Jamie's sugar rush

[lastqueenofscotland]

Anyone be watching tonight?
I'm really looking forwards :)

Why is 99% Lindt cocoa (yes 99%!) as calorific as a regular bar of dairy milk?

Up until the war a large portion of the poorer population existed almost entirely on bread and jam and sweet tea. We were all much healthier during the war because of rationing. Out of interest I just texted my youngest(grown-up) child to see what she drank as a child, as I knew she didn't like tea. Apparently it was squash and hot milk.

I found the show disappointing. It started off well talking about hidden sugars in food but lost its way somewhat and became all about fizzy drinks. The sugar problem doesn't stop at fizzy drinks as most of us well know!

There's some great books out there for anyone who wants to know more about the worrying effects on sugar (it doesn't stop at rotten teeth and type 2 diabetes). I read 'fat chance' by Dr Robert Lustig - aimed more at the U.S. market but the message is the same. He talks in great detail about how and why the body becomes addicted, how it processes sugar and why it causes illness. It's a frightening read and will certainly make anyone question why a child needs any sweet treats AT ALL, even in moderation.

PS - the body DOES differentiate between the sugars in whole fruit to other sugars.....it's the fibre in the fruit which alter how the body chooses to use those sugars. This is why you should never drink fruit juice.......no fibre!

but surely it is about learning self control and self regulation rather then stigmatising some food stuffs Do we wait for people to learn self control and self regulation?
According to the NHS, in England, 24.8% of adults are obese and 61.7% are either overweight or obese. Today’s obesity levels are more than three times what they were in 1980, when only 6% of men and 8% of women were obese.
Did the population have so much more self control in 1980 or has the food that is sold to us changed?

The worrying thing is that we can restrict sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks etc, think that diet is healthy because of that, and be sabotaged by sugar in processed food that absolutely does not need to be there.

As a diabetic I read labels, and basically now eat very little that has not been made from 'real' food.

Convenience food is easy now, but food manufacturers are contributing to a generation of chronically sick people.

The trouble is that this 'food' is in many cases cheaper than fresh meat and veg. We also have a generation that may not always be able to make a meal from scratch. So all very well to say eat better, but do we all know how, and can we all afford it?

Label reading is a good start but processed food has a poor nutritional profile. The more you screw around with food the more it loses it's nutrients.

I'm fairly poor (for the uk) and have been poorer, and I do cook from scratch, but that's because I know how.
I can make things with basic ingredients which I think are tasty, due to adding things like spices, chili, garlic etc, because I was raised like that ( my folks had a restaurant).
I have the skills and the palatte, but a lot of people don't, and given the choice between a cheap frozen chicken kiev or whatever and some flavourless chick pea gunge, most people would take the processed option, understandably. I don't know what the answer is really.
Having said that, a lot of people I know who have very decent incomes eat a lot of convenience food.
I agree with the pp who noted that is is unlikely we have less self control than previous generations, we are just surrounded by processed options all the time, that's what has changed.

It is a very hard thing to change the eating habits of an individual, household or nation. As a dinner lady I can tell you that the average lunchbox diet of the average child is pretty dreadful - the school dinners where I work are terrible too. But where are there good alternatives? There are no healthy cereal bars at all, the yogurts are all full of sugar, as is homemade flapjack. It's really frustrating.

Previous generations didn't need self control - firstly their lack of disposable income meant they couldn't afford the junk we feed our kids today and secondly it just wasn't available to the extent it is now....it's everywhere!

geranium i agree, our school dinners are shit....dcs will soon get fed up and request pack ups - i only agree if I can make healthy lunches that will be eaten. They can reject the junk at school but not my food, that I have laboured over.

The advantage of lunchboxes is that you get to choose which processed rubbish to include and as they bring the leftovers home you can monitor what exactly has been eaten. The amount of school dinner wasted among the infants is very high as they are full up with the milk they have had just an hour earlier.

I made my kids stews for lunch, packed with meat and veg and a piece of homemade cake or biscuit and a piece of fruit. They did feel a bit hard done by because all the other kids had crisps, frubes and choc bars etc (and the the hated sandwich) until one day one of their friends told them how envious she was of their lunch....and then they saw what I made for them in a new light.

Sounds good Notoedlike. I had a brief phase of bento type lunches, which were very healthy, but took ages to make. My dd is mostly veggie, so she has a lot of cheese or hummus and oatcakes/breadsticks and vegetable bits. I also sometimes make homemade digestive biscuits from the River Cottage Family Cookbook, which are lovely.

I am not at all happy with this programme. I understand that young children having teeth pulled is awful!!!!
My 10 year old has type1 diabetes, this is a hard and awful u predictive condition to leave with. At times for child and family soul distorting. You CANT ban all sugars and defiantly those in drinks that my child needs to bring his blood sugars back to a healthy level so he can live. As a type1 diabetic he needs to eat a good amount of carbs with each meal to once again maintain good blood sugars. If we do not use these things that what is my child suppose to do????
I feel mentioning diabetes without educating first the difference between the types does our children more damage. All I ask is that you think how you delivery your facts to consider the damage you can cause from miss use of information. Type1 families have a hard enough time without even more stupid informed comments being thrown out use and our children.

Previous generations also rarely had meals out or takeaways. The dining industry has exploded in the last decade or so. And of course in a restaurant you control neither the ingredients nor the portion size. Most places have starters as well.

When I was a child we barely ever ate out. I remember a couple of trips to a Beefeater and that's about it.

IfNotNow you have reminded me of another product ive seen on shelves recently. Cocktail French Fancies. Box of six 2 Raspberry Daiquiri 2 Peach Bellini. 2 Pina Colada.

Excellent point Elh77

True Iguana

There must be lots food scientists (not nutritionists surely!) inventing more and more ways to use shit sugary products.

I don't even think it's down to self control, humans have always loved sugar; Elizabeth 1 had bad teeth and employed many many sweetmeat makers.

I reckon obesity is down to our lifestyles, we used to walk everywhere, work manually inside the home and outside. Children walked to school, played outside , not on screens. etc.

Notoedike

Our Primary gives choc bars and sweets for 'rewards' when the children do well.

We have milk and water on the table at home. Diluting juice for when friends come. No 'fizzy' drinks at all (mine are 11 and 8 and have never had them - through choice rather than some mega-mission of mine).

We also have Easter choc left from (ahem) 2 years ago.

The one thing I banned was the brown fizzy sugar water. (Apart from parties, then I would buy non branded stuff).

Because I saw a programme about C.C. in which they stated seriously that it was their mission to have a 3rd tap (next to the hot and cold water taps) in all homes given to their disgusting product. Also the way they are exploiting the water supplies in 3rd world countries ALMOST makes Nestle look ok.

I buy fizzy water about 17p in Lidl/Aldi and make a jug with ice and slices of lemon, lime or orange. it is great for a fizzy drink fix without the sugar.

I read on here a while ago fizzy water is bad for your teeth also- it's the fizz as much as the sugar. Is that right? It sounds a bit odd

I think if you limited yourself to only eating and drinking things that nobody disapproved of, you would end up morosely chewing a cucumber.

Fizzy water is nice for a non alk. drink mixed with elderflower cordial (not too much) and cut lemons .

I've never heard of the bubbles being bad for your teeth

Iguana IKWYM

It could be because carbonated water is mildly acidic that it is considered bad for teeth?

Agree that Coca Cola etc are evil especially with their exploitative behaviour in developing countries where many people don't have access to clean safe water.