is sugar toxic?

excerpt from the NYT aarticle:

The Sugar Association and the Corn Refiners Association have also portrayed the 1986 F.D.A. report as clearing sugar of nutritional crimes.. “no conclusive evidence on sugars demonstrates a hazard to the general public when sugars are consumed at the levels that are now current.” …they estimated those levels at 40 pounds per person per year of “added sugars” or 200 calories per day of sugar, which is less than the amount in a can and a half of Coca-Cola or two cups of apple juice.

But 40 pounds per year happened to be 35 pounds less than what Department of Agriculture analysts said we were consuming at the time — 75 pounds per person per year — and the U.S.D.A. estimates are typically considered to be the most reliable. By the early 2000s, according to the U.S.D.A., we had increased our consumption to more than 90 pounds per person per year.

That this increase happened to coincide with the current epidemics of obesity and diabetes is one reason that it’s tempting to blame sugars — sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup — for the problem. In 1980, roughly one in seven Americans was obese, and almost six million were diabetic, and the obesity rates, at least, hadn’t changed significantly in the 20 years previously. By the early 2000s, when sugar consumption peaked, one in every three Americans was obese, and 14 million were diabetic.

full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all[HTML_REMOVED]_r=0

ps - it's a long read.

If only there was a way to stop this at the source? Oh wait. End corn subsidies.

There are lots of discussions on the evils of sugars

Everything is toxic in excess. Oxygen is toxic if you are in a pressurized atomosphere of pure oxygen. Water is toxic in excess. However take away both these items and you die, pure and simple.
The brain runs on glucose, except during advanced starvation when it can operate on ketones. If your body doesn't have glucose, it makes it from whatever is at hand, like muscle.
The point is that everything is useful in moderation. It's the excess that is causing the problem.
If you burn 2000 calories a day and take in 2500 the excess calories will be tranformed to fat.

The discussion of sugars is all over the map, however if you look closely at the sources for sugars they all come from the same place, plants.

Interesting that dried fruits such as dates and figs are over 60% sugar. I guess they are evil too.

i think you missed the point of the article which is very close to the excerpt i posted up. it's not that sugar itself is evil, but it's the amount of sugar the avg person is consuming that's the problem.

There are lots of discussions on the evils of sugars

Everything is toxic in excess. Oxygen is toxic if you are in a pressurized atomosphere of pure oxygen. Water is toxic in excess. However take away both these items and you die, pure and simple.
The brain runs on glucose, except during advanced starvation when it can operate on ketones. If your body doesn't have glucose, it makes it from whatever is at hand, like muscle.
The point is that everything is useful in moderation. It's the excess that is causing the problem.
If you burn 2000 calories a day and take in 2500 the excess calories will be tranformed to fat.

The discussion of sugars is all over the map, however if you look closely at the sources for sugars they all come from the same place, plants.

Interesting that dried fruits such as dates and figs are over 60% sugar. I guess they are evil too.

Interesting that dried fruits such as dates and figs are over 60% sugar. I guess they are evil too.

Fruits (and vegetables) are not as "natural" as you might think. They tend to have been selectively bred over eons for, among other qualities, sweetness.

Agricultural date palms are grown from cuttings derived from cultivars (basically they are clones) and not seeds, as half of all date seeds don't produce fruit-bearing plants (they are males) and the fruit from seedling dates are generally of poorer quality (as judged by humans).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_palm

Most wild ancestors of cultivated fruits are generally not that sweet or palatable (or abundant). What you see on the dinner table is, for better and for worse, a genetically bred/manipulated product. (Cue up a Jian Gomeshi "bad date" joke).

i think you missed the point of the article which is very close to the excerpt i posted up. it's not that sugar itself is evil, but it's the amount of sugar the avg person is consuming that's the problem.

Your thread title is misleading though.

Your thread title is misleading though.

not really as it asks the question "is sugar toxic?". if the title stated that sugar is toxic then i'd agree with you.

What's the point of this thread. That sugar is bad if I eat to much. Have you been talking to mom? She's told me that for years

What's the point of this thread. That sugar is bad if I eat to much. Have you been talking to mom? She's told me that for years

it's an interesting read that explores some of the reasons behind why we think the way we do about sugar and some important health related issues.

Of course it becomes toxic when it exceeds certain levels in the human body aka excess.

Ingested sugar could be described as "toxic" because when consumed to excess as it disrupts your body metabolism. People think it rots your teeth, gives you zits, makes you fat (it is metabolized more readily than fat, effectively blocking your body's fat metabolism) etc but its effects are more profound than that.

i think there is a fairly big difference between the kind of person who eats dates or dried fruits and someone who eats captain crunch

big as in girth

tl;dr

Most wild ancestors of cultivated fruits are generally not that sweet or palatable (or abundant). What you see on the dinner table is, for better and for worse, a genetically bred/manipulated product. (Cue up a Jian Gomeshi "bad date" joke).

GMO FTMFW!

i think there is a fairly big difference between the kind of person who eats dates or dried fruits and someone who eats captain crunch

big as in girth

I eat/ate both.

I've had issues with my sinus for a long time now. In June got an xray and something shows up left side. I've had to wait to see specialist ENT for first appointment which is finally coming up on the 19th.
Things have gotten worse, had wicked bad vertigo last month that put me on my back for a week…still a little wobbly at times and a general feeling of unwell with foggy head.
Anyway last week was out for lunch and had a big glass of coke which I rarely drink…free refill so I had another. Buy the end of work I felt totally destroyed it was obviously the sugar.
I think I have a bacteria or fungi issue in my sinus.

Sugar knocks out your immune system for 6 hrs and feeds things like infection. http://alternativehealthatlanta.com/immune-system/sugar-and-your-immune-system/