The sweet danger of sugar (2017)

I stopped drinking soda, and switched to coffee. Then I found myself putting sweeteners in coffee so I switched to black coffee.<p>Drinking coffee black is a completely different experience than cream and&#x2F;or sugar added.<p>Now coffees that were formerly indistinguishable from each other have become starkly different. light roast, medium roast and dark&#x2F;french roast are really important to your experience (and some dark roast coffees taste like turpentine to me)<p>I usually drink one normal coffee in the morning, then afterwards decaf.

I don’t eat sugar anymore but I noticed that after dropping soda and sweets I still eat a lot sugar. It’s in everything. Even tomato sauce and stuff that you’d think is healthy. I’m not sure it’s even possible to have a full diet without any sugar at all. You can do sugar-free waffles but then it’s for nothing if they’re doused in syrup (very sugary)

There is published, credible research about the US sugar lobby influencing health policy to downplay the risks of sugar [1]. Here&#x27;s a popular media story about the article [2].<p>I have cut out sugar except for social occasions in the last 10 years and find amazing improvement to my well-being and clarity of mind. The alliance of food mega-industry and politics in the US is one of the reasons the US is morbidly obese.<p>I routinely score higher on my health checks (we have a once-a-year doctor check-up with blood-work for all employees) than my colleagues that are very fit and engage in more physical activity than me, but consume sugar daily. I also have almost eliminated dental procedures, excluding routine check-ups. Before, I needed a cavity filled every other year.<p>These are just personal anecdotes, but there is starting to be more and more research out there on just how bad sugar is. Consider doing a personal experiment and see how you feel.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosmedicine&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal.pmed.1001798" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosmedicine&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;jo...</a> [2]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;psmag.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;the-not-so-sweet-side-to-the-sugar-industry" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;psmag.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;the-not-so-sweet-side-to-the-sugar-in...</a>

I think this article is relevant too: [0]. Humorous yet honest.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gwern.net&#x2F;docs&#x2F;rotten.com&#x2F;library&#x2F;crime&#x2F;drugs&#x2F;sugar&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gwern.net&#x2F;docs&#x2F;rotten.com&#x2F;library&#x2F;crime&#x2F;drugs&#x2F;su...</a>

Sugar is such a powerful taste that it actually &quot;drowns out&quot; the flavors of other food. So you lose appreciation for the various flavors of foods.<p>Thus if you pair soda with other foods, those foods need flavor enhancers (lots of salt, fat, etc) to compete for recognition on your palate&#x27;s sensory neurons.<p>Since I cyclically try to do this elimination, I get routinely reminded of this as I try to cycle out soda and excess sugar.<p>It&#x27;s strangely similar to the difference between commuting by bicycle and commuting by car, with the car mirroring sugar: a rush of power and convenience that appeals to your id, but all your natural surroundings drowned out inside a car cabin with the radio blasting. Not just visual and sensory separation from your surroundings, social separation.<p>It&#x27;s one of the major insights I had into the nature of America. Car entitlement is everywhere.<p>Anyway, I still drink way too much soda. At least now I have transitioned to 1&#x2F;3 regular 2&#x2F;3s diet.

Colleagues at University of Bologna always say to me that it is the first cause of cancer... Anyway we cannot live without, a balanced diet it&#x27;s just what we need. (i.e. not 3 spoons of sugar in the coffee ;))

I&#x27;m in the process to get my sugar intake down. It fuels inflammation. I can see already improvements in the condition of my skin. So I will go on. A piece of cake every now and then is fine for me.