I am always so amused by the “I don’t eat sugar” crowd who also don’t understand what a carbohydrate is, or that sorghum, agave, maple syrup and honey are all primarily… sugar. Like, just because you paid 12x as much for it it makes it ‘healthy’.
Also nothing you say about fig pollination will EVER turn me off the most delicious fruits my Italian soul needs. My newest acquisition for my garden is some traditional fig trees and a very edible indigenous Australian sandpaper fig.
I shared some of this information with my daughter (who you are helping me save, even if you don't know it!!). She is lactose intolerant and was interested in the way her body works (or perhaps doesn't work!) when tasked with handling that disaccharide.
She asked me where I got the info and I told her that it was an essay from a blog called "Everything is Biology" -- to which she sanctimoniously responded "well that's right. Everything IS biology!!" She is knocking on the door of good common sense and sound science every day. I wish I could share your sex/gender essays with her, but I'll continue to bide my time on that for a bit.
This makes me think Mary Poppins was on to something - perhaps this spoonful of sugar WILL make the medicine go down eventually.
My own health nut story: I was at some nice lefty place with nice lefty people. One woman was waxing on about allergens. She asked me what my allergies were and I told her, "I don't have any that I know of." She said I should get tested. "I have been," I said. She told me to get tested again, because I may have some allergies that I don't know about!
In other words, keep looking for something even if you're feeling fine.
I have an aunt who died at age 104, in fine physical shape, with a sharp albeit rather rigid mind. Every day she ate two eggs for breakfast and several times a week had a grilled cheese at the local diner. Didn't eat much outside of that; weight normal. Her cholesterol level was nearly 300. If she had had a cholesterol level of 200, she might have lived to 108.
Frederick, if you ever come to my neck of the woods (Puget Sound) for a conference or vacation, maybe we can meet for coffee...and pie! Would love to share my apple pie with you. A glorious result of chemistry, primitive technology (knives, cups, rolling pin) advanced technology (food processor, electric oven), the apples for which my state is famous, and of course beautiful, beautiful SUGAR!
As I read, I felt so bad for this woman. She is clearly obsessed and probably has an eating disorder if she is talking about it to a complete stranger at a party. A grown woman, not a teen.
i teach yoga and so many people i know are restricting their diets in all sorts of ways. i don't. no one ever asks me because they probably presume i do. and also presume my interest in their dietary machinations. but really, i just like food and my body. liking both seems to keep things in shape for me. it's not rocket science.
The problem is less what you eat, more what you absorb. Monosaccharides are absorbed passively--if you eat them, they're going into your bloodstream. The game, then, is figuring out how to stop the non-absorbable polysaccharides, of which sucrose is arguably the simplest, from crossing the gut wall and ending up in the bloodstream.
A few years ago, my A1c was high enough that my internist, with surprisingly little bedside manner, told me I was diabetic. Moi? No way. Well, your A1c says you are. After a cardiologist told me that there was strong, new statistical evidence inversely correlating average circulating glucose levels with longevity, I went to see someone about the issue. But by then, I had already reasoned out that if I could block the hydrolysis of polysaccharides into monosaccharides, I would be pretty much home free.
Turns out there are two FDA-approved drugs on the market. Apparently they're pretty much unknown because 1) they're pricey and 2) internists generally prefer that you live a Spartan life rather than give you options. Being an MD myself and a chemist before that, I decided to get my hands on some miglitol (aka "Glyset"--I think that's how it's spelled). Works like a charm. As long as I steer away from glucose and fructose, I'm golden. A1c immediately came down into normal range despite potatoes, rice, pasta, even table sugar in satisfying quantities.
I have to speak up as a vegan who enjoyed the article. We don't all believe that there's one weird trick (in this case not eating refined sugar) to keep us healthy. I was joined a vegan group when living as an expat in the UK, and the fascinating thing about it is that it really did look like a cross section of society--every body type, socio economic level, different personalities were represented.
"That’s why we’re so healthy,” she continued. “Everyone else we know is taking all sorts of medications. We’re not… and our blood pressure is normal!”"
I am always so amused by the “I don’t eat sugar” crowd who also don’t understand what a carbohydrate is, or that sorghum, agave, maple syrup and honey are all primarily… sugar. Like, just because you paid 12x as much for it it makes it ‘healthy’.
Also nothing you say about fig pollination will EVER turn me off the most delicious fruits my Italian soul needs. My newest acquisition for my garden is some traditional fig trees and a very edible indigenous Australian sandpaper fig.
Would it be considered passive-aggressive of me to send this to my mother-in-law regarding her ‘sugar free’ chocolate beetroot cake? 🙈
I shared some of this information with my daughter (who you are helping me save, even if you don't know it!!). She is lactose intolerant and was interested in the way her body works (or perhaps doesn't work!) when tasked with handling that disaccharide.
She asked me where I got the info and I told her that it was an essay from a blog called "Everything is Biology" -- to which she sanctimoniously responded "well that's right. Everything IS biology!!" She is knocking on the door of good common sense and sound science every day. I wish I could share your sex/gender essays with her, but I'll continue to bide my time on that for a bit.
This makes me think Mary Poppins was on to something - perhaps this spoonful of sugar WILL make the medicine go down eventually.
Brilliant.
I'm never going to eat a fig again.
My own health nut story: I was at some nice lefty place with nice lefty people. One woman was waxing on about allergens. She asked me what my allergies were and I told her, "I don't have any that I know of." She said I should get tested. "I have been," I said. She told me to get tested again, because I may have some allergies that I don't know about!
In other words, keep looking for something even if you're feeling fine.
I have an aunt who died at age 104, in fine physical shape, with a sharp albeit rather rigid mind. Every day she ate two eggs for breakfast and several times a week had a grilled cheese at the local diner. Didn't eat much outside of that; weight normal. Her cholesterol level was nearly 300. If she had had a cholesterol level of 200, she might have lived to 108.
Frederick, if you ever come to my neck of the woods (Puget Sound) for a conference or vacation, maybe we can meet for coffee...and pie! Would love to share my apple pie with you. A glorious result of chemistry, primitive technology (knives, cups, rolling pin) advanced technology (food processor, electric oven), the apples for which my state is famous, and of course beautiful, beautiful SUGAR!
I'll never eat figs again!
I love this so much.
I have sugar powder on my keyboard.
As I read, I felt so bad for this woman. She is clearly obsessed and probably has an eating disorder if she is talking about it to a complete stranger at a party. A grown woman, not a teen.
i teach yoga and so many people i know are restricting their diets in all sorts of ways. i don't. no one ever asks me because they probably presume i do. and also presume my interest in their dietary machinations. but really, i just like food and my body. liking both seems to keep things in shape for me. it's not rocket science.
The problem is less what you eat, more what you absorb. Monosaccharides are absorbed passively--if you eat them, they're going into your bloodstream. The game, then, is figuring out how to stop the non-absorbable polysaccharides, of which sucrose is arguably the simplest, from crossing the gut wall and ending up in the bloodstream.
A few years ago, my A1c was high enough that my internist, with surprisingly little bedside manner, told me I was diabetic. Moi? No way. Well, your A1c says you are. After a cardiologist told me that there was strong, new statistical evidence inversely correlating average circulating glucose levels with longevity, I went to see someone about the issue. But by then, I had already reasoned out that if I could block the hydrolysis of polysaccharides into monosaccharides, I would be pretty much home free.
Turns out there are two FDA-approved drugs on the market. Apparently they're pretty much unknown because 1) they're pricey and 2) internists generally prefer that you live a Spartan life rather than give you options. Being an MD myself and a chemist before that, I decided to get my hands on some miglitol (aka "Glyset"--I think that's how it's spelled). Works like a charm. As long as I steer away from glucose and fructose, I'm golden. A1c immediately came down into normal range despite potatoes, rice, pasta, even table sugar in satisfying quantities.
I have to speak up as a vegan who enjoyed the article. We don't all believe that there's one weird trick (in this case not eating refined sugar) to keep us healthy. I was joined a vegan group when living as an expat in the UK, and the fascinating thing about it is that it really did look like a cross section of society--every body type, socio economic level, different personalities were represented.
"That’s why we’re so healthy,” she continued. “Everyone else we know is taking all sorts of medications. We’re not… and our blood pressure is normal!”"
Not her husband's I bet!
Tim Minchin's Storm the Animated Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U
I particularly like the drifting in and out of the sermon the vegan was expounding!