Anybody catch the 60 Minutes segment a few nights ago about sugar? http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox (http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox)
I've been thinking a lot about this recently - I switched to a low carb diet in January and lost about 25 pounds already. I'm not surprised that scientists are calling sugar toxic. At the same time though, I'm a beekeeper, and I know about antioxidants and other beneficial compounds in honey. Where do we draw the line? Is honey a superfood, or just another form of fattening, toxic sugar? Is the best strategy to consume honey as your ONLY natural sweetener? Or is it best to leave the bees to themselves and start a new hobby as a stevia farmer?
I dunno - I'm just a bit frustrated today I guess. I've become convinced that carbs are the problem, but I love my bees. Somebody talk me down from this tree I'm in! :-\
stop watching 60 min. ;)
Yeah, no joke Kathyp. I actually don't watch 60 minutes (I'm not a TV kind of guy), but a few different people brought the sugar segment up in conversation, so I figured I'd better check it out. I'm very skeptical of media reports in general, but since switching to a low carb diet I have come to view sugar as a demon already, so I tend to believe this report. It makes me confront my love of honey and beekeeping though, which is uncomfortable for me. I'm really hoping that the beneficial compounds in honey will balance out the fact that it is really just another form of sugar, and that I can continue to enjoy at least a little every day without guilt. It does seem to have a somewhat lower glycemic index than regular table sugar.
IMHO, it's all about moderation. A little sugar is fine, we're just not designed to eat the quantities we are. The problem is most are not aware of how much sugar they're eating because it's added into EVERYTHING! Only after you start tracking, for whatever reason, do you realize what a problem it is.
I would rather eat honey because of all it's natural properties than processed sugar, but I do think you can eat too much if you have a real sweet tooth. Which, of course, brings us back around to the "moderation" thing.
Looking at the size of the spoon I use to put honey in my latte, I would say moderation is not my strong suit. But, being that it's my primary use for honey and I only have two cups a day, I'm going with it! :)
I have been eating what I call "real food" for 70 days now. I pass on anything processed. That may sound extreme to some but its working well for me. The last two yrs in a row I had inflammation in my joints & after long days I felt old and very tired. My recovery time was pitiful.
Now I have no joint pain, much more energy & my recovery time is much, much faster.
In a nutshell I eat animal protein, fruits & vegetables, no dairy or grains & my main starch for energy is sweet potatoes. I drink water w/ lemon & fresh squeezed orange juice.
I still consume honey as it is a natural product with some nutritional value.
I don't know how to eat in moderation so this works well for me. The way I ate before had me craving food all the time brought on by blood sugar spikes due to too much sugar/carbs in my diet.
Keep honey in your diet just 86 junk food which includes chips & sugary treats.
Now, I bet Schawee is gonna try and force feed me the biggest vanilla shake on the planet! :-D
...JP
Hey Dig!
I personally quit using sugar years ago because it is bad for you in many ways as not being in the natural state as honey. If you pasturize honey it becomes just as bad and that is why I prefer raw honey that has not been over heated. If you are a diabetic I definitely would use any sweetner in moderation but recent studies have shown raw honey does not affect the blood as do processed sugars. Fruit has naturals sugars that are benifitial too but like I said it depends on your health issue that determines how much to consume. I am just tired of paying the high prices for the honey so i have become a bee keeper as of recently to get the good stuff! :-D
having the wrong amount of stuff kills
the following will kill you in the wrong quantities too much and to little
oxygen
water
copper, boron
molybdenum
zinc, iron,
carbon dioxide etc
I ate the new Southwestern Pattie Melt from Hardee's today and got a free Oreo ice cream. I enjoyed it over and over this afternoon. :-D
My wife has been doing the Paleo diet (100%) for several months now. The only thing that has changed for her is her attitude. Meaner. But I guess she needs it when she does her cross fit every day.
Why are you trying to compare human metalization to a bee?
Did you ever see a fat bee?
You watch to much TV.
Regards
Joe
Drone bees always looked kinda fat to me.
diggity,
jredburn is right. You, we, are omnivores and are meant to eat all manner of different things. BEES are not! They have a 'specialized' diet of pollen when young then Nectar or honey when mature; or they die. (sugar mimics nectar like McDonald's mimics food)
As far as people go get your food DIRECTLY from a farmer (from his hand to your hand). Eat whatever is in season locally and can the surplus. Never eat anything that has touched plastic. And for Pete's sake quit worrying! The cortisol will kill you faster than a little sugar will.
Oh, and getting fat on Honey is a Kingly endeavor. May we all be so blessed.
Sounds like you are doing a "paleo" diet. I started the same thing at the first of the year. I have lost 23 pounds and feel great all the time. Hope you keep it up
I caught that on 60 min... they put honey in the lineup with the other usual suspects. kinda angry me off.
I'm not comparing human metabolism to that of bees. I know they are different. And I've always eaten well - we have a huge garden and buy lots of fruits and veggies locally. I was never seriously overweight - just a little plump around the edges - but I've been impressed by how quickly the weight came off when I cut out the sugars and refined grains. And trust me - I don't watch much TV.
Blanc hit on the crux of the issue for me... is honey metabolized (by humans) differently than sugar? I'd love to see someone do a long term study in which two groups of people are put on a low carb diet with one exception... group A is given say 50 grams of sugar per day, and group B is given 50 grams of raw honey per day. After a few months, did group B gain/lose weight with respect to group A? What about their metabolic markers (cholesterol, triglycerides, BP etc)?
The more I think about it, the more I think this may be an important thing for us beeks to consider. It seems that scientists are finally converging on a theory of why we are so fat and unhealthy... it's the carbs. It has always been the carbs. It has taken them a while (and they got stuck in the weeds for decades believing that fat was the culprit), but more and more scientists seem to agree these days that carbs (and sugar especially) are responsible for obesity and metabolic syndrome. So what if they are right, and people start realizing it en-masse. Sugar sales drop. Even HFCS consumption decreases. Where does that leave honey? On the side of the bad (sugar, hfcs, refined starch), or on the side of the good (natural sweeteners such as stevia, erythritol, xylitol, etc)? Will people still want to buy our honey? Will we feel guilty selling it to them?
Its not just sugar as you pointed out but the wrong kind of carbs that's making Schawee fatter, (I mean people :-D ) in general. High fat with high carbs is a recipe for disaster. 86 the junky processed crap, chips, cinnamon rolls, sodas etc... eat real food not from a box or can & watch the pounds come off.
Stevia & all that other stuff just leaves a funny taste in my mouth. Raw honey is high in sugars but its not empty calories like sucrose. I enjoy it in moderation as it too can cause blood sugar spikes if over consumed.
...JP
Yeah, stevia does have a strong aftertaste. Extremely sweet though. I grew it in the garden last year. Quite easy to grow. Xylitol and erythritol are excellent sugar substitutes, but very expensive. I still allow myself a little honey every day - not ready to give it up just yet! As others have said, moderation is probably the best bet. But I still wonder from a purist's point of view - is honey a "good" or a "bad?"
HONEY IS GOOD. I eat about three or four pounds a month. Is that moderate enough? A half teaspoon of pollen every day is healthy too. I also eat three eggs and three slices of hog jowl every morning for breakfast. umm Eggs are home grown. I had a physical two months ago and everything checked out in the normal range. I know a beek who is 86 and doesn't take any meds. Has been eating honey and pollen since he started helping his grandfather with bees at age 13.
In my opinion sugar itself isn't the problem. Assuming you are getting it from the cane, from the beat, from fruits, etc.. I'd also have to agree with the current high fructose corn syrup ads. Sugar is sugar. Glucose is glucose. However, just leaving it at that is an error at best, dishonest for sure.
The issue isn't sugar its the highly processed/refined sugar that gets added to nearly every single processed food item. Mostly to cover up the tons of salt that are added to those same highly processed food items.
If Honey is bad, because it's 'sugar' toss out grapes, raisins, apples, plums, pears or any other natural food product that is packed with fructose. After all, its sugar too.
Nothing wrong with fruit unless you only drink its juices and throw away the pulp. Sucrose its adulterated to the point that it has zero nutritional value. It gives a quick energy supply but is extremely short lived. Its definitely the kind of sugars you ingest that make the difference once consumed. Too much of any kind of sugar on a constant basis is not good for anyone. This is why far too many people have type two diabetes. The pancreas can only supply so much insulin before it wears out.
...JP
Well, I'll join in. Would have to agree with AliciaH, moderation is the key. As far as diets go I like the DASH diet. And going to the farmer and getting fresh fruits and veggies, I live on a fram, you eat fresh and put up the rest, canning and in the freezer. And JP I almost never just drink fruit juice, you always add something, Vodka,Schnapps or etc.
Joe
.
Every man, who eates bread, he will die. I do not know women good enough to where they die.
.
Every man and every woman who eats carrots will die also. :shock: If they live long enough and don't eat carrots they will die of old age. :shock:
I think calories is the real problem; the real toxin. Ultimately it is an energy imbalance that causes a person to gain or loose weight. Calories in – Calories out = your change in weight.
Sugar and fats are high energy density substances. If you load your diet up with them, then your calories in >> calories out and you get fatter and fatter as those excess calories are stored away as body fat.
Well, I'm no skinny bee but I'll throw in my two cents. I thought the doctor on 60 minutes was right...AND missed the point. His study is on sugar, so that's his agenda. But from what I have read, simple carbs are processed by the human body in similar ways, whether it's sugar or white flour or white rice or honey. Moderation is key, and eating nutrient dense foods rather than calorie dense foods.
I am horrified and scared for the future of our kids. They get sugar cereal for breakfast, pizza or hamburgers and fries for lunch, chicken nuggets and fries for dinner. Plus sugary snacks and potato chips. And this is their diet day after day. I work hard to give my stepdaughter better food choices, and she gets it, but she gets competing messages everyday. And it's hard to resist sugar and carbs.
When my best friend's 9 year-old daughter was first diagnosed with diabetes, they fed her grilled cheese and french fries in the (childrens's) hospital, and told her Mom that she just had to offset it with insulin.
My DP recently went to a nutritionist. She told him french fries weren't that bad. The nutritionist was obese.
Happy Easter (she said after consuming too much chocolate)!
Mmmmm. Chocolate bunnies. (drool.............)
BlueBee, I know the calories in - calories out way of thinking has been dominant for decades, but there seems to be a huge and growing amount of evidence to suggest that is not true. All calories are not created equal. If you want proof, try an aggressively low-carb diet for a while. You'll see what I mean.
Winginit, I agree completely. We try to make good choices for our kids, but the allure of simple carbs and fast food is everywhere. And of course their tastebuds are drawn to sweet flavors and starch, so it's a constant uphill battle. We're fortunate that our kids don't like soda - so far they are thin, perhaps owing most to that one blessed distaste. Your french fries and grilled cheese hospital story is horrifying. Not surprising, but horrifying!