The big difference today is that fruits (and possibly veggies) are much sweeter today than they were 50 or 70 years ago. That makes it easier to get the associated vitamins, etc., but it also makes for more sugar in the diet. That trade-off might be worth it (I'd need a nutritionist to say), but there's probably a limit there.
The big difference today is that fruits (and possibly veggies) are much sweeter today than they were 50 or 70 years ago. That makes it easier to get the associated vitamins, etc., but it also makes for more sugar in the diet. That trade-off might be worth it (I'd need a nutritionist to say), but there's probably a limit there.
I think the consensus is that we are really not designed for a world with sugar—that in the old world any time a little bit of sugar appears it is immediately gobbled up...
I am not convinced that fruits are sweeter today than in the past. Maybe that is my taste buds declining in old age. :-( However, we do get more access to fruits than vegetables today. The main issue with sugar is that corporate food companies add sugar to foods that did not used to have it added, primarily to increase consumption, and starting with children. Fructose is metabolized differently than glucose and possibly increase risk of insulin resistance. Glucose ( the other half of sucrose) is the core of our energy metalism and is used both in storage as starches in plants and for a host of other molecules in plant and animal metabolism. It is possible that eating starch for carbohydrates is better than sucrose as it does not contain fructose. But this is speculation on my part based on the reported greater insulin restance of fructose vs glucose.
I've read online that modern fruits are sweeter than they used to be, but that's hardly reliable. Looking further because of your response here, I see that others say that they taste sweeter because breeders have successfully eliminated tartness. So having read a bit more, I'm not sure my comment was correct.
As I understand it, sugar in fruits and starches tends not to have the bad impact of added sugar because most fruits and some starches have fiber. That protects you from the effect of sugar according to Dr. Robert Lustig (used to be head of Endocrinology as UC SF med school, but I don't know if he still is).
Fiber certainly slows up digestion reducing the rate of sugar ( and other nutrients) uptake from the gut. It also helps regulate gut microbiota that we now know is so important for health. Interestingly, bariatric surgery to drastically reduce the size of a stomach often eliminates diabetes. However, I have no idea what that does to your large colon if you are forced to reduce fiber intake. Best to eat well - lots of fiber in the diet and reduce sugars (sucrose and digested starch). Cook from scratch to avoid processed foods with added sugars. Rather similar to Michael Pollan's advice: " Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
The big difference today is that fruits (and possibly veggies) are much sweeter today than they were 50 or 70 years ago. That makes it easier to get the associated vitamins, etc., but it also makes for more sugar in the diet. That trade-off might be worth it (I'd need a nutritionist to say), but there's probably a limit there.
I think the consensus is that we are really not designed for a world with sugar—that in the old world any time a little bit of sugar appears it is immediately gobbled up...
I am not convinced that fruits are sweeter today than in the past. Maybe that is my taste buds declining in old age. :-( However, we do get more access to fruits than vegetables today. The main issue with sugar is that corporate food companies add sugar to foods that did not used to have it added, primarily to increase consumption, and starting with children. Fructose is metabolized differently than glucose and possibly increase risk of insulin resistance. Glucose ( the other half of sucrose) is the core of our energy metalism and is used both in storage as starches in plants and for a host of other molecules in plant and animal metabolism. It is possible that eating starch for carbohydrates is better than sucrose as it does not contain fructose. But this is speculation on my part based on the reported greater insulin restance of fructose vs glucose.
I've read online that modern fruits are sweeter than they used to be, but that's hardly reliable. Looking further because of your response here, I see that others say that they taste sweeter because breeders have successfully eliminated tartness. So having read a bit more, I'm not sure my comment was correct.
As I understand it, sugar in fruits and starches tends not to have the bad impact of added sugar because most fruits and some starches have fiber. That protects you from the effect of sugar according to Dr. Robert Lustig (used to be head of Endocrinology as UC SF med school, but I don't know if he still is).
Fiber certainly slows up digestion reducing the rate of sugar ( and other nutrients) uptake from the gut. It also helps regulate gut microbiota that we now know is so important for health. Interestingly, bariatric surgery to drastically reduce the size of a stomach often eliminates diabetes. However, I have no idea what that does to your large colon if you are forced to reduce fiber intake. Best to eat well - lots of fiber in the diet and reduce sugars (sucrose and digested starch). Cook from scratch to avoid processed foods with added sugars. Rather similar to Michael Pollan's advice: " Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."