What’s the truth about sugar? People claim it’s the most toxic thing since eating uranium, but is that true? Does the sugar you eat matter? What’s the “best” sugar? Is it toxic?
I cover that topic in this vid!
Will Brink is the owner of the Brinkzone Blog. Will has over 30 years experience as a respected author, columnist and consultant, to the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively published. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.
His often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors.
He’s also been published in peer reviewed journals.
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As always Will — “common sense”
Just like Gramma used to say — :…everything in moderation.
And as someone said to me a while ago: “Everything in moderation – including moderation”. Took me a moment to grasp it, but it has stayed with me since.
Thanks foThanks for the Insight Willr the Insight Will
I love the common sense approach Will has, no BS just the facts. Keep them coming and i will help spread the word!!!!!!!
Thanks Will
Thank you for your unbiased point of view..Would you be able to relate to a daily given amount of sugar that would be considered okay..Maybe in grams ! Mahalo & Aloha
It’s not a simple Q as it may seem. Depends on various factors, like total cals, goals, any health issues, activity levels, etc, etc, sugar of some kind are naturally ocurring in many foods we eat.
I could say something like no more than 5% of daily calories, but would that really help all that much? Some recommend as high as 10% of daily calories.
Simple concept of moderation applies, which some reason, is a concept impossible to understand for so many.
Good post Will. Just as in the hysteria about cholesterol (a necessary substance) sugar has been demonized far beyond reality. It has even been called toxic. Yet sugar is a great form of quick energy. Like you said it’s all about the quantity, and the timing for ingestion.
Warren
That would seem like a good, common sense start point to me.
I would agree that excess of any sugar is likely to be detrimental. However, I am led to believe that what constitutes ‘excess’ differs for different sugars.
For a deeper look at things, I found Dr Robert Lustig’s lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” interesting and informative (especially when you get past the more rhetorical and political first part of the lecture). In the middle of the lecture, there is a section on the biochemistry of the metabolism of glucose and fructose by the liver which I found in line with some of the biochemistry I recall doing and came across as an authoritative view point. As I recall, it did also mention the brain in relation to sugar.
Thank you.
I am still curious, how are carbohydrates from sugar worse for us, then eg from (brown) rice? It all gets converted to glucose in the end (except fructose), so is it only the GI that makes a difference healthwise?
As I said, sugar is sugar at the end of the day. Do you mean isolated sugar from brown rice? In that case, I’d expect no special properties. If you mean the tiny amounts of actual sugar in brown rice, then brown rice has fiber, vitamins, bulk, etc, which has various benefits purified sugars don’t have.
Same would apply to fructose vs actually eating fruit. Fruit is superior health wise than purified fructose, for the same reasons.
No, I was just referring to the starch we generally eat in rice, yams, potatoes etc which gets converted to glucose (sugar). So then I guess it is the absence of other nutrients in sugar vs whole foods, which makes sugar bad, rather than the sugar compounds themselves?
A bit of both really. Sugar is calorie dense and nutrients poor. That’s why, like any calorie dense and nutrients poor food/substance, should be limited in the diet.
Totaly right about the sugar, sugar is food, excessive input leads to overweight, but suger is food, so use it like it is, enough is enough, leaving suger out of your diet causes stress and problems, overeating sugar , wel we all know wat that leads too. Good speech
You did not say what “a limited amount of sugar” would be, in order not to be harmful. One ounce, two ounces, three ounces per day? Obviously, too much of anything is bad for you.
Your video should have been more specific about what amount of sugar intake would be acceptable. I hope you take this e-mail in the positive spirit in which it is intended.
And I answered Q above, if you take a look. You want a black and white answer? No more than 5% of calories per day. Some allow 10%, I think that’s far too high.
Good video Will I always try to limit my sugar intake but I’d like to see a video on artificial sweeteners because that is an area that is very grey and lots of supplements out there are filled with artificial sweeteners.
A topic for another vid I’d say! 🙂
Hi Will! Good stuff, as usual. Perhaps you will consider following up with some information on glycation (both endogenous and exogenous), its relationship to disease, and what we can do to reduce it.
Like @ agree.
What about the best type of sweetener. As aspartame has got a really bad wrap and wondering what else is worth a try. Excluding stevia as that tastes like crap.
Thanks again for your insight Will. I read the book Sugarbusters about 12 years ago and was fascinated at what I learned. My take home message to anybody I train who’s obese is to leave it alone. I have talked to many nutrionalists and nevr heard of one case where someone died from lack of table sugar. I agree that as far as the pancreas is concerned, sugar is sugar. But in the debate over a calorie being a calori, I believe that what form sugar comes in is what’s important. Sugar from apples is accopanied with fiber and water. Sugar from a Twinkie isn’t. Therefore I tell my trainees avoid table sugar at all cost. Want something sweet, have some raisins or grapes or something other than cookies, candy, cake, etc..Keep it coming sir.. .
true and straight to the point…thanks