AAABatteries
Footballguy
Purification of Addiction
Lustig outlines his reward pathway argument and how dopamine plays a part. How we seek this reward and as we continue to get rewarded, we are stimulated less which leads us to wanting more so we seek more reward. It's a vicious cycle. And he argues one of the reasons it seems to have gotten worse is we have purified our addiction and made it so easy that just about all of us have readily available access to an addiction causing substance. You had to go out of your way and pay a stiff price to get rewarding substances. Now, all of us can go down to the local street corner market and get all the sugar, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine we want.
We have billion dollar companies perfecting and purifying products that are addicting. Binge drinking is common now - alcohol is a billion dollar industry. Science has developed to the point where we can bred many drugs to be more potent than ever before. Pharmaceutical companies have made incredible strides that have not only provided life saving drugs for many illnesses and disorders but also has helped to introduce the opioid crisis.
Now is when Lustig really goes after sugar. The Other White Powder. Processes foods, which are mostly packed with refined sugar, is a 1.46 trillion dollar industry with an almost 50% profit margin. Lustig does point out, as MT did, that glucose is so important that the body (via the liver) will make it. He argues that fructose on the other hand is vestigal - we have evolved to where there is no biochemical reaction that requires it. And he argues when consumed in high dosage can be toxic. Not everyone is addicted but many are - studies show that unlike glucose, fructose lights up the reward pathway and are capable of altering emotional responses.
Lustig goes on to highlight how the food industry has fought the idea that sugar (and some other substances) are addicting. They say people have "eating addiction" (it's your fault) and not "food addiction" (it's the food's fault).
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So, I'm AAA and I'm an addict. I'm not a alcoholic, I've never done any drugs (not even marijuana). But I was addicted to sugar. Lots of it. Soda, processed foods, sweets, candy - I ate it all and I loved it. I'm guessing many of your are too. But I also recognize what MT says - sugar isn't nicotine but I do think refined sugar is pretty damn close and based on what it was doing to me and many of our global citizens I think we need to put some of the same type of restrictions on it. I'm in favor of more education and possibly more taxation.
I'm sure this will be a struggle for me for the rest of my life - I was pre-diabetic and probably a few boxes of donuts away from being a full-blown diabetic. I've managed to reverse course (for now). Hoping the same for any of you in the same boat that are looking to make a change.
Question the science, question Lustig - I know I am. I plan to research further some of his claims - but this I know, what he says is mostly truth for me and my experience. Ultimately, I'm torn though - for me and my situation, I don't care if he arrogantly states some science that is misleading or maybe just flat wrong if he's directionally completely right. But we can't accept sloppy information if we want to get the masses on board. So again, research for yourself and share here.
Lustig outlines his reward pathway argument and how dopamine plays a part. How we seek this reward and as we continue to get rewarded, we are stimulated less which leads us to wanting more so we seek more reward. It's a vicious cycle. And he argues one of the reasons it seems to have gotten worse is we have purified our addiction and made it so easy that just about all of us have readily available access to an addiction causing substance. You had to go out of your way and pay a stiff price to get rewarding substances. Now, all of us can go down to the local street corner market and get all the sugar, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine we want.
We have billion dollar companies perfecting and purifying products that are addicting. Binge drinking is common now - alcohol is a billion dollar industry. Science has developed to the point where we can bred many drugs to be more potent than ever before. Pharmaceutical companies have made incredible strides that have not only provided life saving drugs for many illnesses and disorders but also has helped to introduce the opioid crisis.
Now is when Lustig really goes after sugar. The Other White Powder. Processes foods, which are mostly packed with refined sugar, is a 1.46 trillion dollar industry with an almost 50% profit margin. Lustig does point out, as MT did, that glucose is so important that the body (via the liver) will make it. He argues that fructose on the other hand is vestigal - we have evolved to where there is no biochemical reaction that requires it. And he argues when consumed in high dosage can be toxic. Not everyone is addicted but many are - studies show that unlike glucose, fructose lights up the reward pathway and are capable of altering emotional responses.
Lustig goes on to highlight how the food industry has fought the idea that sugar (and some other substances) are addicting. They say people have "eating addiction" (it's your fault) and not "food addiction" (it's the food's fault).
--------------------------------------
So, I'm AAA and I'm an addict. I'm not a alcoholic, I've never done any drugs (not even marijuana). But I was addicted to sugar. Lots of it. Soda, processed foods, sweets, candy - I ate it all and I loved it. I'm guessing many of your are too. But I also recognize what MT says - sugar isn't nicotine but I do think refined sugar is pretty damn close and based on what it was doing to me and many of our global citizens I think we need to put some of the same type of restrictions on it. I'm in favor of more education and possibly more taxation.
I'm sure this will be a struggle for me for the rest of my life - I was pre-diabetic and probably a few boxes of donuts away from being a full-blown diabetic. I've managed to reverse course (for now). Hoping the same for any of you in the same boat that are looking to make a change.
Question the science, question Lustig - I know I am. I plan to research further some of his claims - but this I know, what he says is mostly truth for me and my experience. Ultimately, I'm torn though - for me and my situation, I don't care if he arrogantly states some science that is misleading or maybe just flat wrong if he's directionally completely right. But we can't accept sloppy information if we want to get the masses on board. So again, research for yourself and share here.
