Fed-up Documentary!!!

[Art 1]

It is hard to avoid when it is in 80% of our food. It is nearly impossible for the poor to eat healthy as it is so expensive. Added sugar is so toxic and such a poison to our bodies. Obesity is an epidemic caused by toxic sugar.

This is all just an excuse to give fat people a reason to blame others.

Just look around, you won't hardly see any kids out playing, play grounds are empty, just look at WDW at what some fat kids are eating, stuffing their faces with junk given to them by their parents.

Eat smart, play hard, put the video games away, better yet throw them away.

 

[ICF]

I love sugar.

me too....it's quite yummy!!

 

[topolino]

Every post the OP makes in this and the other thread seems like a regurgitated line from the documentary or some other propaganda that he or she has read.

 

[HappyTogether]

This is all just an excuse to give fat people a reason to blame others. .

Considering that food companies are manipulating our foods the same way big tobacco was 30 years ago to get people to become addicted and buy more of their products, it is just no so easy.

Sure not everyone is obese, but neither did everyone smoke. Sugar is poison and truly toxic to our bodies. The people defending added sugar and HCFS sound just like the people who put their head in the sand and claimed there was nothing wrong with smoking!

 

[HappyTogether]

It is amazing that every post in this thread is from people who haven't bothered to watch the film yet.

 

[jenben8426]

I think the problem is, we all know about standard products with sugar; cake, fruit etc but there are many products people would be surprised had sugar. Bread for example. How many regular Joe's realise there is sugar in bread?

Then there is the foods like ketchup, that has a boat load of sugar in it. This is something many people may not realise. Many fat free products have lower fat content, but contain more sugar than the full fat version.

It is about education and better labelling. Sugar is everywhere and in places people do not expect to see it. For us to understand, there needs to be clear labelling, and people need to be educated on the new style food pyramid.

Even if you make bread from scratch you will put some type of sugar in it--it can be honey or other sweeteners, but in almost every bread recipe we make at home there is sugar in it.

I am of the opinion that sugar is bad only if you make it bad. Yes--if someone is only buying packaged foods (including food that may tout itself as healthy) and going out to eat 4x a week, and never exercising--they are on the path to obesity. However, if one takes the time to learn how to grocery shop, cook, and learn about what is good and healthy; along with a great exercise regiment then they are most likely to be healthy and at a stable rate.

I think a lot of people forget just how long sugar has been around. We aren't the only generation to have sugar. Also look at other countries--France for example with all the pastries and bread. They have a very low obesity rate--because they enjoy their food, eat proper portions, and walk everywhere.

Everything in moderation folks, everything in moderation.

 

[Colleen27]

This is all just an excuse to give fat people a reason to blame others.

Just look around, you won't hardly see any kids out playing, play grounds are empty, just look at WDW at what some fat kids are eating, stuffing their faces with junk given to them by their parents.

Eat smart, play hard, put the video games away, better yet throw them away.

I live in a town where the kids still go out and play, and many parents still have the "be home when the streetlights come on" rule. Weight is still an issue. Pinning the weight issue on technology is uncritical "kids these days" thinking, not a real solution.

This isn't a problem that can be laid at the feet of any single cause. More sedentary lifestyles is to blame. A pace of life that encourages and often demands chronic low-level sleep deprivation is to blame. The immense stress that so many Americans live with year after year is to blame. The policy of subsidizing the unhealthiest sectors of our food supply is to blame. Food production as part of the marketing process is to blame (ie making products sweeter or saltier than they would naturally be because those tastes encourage more consumption/more sales). Solving any one still leaves the rest.

 

[EMode]

Actually eating healthy is far more expensive than buying processed crap filled with toxic sugar.

Not always, but it is definitely easier which was my point. You can eat healthy and affordably but if you aren't willing to actually do the work (and I'm not talking about going out and buying anything labled organic).
I'm talking about buying your own ingredients (flour,sugar, oatmeal, spices etc) and cooking from scratch so that you control what you eat. Grow your own produce (yeah yeah I know poor people can't because they couldn't possibly do any container gardening in a sunny window). And of course there is exercise but we all know that is too hard too. Health is something you have to maintain.
You can eat healthy without spending a fortune but it takes effort and work. Like I said people want easy, then its easy to blame someone else for their weight and health issues.

 

[EMode]

Considering that food companies are manipulating our foods the same way big tobacco was 30 years ago to get people to become addicted and buy more of their products, it is just no so easy.

Sure not everyone is obese, but neither did everyone smoke. Sugar is poison and truly toxic to our bodies. The people defending added sugar and HCFS sound just like the people who put their head in the sand and claimed there was nothing wrong with smoking!

Here is the thing, nobody here is saying HFCS is good for you though. I'm all about being responsible for yourself. If you want to go and fill your grocery cart up with crap that isn't good for you, blame yourself not the big bad corporations.

 

[barkley]

Actually eating healthy is far more expensive than buying processed crap filled with toxic sugar.

it depends on what a person's/family's eating habits are.

definitely-some things are more expensive when you price out the individual ingredients to prepare vs. buying the processed/prepackaged equivalent (esp. if you only need say 1-4 servings of an ingredient that is only sold in packaging that contains 8 servings and doesn't lend itself to storage until it's next use), but with many other items it can be much less expensive to prepare it from scratch.

I can make applesauce for much less than I can buy it for (and it contains only apples/water-and sometimes cinnamon). fresh produce vs. the frozen/canned alternatives are kind of hit and miss-if there's a good sale on something fresh we plan meals around it or if it's something seasonal that cans well I've been known to stock up and can it for future use, but if I want/need something in particular it may be that the fresh alternative is either much higher in cost or the minimum amount it's sold by is much more than I will use. I can buy dried beans for a fraction of the cost of the identical beans in cans (and absent the added sugar and other additives). it takes some time and knowledge to do these things (not a great deal of knowledge-but I'm always floored when I talk to someone who has never used dried beans b/c they are afraid it's too difficult to do), but with small changes in purchasing/preparation habits healthier eating can occur at lower costs.

disclaimer-I was raised by depression/ww2 era parents whose habits were shaped by lack of money/lack of availability/rationing. the meals I grew up on were made from scratch with only the necessary ingredients. with the exception of birthdays I don't ever remember my mother inquiring of us kids or dad "what sounds good/do you want for dinner?"-for my parents what sounded good or what they wanted was simply being able to provide dinner.

 

[goofy!]

Saying sugar and gluten is toxic is a little over the top.

However, saying there is no medical backing for a more paleo diet is also over the top.

In the past year, I have had 3 separate doctor's offices, my PC, a surgeon and a renowned hematologist/oncologist recommend eliminating and/or minimizing all grains, not just gluten, and maximizing fresh vegetables and lean meats. They said that the medical studies are showing more and more that the food triangle needs to be turned upside down. Vegetables need to be on the bottom, then protein, then fruits, and at the very tip, grains.

And I don't have any grain or food sensitivities or allergies. This is just what the doctors around here are recommending to everybody.

But the key is moderation. My surgeon used the example that cutting out processed sugars and then replacing the sugar with mountains of the so-called allowed sweet potatoes is just as bad. Variety and moderation is the key.

But there is mounting scientific evidence that grains should be flip-flopped in the diet pyramid with vegetables. At least around here, the going philosophy is that the diet should not be primarily grains and carbs as thought before.

And I don't know if it means anything, but our city was just voted the healthiest city in the country for the umpteenth time. Health and fitness is almost a religion around here, so everybody talks about it.

As for our kids, they talk about what 5k they are running or what triathlon they are in over the weekend just as much as they talk about the latest video game. Getting out and playing is extremely valued. Even our elementary schools train for marathons.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

You do not have to completely give up sugar or even processed food in order to lose weight and be healthier. You just have to watch the amount you eat.

There is absolutely no way I could give up sugar or chocolate completely since I have a major sweet tooth; and there a days when I would kill someone for a burger and fries from the drive through. However, for the last year and a half I have watched my portion sizes with Weight Watchers and increased my activity. Over that time period I have lost 70 pounds and gone from a size 20 to a size 12. My blood work improved so much my Doctor was actually giddy when she came in the room to talk to me about the results.

It was not easy and the money I spent at the grocery store did go up quite a bit; However, the money I saved from not stopping at the drive through multiple times through out the week pretty much evens it out in the end.

 

[Colleen27]

Here is the thing, nobody here is saying HFCS is good for you though. I'm all about being responsible for yourself. If you want to go and fill your grocery cart up with crap that isn't good for you, blame yourself not the big bad corporations.

There's plenty of blame to go around - corporations for seeing overeating as a marketing goal rather than a public health issue, our government for subsidizing things like HFCS at the expense of healthier choices, and individuals for making choices based on price or convenience rather than nutrition. Again, this isn't a "magic bullet" issue where one change can solve the problem completely because it is a complex interplay of many factors.

it depends on what a person's/family's eating habits are.

definitely-some things are more expensive when you price out the individual ingredients to prepare vs. buying the processed/prepackaged equivalent (esp. if you only need say 1-4 servings of an ingredient that is only sold in packaging that contains 8 servings and doesn't lend itself to storage until it's next use), but with many other items it can be much less expensive to prepare it from scratch.

I can make applesauce for much less than I can buy it for (and it contains only apples/water-and sometimes cinnamon). fresh produce vs. the frozen/canned alternatives are kind of hit and miss-if there's a good sale on something fresh we plan meals around it or if it's something seasonal that cans well I've been known to stock up and can it for future use, but if I want/need something in particular it may be that the fresh alternative is either much higher in cost or the minimum amount it's sold by is much more than I will use. I can buy dried beans for a fraction of the cost of the identical beans in cans (and absent the added sugar and other additives). it takes some time and knowledge to do these things (not a great deal of knowledge-but I'm always floored when I talk to someone who has never used dried beans b/c they are afraid it's too difficult to do), but with small changes in purchasing/preparation habits healthier eating can occur at lower costs.

disclaimer-I was raised by depression/ww2 era parents whose habits were shaped by lack of money/lack of availability/rationing. the meals I grew up on were made from scratch with only the necessary ingredients. with the exception of birthdays I don't ever remember my mother inquiring of us kids or dad "what sounds good/do you want for dinner?"-for my parents what sounded good or what they wanted was simply being able to provide dinner.

Most of the time when people talk about eating healthy being more costly they're unconsciously applying time constraints as well. Homemade applesauce, made in season, is dirt cheap... but it is time consuming and requires a great deal of forethought (making a year's supply in Oct) so most people eliminate it from their mental list of possibilities. Instead they compare cheap, HCFS-sweetened store-brands to more expensive all-natural brands. Bread is an even better example of this; you can make healthy, basic bread at a relatively low per-loaf cost but most people don't have (or believe they don't have) the time for that so they compare no-brand white bread, full of HFCS, fillers, and preservatives, to higher-end whole grain, natural, or organic breads and conclude they cannot afford to eat healthier.

On a broad scale there is some truth to the idea that it is more expensive to eat healthy - a diet filled with cheap starches is less expensive than one full of produce and lean proteins, and healthier meats are almost universally more expensive than low-grade, high-fat cuts. But in other areas the premium for healthier food can be avoided by substituting time for money... if the person doing the cooking has the time to spend.

 

[PeterPanic]

Exactly. This toxic poison is why this generation is not expected to outlive their patents. This toxic poison that added sugar is is the reason 1/3 of America s will have diabetes!

People can choose to have heir head in the sand but the companies will have the last word laughing all the way to the bank as they continues he to poison America s with toxic added sugar in our food supply!

I suppose it's possible, however, I would tend to blame the childhood of sitting in front of the Wii without flexing any muscle other then the thumbs, may be more of a reason then "toxic" sugar. I suspect the the idea that not building up stamina and not building their cardio vascular system may be more to blame then "toxic" sugar. I suspect that the obsession with avoiding exposure to bacteria needed to build up a strong and working immune system may be more to blame then "toxic" sugar.

There is more than one way to have ones head in the sand. We all do it, but, for different reasons.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I live in a town where the kids still go out and play, and many parents still have the "be home when the streetlights come on" rule. Weight is still an issue. Pinning the weight issue on technology is uncritical "kids these days" thinking, not a real solution.

This isn't a problem that can be laid at the feet of any single cause. More sedentary lifestyles is to blame. A pace of life that encourages and often demands chronic low-level sleep deprivation is to blame. The immense stress that so many Americans live with year after year is to blame. The policy of subsidizing the unhealthiest sectors of our food supply is to blame. Food production as part of the marketing process is to blame (ie making products sweeter or saltier than they would naturally be because those tastes encourage more consumption/more sales). Solving any one still leaves the rest.

I think this is well stated There are indeed many factors to the issue and it is very shortsighted to pick one to blame and ignore the complexity.

 

[Planogirl]

Who knew that our ancestors were poisoning themselves when they used sugar. It's ironic since it comes from a plant too.

I think that I'll continue to use sugar, in moderation of course.

 

[LilyWDW]

It is amazing that every post in this thread is from people who haven't bothered to watch the film yet.

I don't have to watch a biased commercial about the "evils" of whatever food it is cool to demonize now. I read actual scientific studies and am able to take them apart quite well on my own. As such, I get to see about BOTH sides of the argument.

And I have yet to see anything that says anything close to what this documentary has claimed.

 

[Poohforyou]

Exactly. This toxic poison is why this generation is not expected to outlive their patents. This toxic poison that added sugar is is the reason 1/3 of America s will have diabetes!

People can choose to have heir head in the sand but the companies will have the last word laughing all the way to the bank as they continues he to poison America s with toxic added sugar in our food supply!

If sugar truly toxic poison (I believe that's a redundancy) a few crystals would actually kill a person. I agree that sugar, like salt, is in way too many things. Good luck finding a bottled salad dressing without sugar. I avoid sugar, except what is naturally occurring in fruit, but I know having a reasonable amount isn't toxic. It's just easier for me to omit it rather than limit it.

 

[Disneychick75]

Saying sugar and gluten is toxic is a little over the top.

However, saying there is no medical backing for a more paleo diet is also over the top.

In the past year, I have had 3 separate doctor's offices, my PC, a surgeon and a renowned hematologist/oncologist recommend eliminating and/or minimizing all grains, not just gluten, and maximizing fresh vegetables and lean meats. They said that the medical studies are showing more and more that the food triangle needs to be turned upside down. Vegetables need to be on the bottom, then protein, then fruits, and at the very tip, grains.

And I don't have any grain or food sensitivities or allergies. This is just what the doctors around here are recommending to everybody.

But the key is moderation. My surgeon used the example that cutting out processed sugars and then replacing the sugar with mountains of the so-called allowed sweet potatoes is just as bad. Variety and moderation is the key.

But there is mounting scientific evidence that grains should be flip-flopped in the diet pyramid with vegetables. At least around here, the going philosophy is that the diet should not be primarily grains and carbs as thought before.

And I don't know if it means anything, but our city was just voted the healthiest city in the country for the umpteenth time. Health and fitness is almost a religion around here, so everybody talks about it.

As for our kids, they talk about what 5k they are running or what triathlon they are in over the weekend just as much as they talk about the latest video game. Getting out and playing is extremely valued. Even our elementary schools train for marathons.

Exactly, I remember my mom going on a low carb high protein diet in the late 60's. Then in the late 70's or early 80's, carbs were good and fat was bad. People were so excited- yay bread and potatoes until they weren't good. Then it was low carb again and fats and cholesterol don't cause problems. Suga
Too much of anything is not good- even carrots and celery. Moderation is the key. R is the demon food right now but it will change as soon as someone can make a buck on scaring the public with a new food.

 

[HappyTogether]

Who knew that our ancestors were poisoning themselves when they used sugar.

Your ancestors controlled the sugar they used and added to their dishes.

The problem is that sugar or HCFS is added to 80% of the packaged foods Americans buy. This toxic poison that is sugar today is killing our citizens and children. It is why we have the obesity problems we have, it is why 1/3 of all Americans will have diabetes by 2050.