AIBU to question this advertisement?

[Tabby1963]

Kelloggs is promoting their high sugar cereals to parents with the 'sweetener' that they will be 'giving a child a breakfast' if they buy the stuff really clever advertising "we'll sell you this unhealthy shit full of all sorts of crap and vitamins and you'll be doing a good deed too so that's alright then".

Apparently NetMums is officially supporting it too and suppressing negative comments from members on their forum.

Wouldn't it be better to just make a donation and give our children a healthier breakfast alternative?

It is no wonder we are getting fatter. Our kids have got no chance with increasingly sophisticated adverts like this (sad and frustrated emoticon).

[78bunion]

Lustig is sensible. Even if you don't want to eat paleo/primal but want to eat well the things contries which are slim have in common is very little sugar. Japanese might eat a godo bit of rice with their fish. Other groups might eat mostly fats and protein (eskimo traditional diet) or Africa - bugs, meat, roots - but what they all have in common in nothing processed and very little sugar.

The spread of sugar is well illustrated on this programme
Even products like tomato sauce and processed bread have sugar in them. Even fruit has been grown in the lst 30 years so it is much sweeter than it used to be.

[Tabby1963]

ideas.time.com/2012/12/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/

Sorry, didn't link properly.

[badtime]

Why is that directed at me? I was pointing out that you were either using the word 'metabolise' incorrectly or misunderstanding how energy is released from food.

Actually, there is some interesting work out there regarding the effects of fructose. However, it is usually better to get your information from papers and articles in reputable scientific or medical journals, rather that magazines or random websites.

I would agree with your last sentence, though. People often don't realise just how much they are eating, or what the content of their processed slop might be.

[Tabby1963]

badtime, interesting article from Robert Lustig in Time


ideas.time.com/2012/12/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/


The last paragraph from the article is interesting... "The one thing we can agree on is that our sugar consumption has skyrocketed, from 4 teaspoons a day in 1990 to 22 teaspoons today. It needs to go back to being a once-a-week treat—something for special occasions—instead of a once-a-meal diet staple."

One of the reasons for this massive increase is the availability and marketing of high sugar foods.

[badtime]

Tabby:
'It all goes straight to fat on our bodies because we can't metabolise refined sugar.'

That is nonsense. How does it turn into fat if it is not being metabolised?

As might be expected from the idea that it is 'refined' or 'processed' (or the fact that it has such a strong physiological effect), it is actually much easier to metabolise than less refined sugars and other carbohydrates.

[PotNoodleAteMyHandbag]

though I think I'd like a wonk smiley!

[PotNoodleAteMyHandbag]

tabby, that was perfect use of crossing out [wonk]

[Tabby1963]

bunion, some good advice there. When I look back to my past, what do I see?

Cars were rare, we walked or used public transport.
Families lived local to each other and were a source of support/advice.
People had local jobs which they walked or cycled to, and many were physical.
Eating out very rarely happened, if at all, for most families.
Takeaways were limited to a fish supper very occasionally.
Mum shopped daily at different local shops and cooked from scratch; no supermarkets.
Eating between meals didn't happen.
Housework without modern appliances was a daily physical workout in itself.
Growing your own veg was normal.

We do need to think about building exercise into our daily lives, rather than going to the gym (in the car lol). It means a total transformation of our lifestyle though. Worth thinking about, at least.

[Tabby1963]

Sally, thank you for your scintillating contribution to this debate not.

[Tabby1963]

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2431611/Why-going-gym-make-fat-Treats-workout-mean-25-actually-GAIN-weight.html

Owlina this, in today's dm.

[Sallyingforth]

Tabby please don't misuse the crossings.

[78bunion]

I don't need to convert anyone but there are huge numbers of mumsnetters who think we need more good fat/protein rather than higher carb diets. You can eat healthy good paleo/primal unprocessed carbs like sweet and baked potatoes with skin but I don't think children benefit at all from carbs in the morning. Stick with eggs and meat.

There is a massive battle going on to get health professionals relying on advice from 30 years ago to change the foot pyramid which currently has masses of carbs at the bottom as most of what you eat - bread, potatoes etc. This has made people fat and increased diabetes.

"Surely it's good to eat carbs in the am to get energy for the day? " Carbs shoot up blood sugar and then it plummets. If you want to feel full until lunch time have eggs for breakfast. Same calories but the good fats feed you as nature intended and keep you healthier (and slimmer).

I also agree with the points above about exercise in life, natural exercise, walking cycling to work. That is what people tend to keep up rather than expensive gyms. Run for the bus, get your heart rate up. Lift very heavy boxes and furniture at home. Carry the toddler twins up stairs 4 times a day one under each arm. Use those muscles . Dig the garden until you are out of breath.

[OwlinaTree]

Hummm tabby I read the first bit. Not sure about referencing? I'm no expert on online articles, but should there be some reference to some research?

[Tabby1963]

OwlinaTree, there has been research done which questions the 'calories in calories out' principal.


Have a look at this article....

authoritynutrition.com/debunking-the-calorie-myth/

[OwlinaTree]

Surely it's good to eat carbs in the am to get energy for the day? Chop in a banana and add milk, that seems balanced to me.

It's amount of calories that makes you fat, if you burn what you put in you won't be overweight. So what if youare hungry mid morning? Eat a snack. It's little and often that is often recommended to keep you from overeating.

Cereal is quick, many are wholegrain, it's generally low fat and is pretty cheap. Win for me.

[Tabby1963]

www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/eating-help/control-cravings/control-your-post-workout-appetite/

QueenStromba This is an article from Fitness Magazine that might explain it.

[QueenStromba]

I don't understand that mentality - going to the gym makes me less likely to eat crap because it feels like I'd be undoing all the good work I'd just done.

[Tabby1963]

LessMissAbs, you have touched upon another subject that is very relevant to this discussion.

Yes, we 'do' exercise classes (and often drive to the gym lol) but, guess what sometimes happens after our class; we are more likely to eat than if we had not been to a class, usually because we feel we have earned it. It is a psychological response, apparently.

Your idea of building activity into our lifestyle is far better because it is 'invisible' and just part of our day. I would love to cycle to work but the roads are hellish and I would be too scared of dying under the wheels of a bus (not joking). So I drive. I have even thought about getting a job nearer home so I could walk there. Haven't done anything about it yet though.

[smirnoff861]

I don't see the big problem with cereal? I are the horrible sugary ones when I was a child and still eat them now and im not obese! Its all about balance! And surely giving a child a bowl of coco pops for breakfast is better than absolutely nothing?

[LessMissAbs]

Tabby I don't think we are doing more exercise though. About half the people at gyms would probably get more exercise if they simply cycled to work instead of ambling around a weights room occasionally pushing a machine. Runners very rarely let themselves get too heavy because its incompatible with running. And personal trainers - well if a person was motivated enough in the first place, they wouldn't need a personal trainer to teach them how to move!

Although I'm only in Belgium for a few months, the difference here is noticeable to the UK. Lots of young men (and some women) do cycle training in the summer evenings after work, instead of driving about like boy racers, or going to the pub. Youngish children cycle to and from school on their own. SAHMS and SAHDs cycle to the shops. Although there are still overweight people, in general people seem much slimmer and fitter. And yet the food is very rich, although the traditional meals are high in meat and cream.

[Tabby1963]

QueenStromba, that is a really good point. It is true that 'sugar' has many different names in ingredient lists. Here are some of them:-

•Agave Nectar
•Barley Malt Syrup
•Beet Sugar
•Brown Rice Syrup
•Brown Sugar
•Cane Crystals (or, even better, "cane juice crystals")
•Cane Sugar
•Corn sweetener
•Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
•Dehydrated Cane Juice
•Dextrin
•Dextrose
•Evaporated Cane Juice
•Fructose
•Fruit juice concentrate
•Glucose
•High-fructose corn syrup
•Honey
•Invert sugar
•Lactose
•Maltodextrin
•Malt syrup
•Maltose
•Maple syrup
•Molasses
•Raw sugar
•Rice Syrup
•Saccharose
•Sorghum or sorghum syrup
•Sucrose
•Syrup
•Treacle
•Turbinado Sugar
•Xylose

If you look on ingredient lists you may see several different ones mentioned, but they are all sugar. It is very, very sneaky.

[Tabby1963]

Sock I have never, ever stated or inferred that anyone taking part on this discussion is 'thick', and I am somewhat offended that you seem to think that is the case.

This is (I thought) an open discussion between mn members about a particular subject. I am expecting (and mostly receiving) considered and intelligent responses both agreeing and disagreeing with my comments. What's wrong with that?

[Tabby1963]

LessMissAbs, that is a good point about all the extra exercise we do nowadays, gyms are packed with people, personal trainers are doing a great trade, running clubs are thriving. Yet we are all still getting fatter?? What is going on?? Well, we are eating far too much refined sugar in processed foods, for one thing. It all goes straight to fat on our bodies because we can't metabolise refined sugar.

[Tabby1963]

29% sugar cereal *PotNoodle! Not only is a lot of cereal really high in sugar, you then factor in the snacks they have at school, sugary drinks, etc., it all adds up. I know that when I was a child in the 60's we never had access to any of this stuff. I worry about our children's future health.

[Tabby1963]

Thanks for your comments, Birdsgottafly.