-Diablo's Journal, 16 Apr 19

UH, YEAH, IT'S NOT SUGAR... When you think of sugary foods, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Perhaps, the eclectic but delightful flavours of Ben and Jerry's. Or, maybe the moreish deep-fried wonder that is the glazed donut has you salivating.⁣ ⁣ But, here's the thing: all the foods you're picturing aren't "sugary" foods, they're heavily processed hyper-palatable foods.⁣ ⁣ This is an important distinction.⁣ ⁣ Sugar (think table sugar) is just sugar. While heavily processed foods–like cake, candy, donuts, chocolate, etc.–aren't JUST sugar. They're a perfect mix of sugar and fat and salt (among other ingredients).⁣ ⁣ These foods, while not inherently 'bad' (or fattening), can be problematic because:⁣ ⁣ 1. They're calorically dense. Calorie density is a measure of the calorie content of food relative to its weight. For example, there are ~50 calories in 100g of apple–a low-calorie density. While there are ~500 calories in 100g of chocolate–a high-calorie density. If you’re constantly eating calorie-dense foods, it’s going to be much harder to control your daily intake. ⁣ ⁣ 2. They encourage overeating. Contrary to claims that sugar is 'addictive', sugar alone isn't very palatable and tends to follow an inverted U-curve: preference for sweet taste increases with added sweetness and then declines when the product is perceived as too sweet (known as the "hedonic breakpoint"). But Interestingly, when you add fat to sugar, the hedonic breakpoint no longer exists and people continue eating. As researchers from one paper noted, "For both normal weight and for obese subjects, hedonic preferences for taste stimuli were a joint function of sugar *and* fat content." [1] (Emphasis mine.)⁣ ⁣ So it's not sugar (on its own) that's the problem but heavily processed hyper-palatable foods. And yes, you *should* reduce consumption of these foods because they make it very easy to consume too many calories. ===== Enjoyed this? Well get your twice-weekly dose of fitness info straight to your inbox right here: http://my.physiqonomics.com/sign-up 

It probably won't change how people view these foods but the majority of "problem" foods have more fat calories than carb calories yet people call them carbs. 

Great points!!! 

Yeah. The problem with both is the addictive quality. Also not great for teeth. However the important thing is that they are not the 👿 devil. 

Nodding. When cherry tomatoes or lemons don't satisfy my sweet craving I'll get a small spoon or cube of sugar. Where do you stand on the information that carbs in processed foods convert to sugar during digestion? 

Thank you for sharing this 

Mixed fats-carbs-proteines,my favorite food 😋🍰🎂🍩🍭🍮🍯🥛🥧🍧🍨🥮  

I don't really think about it, Bella. It wouldn't matter either way where fat loss/gain is concerned. 

Damn straight mate. 😋 

carbs are life 💞🍟 

Thanks for the info. 👍🏻