Comments on: Sugar: More Addictive Than Crack?

By: GT

GT — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:18:02 +0000

Tim – I’ll accept the rebuke re: the methadone comment. I am aware of some of the side effects of methadone and there is definitely a discussion to be had with whether it may in fact pose greater risks in the long run than might heroin. But in terms of the sugar/fat substitutes, there is scant data showing that these foods lead to greater weight loss/weight management in the long run. While interventions consisting of an acute reduction in calories do correlate with short-term weight loss, many of the longer studies of diet advice centered around calorie counting shows extremely poor results.

This has more to do with the reality that fake food lacks many of the micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc) that are necessary for optimal health and body composition. Even when calories are controlled, it appears that a diet consisting primarily of processed foods causes substantial problems with hunger control as well as issues with hormonal dysregulation.

A study publish in the Journal of Obesity in 2008 found that high consumer of artificially sweetened beverages actually were at heightened risk of obesity… which runs in stark contrast to the idea that controlling calories is the major goal for diet reform. If you’d like to read it yourself, here’s the link: http://www.nature.com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca:2048/oby/journal/v16/n8/pdf/oby2008284a.pdf
The nice thing about this particular study was the the same group of individuals were followed for 7-8 years (and not a comparison across different people), so it raises some interested questions.

Then another study published in that same journal a year earlier found that when people switch from sugar-sweetened beverages to their diet counterparts, what is often seen is a compensatory increase in the amount of food consumed… leading to no actual deficit in amount of calories consumed.
http://www.nature.com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca:2048/oby/journal/v15/n12/pdf/oby2007359a.pdf

Obviously these studies don’t prove that diet soft drinks or fat substitutes cause obesity, but they do suggest that using large amounts of nutrient devoid foods (diet or not) is not likely going to lead to long term success.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:55:53 +0000

“I appreciate the effectiveness of methadone for treating heroine addiction.”
“relying on artificial sugar- or fat-substitutes”

is there not a contradiction here? given that methadone has some serious problenms as an anti-addiction therapy (such as its lethality, its far worse withdrawal and the indefinite nature of the treatment), i think you might want to reconsider the first assertion, but i’m curious whether you can back up the second assertion with data. why are substitutes not an effective weight-loss strategy, despite what many weight-loss organisations say?

By: GT

GT — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:59:41 +0000

Thanks. Just trying to make the point that weight loss goes beyond simple calorie counting; that real change involves taking a hard look at certain behaviours and changing them.

Like the comprehensiveness of your site, good job.

By: Tyrone Mccorry

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