Sucrose, or table sugar, does not occur in nature
False, Ignorant - to such an extent that I have no response, except to load up my ignore list.
Last edited:
Sucrose, or table sugar, does not occur in nature
As I mentioned before, I don't have links offhand, sorry. That's what I get for not bookmarking. Again it is I think mostly a theory and quite unproven but I thought there were some studies done suggesting its validity at least...I'll keep digging and let you know if I find.This one's new to me.
Could you point out to me where to find out more?
So I'm not the only one who gave up long ago on the "Religion and Philosophy" forum then? Nice to hear.I have been on internet forums for several years now and have argued hard & mean, discussed nice & polite and everything in between. I personally always felt worse after a bitter, hateful exchange. Not only that, I never noticed a lot of success when I did so. At best, I felt like it was simply shouting someone down. I see no value in that.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20800122"First, hepatic fructose metabolism is similar to ethanol, as they both serve as substrates for de novo lipogenesis, and in the process both promote hepatic insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hepatic steatosis. Second, fructosylation of proteins with resultant superoxide formation can result in hepatic inflammation similar to acetaldehyde, an intermediary metabolite of ethanol."
I don't think you read that correctly. He is attempting to propose that the problem of fructose ingestion be treated like the problem of alcohol abuse. The parallels he is drawing between ethanol and fructose are very broad and non-specific.
Yes, he certainly makes that general comparison, but he flatly states that part of the pathway of fructose metabolism in the liver produces some of the same effects of alcohol metabolism, and can contribute to fatty liver disease.
He is referring to gluconeogenesis. This is the final common pathway for any substances which can be converted to glucose. It's meaningless to draw any parallels on that basis.
First: I edited the post because it occurred to me that the post I was responding to really could have been intended as a joke post. That has happened on this forum more than once, where I responded seriously to an utterly absurd post, only to have it be explained to me after the fact that it was a post intended entirely in jest. I was, naively it seems, hoping that NurseDan was joking in some really twisted way that I didn't get (the Malus Domesticus thread in social issues is an example of "joking in some twisted way that I didn't get" -- thankfully someone had pointed out the joke before I finished the thread, or I might still be clueless).That would be it, but I have to disagree that it is passively aggressive. IMO, it is just plain old aggressive.
My problem is that I do not understand the impulse to act so ugly on such a non-offensive topic. I expect this sort of stuff in politics or religion, but sugar? really guys?
The salient points were addressed, there is no need to get personal about it.
So why do it?
I am attempting to gain a better understanding of why people behave this way. I really can't understand this one. So what if someone is saying something that is not correct? Does that mean they are lying or misinformed? Does that make them evil? Contemptable? What makes someone come back after 15 min.s to edit their post just to tell a person they are laughing at them?
I am sorry, and I do not mean to start a fracus or get anyone's ire up, but I just do not get it. I am hoping to hear a reasonable explanation for why this is acceptable behavior.
Thanks & regards, Canis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20800122
OK, here's a Google Docs link to the paper whose abstract I'd originally quoted from the PubMed page. (That quote is the first excerpt, above.) This paper was originally published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
If you read it, you'll see that Dr. Lustig starts off his analysis describing the pathway for the metabolism of fructose in the liver, highlighting what he calls the "unique aspects of hepatic fructose metabolism." He goes on to explain in great detail how the metabolism of fructose differs from that of glucose. He also explains the pathway by which ethanol is metabolized in the liver. He then goes on to illustrate how fructose causes similar effects as alcohol on insulin levels, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and liver inflammation, and then describes its suppressive effect on leptin production.
After that, he proceeds to make his case about fructose having similar effects as alcohol on what he calls the "hedonic pathway" (dopamine levels and all that good stuff), but the first part of the discussion is specifically about the biochemistry of fructose metabolism.
Attached below are the illustrations he uses in the paper to describe these processes.
Now I'm no biochemist, so I had to gloss over the details of that discussion because reading it made my head hurt. I'm obviously not qualified to make an informed decision about the veracity of these claims, so I'm putting this out there for anyone to see. Hopefully somebody with the proper background will step up and add their expertise to the subject.
Fls, I hope this is sufficient to assuage your concerns about any misinformation I may have unintentionally introduced to the discussion. As I said in a previous post, I'm not trying to spread disinformation or shill for any particular political or ideological group, only the honest pursuit of accurate knowledge on the subject.
![]()
I recall that well known nutrition writer and researcher Gary Taubes had a long article in the NYT's about sugar, and the health problems associated with it in excess. Possibly this is where your friend got her information.
"Before sugar, we were talking about cholesterol"
http://www.garytaubes.com/2011/04/before-sugar-were-talking-about-cholesterol/
I do see now why you made the statement you did.
Would you please consider not making it any more?![]()
To simplify the paper you referenced...he isn't saying that fructose is broken down in the liver along a similar pathway as ethanol. They are broken down along quite different pathways. Some of the products of that breakdown are the same and are fed into the cycle which produces glucose (this also happens with proteins/amino acids) or alternately lipids, as well as a few other substances. Some of the byproducts of the breakdown of ethanol or fructose have other effects, some of which are similar and some of which are different (between fructose and ethanol). You would find a similar situation if you took any two substances and compared their metabolism.
False, Ignorant - to such an extent that I have no response, except to load up my ignore list.
So yeah, when someone tries to broadcast to an entire community that "sucrose doesn't exist in nature" and that "you can eat only meat and be just fine" or imply that glucose isn't a sugar... I'm going to laugh at those statements, poke fun at them, and ridicule them. And hopefully, eventually, enough other people will laugh at this nonsense that it's no longer a concern that many people will believe it because it will have become common knowledge that it's complete and total bunk.
I stand corrected, and thank you.
But I believe Dr. Lustig's position is that the metabolism of excessive fructose produces many of the same ill health effects as the metabolism of ethanol, though to different extents and severities. Would you consider that to be a reasonable assessment of his conclusion? And, perhaps more importantly, do you feel his science is valid and his conclusion reasonable?
Also, he definitely should have used more colour in those illustrations.
By the way, Lustig has often been known to dumb down his arguments when giving presentations to general public, and has even been known to use the word "toxin" in reference to refined sugar and HFCS, likening them to the toxicity of alcohol.
Sucrose is table sugar and needs to be processed from other goods before it becomes what we know as table sugar.
Table sugar is, indeed, sucrose. However, sucrose is a chemical that is naturally occurring. You keep claiming that it's not, when it is common chemical knowledge that it IS. Does it occur in nature in crystalline form? Maybe not. But the chemical itself IS "natural." Even if it wasn't, insisting that it's bad because it's not natural would be fallacious.IN THE CONTEXT OF THE OP I am correct. Sucrose is table sugar and needs to be processed from other goods before it becomes what we know as table sugar. White sugar. The stuff that goes in your tea if you are from England. One of the things that people stop eating when they stop eating sugar. IN THE CONTEXT OF THE OP. Now, I am not afraid to defend my position. If I'm wrong, fine - but for gods sake tell me where and why. You are piling on because it's easy, not because you have different facts or conclusions.
!= means "does not equal". And "surviving" is not the same as being "just fine". I can "survive" on sugar and water, but I will have a myriad of health problems due to malnutrition if I do it for too long. And doing something for a year is not the same as the doing that same thing for an indefinite period of time.Hey ya know what? Your reply to my posting of the journal article earlier in this thread made no sense to me. What is != ??? Feel free to ignore my comment about adding vitamin supplements to an exclusively meat diet. I'm sure that will be easy for you since it will make belittling me easier. Check page 654 of the study and you will see that the subjects lived on an "exclusive" meat diet and oh my gosh!!! they survived!!! Do you know what 'exclusive' means? So, they did live 'just fine' as I stated. Hmm... funny how that completely proves my original point... Wierd! The article you demanded was given to you, you didn't read it, and then you tried to find a way around a conclusion that you fabricated. Hmm... who has issues again? Was that you or me?
You said that meat does not contain "sugar", did you not?I can't even make a point here because people like you extrapolate things from my argument that I didn't say, then you attack those things. For example, you have it in your head that I said glucose is not a sugar. You extrapolated that from me saying that we don't need to consume glucose for our bodies to use glucose for fuel. Please don't make me the victim of your lack of reading comprehension.
You made a bunch of claims in this thread. Claims that I've asked you to back up with actual evidence. If you cannot do so, you're more than free to just ignore the thread, or recant your position. *shrugs*Instead of a dialogue, it becomes nothing more than corrections and defenses and corrections and defenses. I don't usually go off like this but you need to check yourself. PM me if you want to reply because we've taken enough turns derailing this otherwise thoughtful thread.
*rant over*
First: I edited the post because it occurred to me that the post I was responding to really could have been intended as a joke post. That has happened on this forum more than once, where I responded seriously to an utterly absurd post, only to have it be explained to me after the fact that it was a post intended entirely in jest. I was, naively it seems, hoping that NurseDan was joking in some really twisted way that I didn't get (the Malus Domesticus thread in social issues is an example of "joking in some twisted way that I didn't get" -- thankfully someone had pointed out the joke before I finished the thread, or I might still be clueless).
Second: There are some claims that are simply SO wrong, and SO outrageous, that I find myself having to choose between taking them seriously (and in so doing, becoming disgusted with a level of ignorance and arrogance), or laughing (and sometimes, resorting to ridicule to communicate just how ignorant and arrogant the claims are).
The statement that sucrose is not found in nature, for example, is one of those claims that I just sort of stare at, in shock, and wonder "Wow, does someone actually believe that nonsense? What the...? How can they be soooooo ignorant?" and have to choose whether or not I'm going to get upset that this kind of stupidity exists in modern society, and be angry that people who hold these sorts of weird views of the world are in positions of authority, and feel despondent about the idea that these sorts of blatant factual ignorance are the things that I have to counteract in my son's schooling on a regular basis... Or, I could laugh it off as "Wow, one more instance of someone thinking they know WAY more than they don't, and getting it completely and utterly wrong. How droll!"
Which option, given that this is "just an internet forum" do you think is the better course of action? In this case, I opted to save myself some emotional energy, and laugh.
The other thing is that ridicule and humiliation can be very effective teaching tools. When cool, calm, logical discourse fails (as it just about always does on these forums, especially when dealing with crackpot claims like "sucrose doesn't exist in nature"), what do you do to communicate to someone that their woo just isn't welcome and that they should think about changing their stance if they want to be part of "the group", or if they want to be seen as being as "smart" and "educated" as they claim to be? Well, laughter communicates volumes in that regard, both in real life, as well as online (though, online is slightly less effective), and can be an active deterrent to continuing unwanted behavior (for example, laughing in someone's face when they try to make a pass at you, generally leads to them not attempting more pass making).
Imagine if the person mentioned in the OP had been met with laughter and ridicule for her statement that "sugar is toxic" instead of polite conversation. Do you think that person would be as ready to spread her misinformation after such a reception? I doubt it.
In addition to that, there is the message sent to people who don't actually know whether the information being put forth is true or not. If an entire room is laughing at someone and making it clear that it's because that someone said something really, really, stupid... Well, I'd be less inclined to believe what that someone said. It may not work for everyone, but... *shrugs* You can't always win.
So yeah, when someone tries to broadcast to an entire community that "sucrose doesn't exist in nature" and that "you can eat only meat and be just fine" or imply that glucose isn't a sugar... I'm going to laugh at those statements, poke fun at them, and ridicule them. And hopefully, eventually, enough other people will laugh at this nonsense that it's no longer a concern that many people will believe it because it will have become common knowledge that it's complete and total bunk.
Hey, thanks for giving me your take on things. it is most appreciated, esspecially since your posts were the ones that inspired mine, primarily.
snip..
Sincerely Canis
First: I edited the post because it occurred to me that the post I was responding to really could have been intended as a joke post. That has happened on this forum more than once, where I responded seriously to an utterly absurd post, only to have it be explained to me after the fact that it was a post intended entirely in jest. I was, naively it seems, hoping that NurseDan was joking in some really twisted way that I didn't get (the Malus Domesticus thread in social issues is an example of "joking in some twisted way that I didn't get" -- thankfully someone had pointed out the joke before I finished the thread, or I might still be clueless).
Second: There are some claims that are simply SO wrong, and SO outrageous, that I find myself having to choose between taking them seriously (and in so doing, becoming disgusted with a level of ignorance and arrogance), or laughing (and sometimes, resorting to ridicule to communicate just how ignorant and arrogant the claims are).
The statement that sucrose is not found in nature, for example, is one of those claims that I just sort of stare at, in shock, and wonder "Wow, does someone actually believe that nonsense? What the...? How can they be soooooo ignorant?" and have to choose whether or not I'm going to get upset that this kind of stupidity exists in modern society, and be angry that people who hold these sorts of weird views of the world are in positions of authority, and feel despondent about the idea that these sorts of blatant factual ignorance are the things that I have to counteract in my son's schooling on a regular basis... Or, I could laugh it off as "Wow, one more instance of someone thinking they know WAY more than they don't, and getting it completely and utterly wrong. How droll!"
Which option, given that this is "just an internet forum" do you think is the better course of action? In this case, I opted to save myself some emotional energy, and laugh.
The other thing is that ridicule and humiliation can be very effective teaching tools. When cool, calm, logical discourse fails (as it just about always does on these forums, especially when dealing with crackpot claims like "sucrose doesn't exist in nature"), what do you do to communicate to someone that their woo just isn't welcome and that they should think about changing their stance if they want to be part of "the group", or if they want to be seen as being as "smart" and "educated" as they claim to be? Well, laughter communicates volumes in that regard, both in real life, as well as online (though, online is slightly less effective), and can be an active deterrent to continuing unwanted behavior (for example, laughing in someone's face when they try to make a pass at you, generally leads to them not attempting more pass making).
Imagine if the person mentioned in the OP had been met with laughter and ridicule for her statement that "sugar is toxic" instead of polite conversation. Do you think that person would be as ready to spread her misinformation after such a reception? I doubt it.
In addition to that, there is the message sent to people who don't actually know whether the information being put forth is true or not. If an entire room is laughing at someone and making it clear that it's because that someone said something really, really, stupid... Well, I'd be less inclined to believe what that someone said. It may not work for everyone, but... *shrugs* You can't always win.
So yeah, when someone tries to broadcast to an entire community that "sucrose doesn't exist in nature" and that "you can eat only meat and be just fine" or imply that glucose isn't a sugar... I'm going to laugh at those statements, poke fun at them, and ridicule them. And hopefully, eventually, enough other people will laugh at this nonsense that it's no longer a concern that many people will believe it because it will have become common knowledge that it's complete and total bunk.
Him and I are duking it out in PMs. Your posts are thoughtful and appreciated.
Dan
... Feel free to ignore my comment about adding vitamin supplements to an exclusively meat diet. ... Check page 654 of the study and you will see that the subjects lived on an "exclusive" meat diet and oh my gosh!!! they survived!!! Do you know what 'exclusive' means? ...
You said that meat does not contain "sugar", did you not?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC291228/pdf/aem00244-0171.pdf is just one of many publications that makes reference to the glucose in meat...