Stay away from big starchy beans. Beans can be a great source of fiber, protein, and minerals. But they cause digestive problems for some, and the lectins and phytates they contain may impair mineral absorption. If you are diabetic, a high-bean diet can trigger spikes in your blood sugar. Again, moderate amounts (up to 1 cup a day) are OK.
13Get tested to personalize your approach. What works for one person may not work for another. This is called bio-individuality and it is why I recommend that everyone eventually work with a functionally trained nutritionist to personalize his or her diet even further with the right tests. If you’re interested in getting tested and coached by one of my nutritionists, visit http://www.foodthebook.com/ for more information.

[mccoy]

Now, pillars #1: stay away from sugar and #2:eat mostly plants . Everyone agrees with that. The first two pillars are shared by almost all people with credentials who 'preach' about healthspan and longevity. Furthermore, these two pillars are also part of the Raja Yoga diet, the diet suggested by Sri Yukteswar and by the SRF lessons.
I myself follow meticulously these points.

I would suggest, before going further, let's comment together these 2 points, if you guys have any remarks.

[guest587]

Okay Mccoy,

I will dive into the chapters with you. Each chapter opens up with a true or false quiz. Don't cheat, try your best!

But first, the thing I intended on sharing:

Here's a fun little fact about food labels, serving sizes, and marketing: In 2003, the food lobby coerced the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) into allowing food companies to label their products as trans-fat-free if the product had less than 1/2 gram of trans fats per serving. So, the makers of Cool Whip can state that it is a trans-fat-free "food" because there is less than 1/2 gram of trans fat in a 2 tablespoon serving, despite the fact that Cool Whip is mostly made up of trans fats. They can legally lie.

...The science of nutrition is often squishy, and this accounts for the kind of contradiction and misinformation we've seen from scientists and experts over the decades. For example, the American Heart Association, or AHA (which receives much of its funding from the food and pharmaceutical industries), recently declared coconut oil harmful because it contains saturated fat, despite the fact that there has not been a single controlled trial or study showing that organic virgin coconut oil causes heart attacks. The AHA study on fats was funded in part by canola oil processors. The sponsors PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestle, Mars, Domino's Pizza, Kraft, Subway, and Quaker- almost all of which have swapped out saturated fats for omega-6 vegetable oils, which the AHA tells us to eat more of to prevent heart disease. The AHA also receives hundreds of thousands of dollars every time its heart-healthy checkmark of approval is used on foods like Lucky Charms- high-sugar junk known to cause heart disease. Increasingly, many scientists point out the potential harm from swapping out saturated with refines vegetable oils or PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids).

The demonization of coconut oil is based on an outdated theory that saturated fat causes heart disease. More than seventeen meta-analysis have found no such link. If we accepted the recommendations of the American Heart Association that we eat less than 5 percent of our calories as saturated fats, we would have to ban breast milk. (It contains a whopping 25 precent of its calories as saturated fats.)

...Another factor we need to consider is who is funding the study. Is there any conflict of interest? If a study is paid for by a food company, it is eight to fifty times more likely to turn up positive findings for that company's product. If Coca-Cola underwrites studies on soft drinks, soda is likely to be found blameless for obesity and disease.

We're getting to Pillar #1 I assure you.

A final reason for dietary uncertainty is that our food system has become so political. Government policies heavily influence our dietary guidelines and dictate which foods are grown, how they're grown and processed, and how they are marketed. Our food policy also determines which foods are at the foundation of all our government food programs, such as food stamps, or SNAP, which feeds more than 40 million people; school lunches; and WIC (Women, Infants and Children Food and Nutrition Service). The outside influence that industrial food and agriculture lobbyists have on our policies encourages a food system that engenders disease. For example, in the 2016 election, the American Beverage Association and the soda companies spent more than $30 million fighting taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages. It was only because a deep-pockets organization and a billionaire (the Arnold Foundation and Michael Bloomberg) spent $20 million opposing them that soda taxes passed in four cities. Also, why do the 2015 US Dietary Guidelines recommend we cut our consumption of added sugars to less than 10 percent of our calories, while the same USDA's SNAP program (food stamps) spends about $7 billion a year for the poor to consume soda and sugar-sweetened beverages (about 20 billion servings a year)? (Soda is the number one "food item" purchased by those on SNAP.) No wonder the cost of chronic disease overwhelm our federal budget. We need to transform our food system and address one of the biggest threats to our well-being: our lack of a coordinated and comprehensive food policy.

The Quiz

Sugars and sweeteners:
True or False?

1) The main problem with sugar is that it's just empty calories.

2) Agave syrup is a healthy alternative to high-fructose corn syrup and sugar.

3) Saturated fat from butter or meat causes heart disease, not carbs or sugar.

4) Sugar may be more addictive than cocaine.

5) One of the benefits of eating sugar is that it provides fuel to your brain.

6) High-fructose corn syrup is sugar with a different name.

7) If you want to lose weight, replace sugary drinks with diet soda.

[mccoy]

Eric, to tell the truth, I'm not very much interested into the politics and lobbying of food companies. Of course, the big food companies are trying to boost their sales, sometimes in a deceitful manner. They do it everywhere, here in Italy including, and they've been doing it for decades.

The basic message of Dr. Hyman is obvious and is directed to people who are illiterate about food, who've been eating mainly the SAD (standard American diet) made up of junk food prevalently.

I'm sorry if maybe that's not what you wanted to discuss first, but I'm more interested about what to do in practice. The food companies exists, they make profit and I couldn't care less because I'm not sponsoring them, unless they provide some really healthy food. They cannot escape the obligations of reporting components in labels, lest consumers associations sue them for millions or billions of dollars. So they employ subtle ways of deception, leveraging the dietary ignorance of people.

The quiz points: most of them may be true or false. I can understand the narrative chosen by Dr. Hyman but I do not agree necessarily on coconut oil and saturated fats.

[guest587]

That's okay Mccoy, I shared as a follow up to this post,

I intend on sharing something I read last night about the industry, which is so damn infuriating. Just like there is, "Big Brother" or "Big Pharma" so there is with our food industry.

At one point in my career, I rescued food for a living. We would redistribute it through out the city the same day. I have seen bread lines and unfortunately many of the charities out there are giving out foods that are unhealthy for the body. Knowing this, I was still surprised to read that the number one "food" item for SNAP or food stamps-is spent on sugary beverages. My cousins suffer form obesity, and they grew up on soda and diet soda. I feel blessed to have intuited getting off soda and gatorade at such a young age...

I talked to a younger part time employee the other day and he thinks soda is harmless. I think soda is a huge offender and believe the way we think about food and what we digest effects our spiritual bodies as well.

I don't expect our interest to always align, or for you to agree with everything coming out of this book. I do plan on sharing more about the chapters of sugar and plant food. I also intend on sharing more of what interest me down the road.

For now I still need to read the chapter on sugar and sweeteners... He breaks it down into:

"The science of sugar",

"What the experts got right",

"What they got wrong",

"Seven things you need to know about sugar",

"Sugar production damaging the environment",

and "Summing it up"

Which I assume is the section you are most interested in hearing??

At the bottom of the summing it up he bullet points:

"Sweetener's: what the heck should I eat?"

"Sweetener's: what the heck should I avoid?"

-----

Presently, I mostly avoid added sugars or anything artificial. I still allow myself a little bit every now and then. I love my cheese danish and I love my dark chocolate. I also probably intake more fruits and vegetables than what the book recommends. I know a fruitarian and she is extremely gifted, vibrant and healthy.

Mccoy, let me know which segment on sugar you are most interested in hearing- I will read more tonight after work and share from there.

The Answers

1) False: Sugar isn't mere empty calories. It causes heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. It doesn't just make you fat; it makes you sick, even if you don't gain weight.

2) False: It may sound healthy, but it's pure fructose, which causes fatty liver, diabetes, and inflammation, and it creates dangerous types of cholesterol. Plus, it is processed with toxic chemicals.

3) False: That was the lie we were told. Now we know that sugar in all its forms, not fat, is the leading cause of heart disease.

4) True: Eating sugar has a potent impact on the same parts of the brain that are stimulated by addictive drugs like cocaine or heroine. In animal studies, rats will work eight times harder to get sugar than cocaine. If they are already cocaine addicted, they will switch to sugar as their preferred drug when given the chance.

5) False: You get all the sugar you need from eating fruits and other whole foods, and your brain can get energy from fats, too. In fact, it runs better on fats such as MCT oil (from coconut).

6) False: High-fructose corn syrup is an industrial product that's metabolized differently than sugar and does even more harm, including damage to the gut and liver. It may also contain mercury as a by-product of how it's produced.

7) False: The artificial sweeteners in soda and other junk foods make you eat more than you would if you just consumed sugar instead. And they can alter your gut flora to promote obesity and type 2 diabetes. Don't drink soda- diet or otherwise.

[mccoy]

Eric, maybe we can almost skip the sugar chapter because I'm totally convinced that added sugar, corn-syrup, fructose, glucose, is almost toxic.

Especially so for those ones who are pre-diabetic or diabetic, as is a great part of the American population. In that case, added sugar is really toxic.

As to natural sugars, if you are tolerant to them, you can eat fruit and cereals, if not, you'd better moderate a lot of those foods. Fruit juices are not healthy though unless you exercise a lot after drinking them. I used to drink lots and lots of natural juice with no sugars added, but it spikes blood glucose just the same and that's not healthy in the long run.

I'm interested in one section though, the one on sweeteners. Erythritol and Stevia are considered all right, although stevia has too sweet of an aftertaste and I prefer the former.
What's Dr. Hyman's opinion on sweeteners?

[guest587]

Keep in mind we're jumping to the end of the chapter on Sugars and Sweeteners going straight into the bullet-point summary. This means skipping the "why" behind some things.

Sweeteners: What the heck should I eat?

*Fresh, pureed fruit or fruit juice

*Molasses

*Organic palm sugar

*Date sugar

*Coconut sugar

*Monk fruit

*Organic maple syrup

*Honey (use the Ethical Consumer Guide)

*Stevia, sparingly (only brands certified by the Rainforest Alliance)

*Erythritol, also sparingly, although new data suggest it causes weight-gain.

Sweeteners: What the heck should I avoid?

*Artificial sweeteners of all kinds

*Sugary beverages

*High-fructose corn syrup or any ingredient with the word syrup in its name (except for pure organic maple syrup)

*Any foods with sweeteners that purport to be "all natural." The big offenders are agave syrup, corn syrup, sugarcane, evaporated cane juice, and brown rice syrup.

*Packaged foods that contain added sugar or other unnecessary sweeteners, such as yogurt, tomato sauce, bread, ketchup, candy, soups, breakfast cereals, granola, salad dressings,
and countless other processed foods. If it has a long ingredients list, or additives with the suffix "-ose," that's usually a sign there's sugar hiding in it.

*Refined white sugar

*Brown sugar

*Aspartame, also sold as NutraSweet or Equal

*Sucralose, sold as Splenda

*Saccharin, contained in Sweet'NLow

*Acesulfame potassium, contained in Equal

----------------------

Thanks for playing! Anyone else care to jump in? Or have they had their fill?

The Quiz

Vegetables:
True or False?

1) Alfalfa sprouts are a health food.

2) Potatoes contain complex carbs, which are better for you than simple carbs like sugar.

3) The benefits of organic vegetables are overstates because studies show they're no healthier than conventionally grown food.

4) White button mushrooms are relatively low in nutrition.

5) Tomatoes can create inflammation in the body.

6) Arugula is just another kind of lettuce, like iceberg.

7) Some of the most nutritious vegetables are weird ones, like seaweed.

[mccoy]

Sweeteners: What the heck should I eat?

*Fresh, pureed fruit or fruit juice

*Molasses

*Organic palm sugar

*Date sugar

*Coconut sugar

*Monk fruit

*Organic maple syrup

*Honey (use the Ethical Consumer Guide)

*Stevia, sparingly (only brands certified by the Rainforest Alliance)

*Erythritol, also sparingly, although new data suggest it causes weight-gain.

Here Dr. Hyman suggests those sugars which are not totally refined but have a matrix rich in vitamins and minerals. A little like the SRF diet, Yogananda suggesting honey, molasses, raw sugar.

I do not agree totally with Dr. Hyman though. All the sugars listed, except monk fruit and Stevia and Erythritol which are sweeteners, not absorbed by the body, do spike blood glucose and may give rise to a prediabetic or diabetic condition. Now, that's individual. A couple of years ago I noticed that my fasting blood sugar was drifting upward into prediabetic conditions. I soon eliminated all sugars and all fruit. That avoided spikes in blood sugar but the fasting values kept high, until a little ago when apparently they dropped down.

Bottom line, dietary suggestions have a general part but must also be individualized. All the listed 'good' sugars are detrimental if a person exhibits glucose intolerance. They have the same effect as white, unhealthy sugar. They may contribute to the occurrence of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic dysfunction which elevates the odds of mortality.

If you are glucose tolerant, that's your good luck and you can indulge in healthy sweet food. In my case I've been indulging too much in healthy sugars and this probably gave rise to the recent glucose intolerance.