I don't know how many other people care about this...

[NikolaiI]

however, I feel I have to say something. I've felt this way many times. . . let's just say, 'unglad' at the insanity of it. . well, to be quite frank, it's about sugar. In particular, the prevalence of it in foodstuffs, especially cereal. As I was buying crackers and bread in Dollar General, I looked at their cereals. I looked at the ingredients. And every single cereal in the store lists sugar as either the first or the second ingredient. I guess I don't know or care how many others care. Evidently not enough. To me I don't know what adjective to use. I couldn't guess the amount of damage, it's not tangible; but that doesn't keep me from realizing it's quite a lot.

And I can't understand why people like the stuff. Sure I used to. Hell, everyone does. It's sugar. But over the years and as I realized how gross and unhealthy the stuff really was, I cared for it none whatsoever. Especially when I learned how much I enjoyed the truly healthy cereal such as Grape Nut flakes. Over 75% of Americans have gingivitis, and they are also dropping like flies from diabetes; and yet this travesty.

And the worst part is. . . How some of these cereals claim to be healthy. Perhaps I shouldn't mention it but Raisin Bran is the worst offender as far as I can tell.

I know I may not convince anyone who loves to eat the stuff; and maybe you are lucky to have great teeth and take great care of them so that's not an issue. And I don't care about views, but I genuinely care about people. And this is really important. . really very important to me; so I wish I could make the best use of words and most eloquently state my case, but I am really outraged about this. I know it could be difficult to stir any emotion in people! Because obviously people accept it because it's there. I feel so completely alone in this but when I see this s*hit in stores it makes me want to scream and shout! You are killing people! In tiny amounts perhaps but you are still doing it!

Honestly it makes me very outraged.

If people ate fruits all the time and drank water instead of soda, and a million other places replaced raw foods for processed ones and all but elminated processed sugar, they would be infinitely healthier - and happier - in the long run. Everything is relative - for Christ's sake! Trust me, you can enjoy a cereal without processed sugar far more than one where sugar is the main or second-main ingredient. Not just for the reason of your health conscience being appeased. It's truly possible to enjoy foods that don't have any processed sugar than those with a lot if it in them.

I don't know . . as I said, who cares, how much, does anyone care? I mean - people don't like to be told anything, they wanna do whatever they want, eat whatever they want, etc., etc., it's the instant gratification of it. It matters a great deal to me, and I'm very passionate about it, I feel it's destroying lives in very incremental amounts, and I really feel like most people don't care at all. But in my view, it is one of the worst devastating causes in our modern world.

But other times... it doesn't matter to me. Like, it isn't worth it to care. But the commercials advertising it as healthy, that I will always feel is truly obscene. There's no other word to describe it, because it's anything but healthy; it destroys the teeth and gums - and heart health is directly related to oral health - and it breaks down the metabolism, which really can't be recovered.

[Vonny]

Oh yeah... don't get me started on this one, lol! Sugar, and then the high-fructose corn syrup - the body doesn't recognize it as normal food and doesn't know what to do with it. Then combine it with the sedentary lifestyle of so many.

Not everyone will be affected - just as you hear stories of people who have smoked for 60 years and are still alive, but overall...

The effects of this will take our country down, bankrupt the medical system.

[JuniperWoolf]

Yeah, I don't care. It's sugar, not arsenic.

The one thing that ticks me off is when people push for government mandates to control how much sugar people are legally "allowed" to eat. Psh. Let them eat what they want, they're not children (and I know that because children can't go grocery shopping).

[PoeticPassions]

The sad thing is that they put sugar in bread as well. Even if you buy bread from whole foods (read the ingredients), there is sugar in there. And as Vonny said, high fructose corn syrup is even worse...

While children can't (well, they can actually... I used to when I was little) buy groceries, parents can, and often do not realize how terrible certain food is (not to mention that poor people can't afford to shop organic or at whole foods, or for 'healthier' food). And then there is the problem with school cafeterias and all of the things that are give to kids... it is no wonder that child obesity rates are spiraling out of control (add sitting at the computer or playing video games all day and not playing outside, and you have a real disaster).

I don't think that the government can tell people what to eat and what not to eat, but I do think that the corporations that produce these products have an ethical duty (though I know they only care about profit) to make products that are healthier (because it really isn't a choice anymore when EVERYTHING has sugar or fructose corn syrup, or whatever other preservative)...

Or at least then, we need to have better health care... to treat all of the heart disease and diabetes.

[Serena03]

Nearly all foods contain natural sugar, it's the added sugar that raises more concern. I guess they put it first on the labels as sort of a warning sign like carbon monoxide. It's all fine though if you can regulate it well enough. As much as it sickens me to see the country continue to fatten up, it's really not my business to tell anyone what not to eat. As a vegetarian I don't go around wagging my finger at anyone who wants to consume meat. The health information is very accessible, it's up to them if they wish to acknowledge it.

[Helga]

I didn't really think about this until I had a kid, I remember when I was a kid I made my mom buy Weetos because I got Star Wars figures inside the box, when I look at my SW shelf now I can't imagine how much of the stuff I had to eat to get them. Now I wouldn't buy this for my son but his dad does sometimes and my mom every now and then. the sugar amount in food like yogurt and drinks, not just soft drinks but also juices. I am always the person in the store reading the ingredients label and shaking my head over the ingredients.

I am not gonna tell you how much coca cola I drank a few years back but today I never buy it. I also think it is funny when people complain about sugar amount or how they are gaining weight but keep buying the stuff.

the water here on the ice is one of the purest in the world, and it's free so I drink that and skip the soft drinks. my son also prefers water to any other drink. it is kinda funny but my mom is always trying to have something here 3 grandsons like and buys a lot of chocolate milk and my son doesn't want it but the other boys love it.

[LitNetIsGreat]

An angry sugar rant from the lovely OP. True, but it is hardly new news. It reminds me of Jamie Oliver's own rant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwrV5e6fMY

All too true, but you are spitting against the wind I'm afraid.

[Gladys]

Sugar was introduced to the West a millennium ago from the Arabs (ex India) but remained a luxury item until late in the 19th century. Fortunately, sugar is relatively easy to avoid if you wish to - mainly by avoiding heavily processed foods.

But what about salt? Again, later in the 19th century, salt became cheap with the advent of salt mining, which is less expensive than evaporating seawater. Today, most processed foods are high in salt. In particular, bread is a major source of salt in our diet, yet salt-free or very low salt bread is rare.

Should we worry about salt? High blood pressure (hypertension) is usually associated with high salt diets. High blood pressure stresses the kidneys, eyes, and heart, causing deterioration over time. High blood pressure contributes to three quarters of all strokes and heart attacks. And by 2020, it is estimated that half of all deaths in the West will be heart disease related.

Reducing sugar and salt from food is, of course, a rational way of lowering national health costs. But the big plus in eliminating sugar and salt from food is the ability to taste better the variety of flavour natural to unprocessed foods. This alone may be sufficient reason to minimise your use.

As for getting angry, I calmed down decades ago.

[NikolaiI]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. Most of the time I feel like I am. Thanks for that link Neely and for anyone who feels there's no problem, I'd recommend checking it out.

[Buh4Bee]

It's a worthwhile rant. I made a lot of my son's baby food, just for that reason. You really can't buy anything without sugar or high fructose-corn syrup. I remember spending over 5 minutes one time looking for a BBQ sauce that did not have corn syrup as one of the dominant ingredients.

[NikolaiI]

It's a worthwhile rant. I made a lot of my son's baby food, just for that reason. You really can't buy anything without sugar or high fructose-corn syrup. I remember spending over 5 minutes one time looking for a BBQ sauce that did not have corn syrup as one of the dominant ingredients.

They put it in baby-food? That's just crazy.


Nearly all foods contain natural sugar, it's the added sugar that raises more concern. I guess they put it first on the labels as sort of a warning sign like carbon monoxide. It's all fine though if you can regulate it well enough. As much as it sickens me to see the country continue to fatten up, it's really not my business to tell anyone what not to eat. As a vegetarian I don't go around wagging my finger at anyone who wants to consume meat. The health information is very accessible, it's up to them if they wish to acknowledge it.

As far as I understand, they list the ingredients in the order of the highest percentages. That's what's unbelievable and honestly scary to me. Quite a few of those cereals have sugar listed as the very first ingredient. They have more sugar in them than any other ingredient. And the ones that don't have it first, have it second.

I partly agree with you that it's not our business what other people eat, and I partly disagree with you. I agree because it's true, people have the right to be self-destructive. But also, we have to look out for one another. It's true that it's possible to eat healthy, but it can be difficult, especially for lower-income families. And what about when practically every option in the store is unhealthy?


Sugar was introduced to the West a millennium ago from the Arabs (ex India) but remained a luxury item until late in the 19th century. Fortunately, sugar is relatively easy to avoid if you wish to - mainly by avoiding heavily processed foods.

That's a very big relatively. For one, it's not easy to avoid if you don't know better. Another very related cause is - what happens when every single cereal in the store has sugar as it's foremost, or second-most ingredient? And then there's the trust factor, implicitly believing the store provides healthy foods. Not to mention believing the advertisements; commercial annoucers laying it on thickly about how health a cereal is, when its main ingrediet is sugar. Sorry, I don't care for that.

And Gladys I'm not arguing against you, I'm just continuing the thread about the companies that do this.

As you say - when you avoid the sugar, you taste other things better. I second you on this - it's true. Quite simply, sugar coated raisins are not 'healthy'!


But what about salt? Again, later in the 19th century, salt became cheap with the advent of salt mining, which is less expensive than evaporating seawater. Today, most processed foods are high in salt. In particular, bread is a major source of salt in our diet, yet salt-free or very low salt bread is rare.

Should we worry about salt? High blood pressure (hypertension) is usually associated with high salt diets. High blood pressure stresses the kidneys, eyes, and heart, causing deterioration over time. High blood pressure contributes to three quarters of all strokes and heart attacks. And by 2020, it is estimated that half of all deaths in the West will be heart disease related.

Reducing sugar and salt from food is, of course, a rational way of lowering national health costs. But the big plus in eliminating sugar and salt from food is the ability to taste better the variety of flavour natural to unprocessed foods. This alone may be sufficient reason to minimise your use.

As for getting angry, I calmed down decades ago.

Yeah, anger isn't pleasant. And when emotions run high, logical thinking tends to run out the window. I'll keep that in mind. :)


Yeah, I don't care. It's sugar, not arsenic.

The one thing that ticks me off is when people push for government mandates to control how much sugar people are legally "allowed" to eat. Psh. Let them eat what they want, they're not children (and I know that because children can't go grocery shopping).

Yeah, Juni, government mandates would annoy me too. Wouldn't it be annoying if nothing in the store tasted good? In other words, you didn't have the choice to eat anything unhealthy if you wanted to? Well my copmlaint is rather the same. Almost nothing in (some) stores is very good for you. Or at least, a too large majority of it.

It's not arsenic, no. The reason it matters to me is my own life - the pain it can cause and the sheer unnecessity of it.

Everything evolves, and sometimes it's really not for the better. In this case, food manufacturers put more sugar in things because that sold, and if they didn't, it wouldn't sell. People buy the things with sugar in them because they had a love infatuation with sugar, the instant gratification of it, and they had no awareness of its harmful effects. And I really mean, no awareness. Gradually they became more aware and gradually it's changing, but the inertia is great. It's gotten a lot better in the past 10 years, and I'm very glad. All my life this has been one of the most important issues to me, and I'm glad it's improve in the last decade, but I find it is still a very real problem.

[Vonny]

I haven't gotten a chance to read Neely's link yet, but does it mention the vending machines in schools? Does that go on in other countries? It's horrible that soda machines are in elementary schools. And the schools are so pressed for funding that they take money from soda corporations in exchange for having this stuff in the kids faces, and they say the kids deserve this freedom. In my opinion, I want to emphasize that this is my opinion, high-fructose is addictive. It doesn't taste good but just like cigarettes, kids pick them up because other kids are using them.



Originally posted by Gladys:
But the big plus in eliminating sugar and salt from food is the ability to taste better the variety of flavour natural to unprocessed foods.

Absolutely.

[JuniperWoolf]

There's a Bullsh*t episode that argues against government mandates on sugar and fat content in foods. They narrowed their focus down to specifically discuss fast food, but their arguments are applicable to this thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8av4unUxeE

[NikolaiI]

Gladys, you're right. . . I think salt is a big problem too, now that you've mentioned it I started to notice it more.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I like sugar, salt, fat, all that stuff. It tastes good.

[Vonny]

I like sugar, salt, fat, all that stuff. It tastes good.

LOL Don't over-think it now, Mutatis!

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

LOL Don't over-think it now, Mutatis!

:lol: I try not to in everything . . . except literature.