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How Common Is It at NB To Drink Sugary Drinks and Processed or Fast Food?

DakiniDakini Veteran
edited April 2012 in Diet & Habits
1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
3. How many eat processed foods?
4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.

Comments

  • hmmmm, well the diet drinks I must admit to daily. Fast food, maybe once a month. Processed, try not to but ya know sometimes we just need a hungry man dinner instead of trying to cook. And reading labels, always. Between my fructose issue and my daughter's peanut allergy I trust nothing.

    I am on a major health push right now, but I have not admitted something because I didn't want to then have to admit failure. So the big deal is I have only had a half cigarette in 7 days. I go back to work after spring break tomorrow and we will see if I can make it. I do better not setting up a big quit date and all that, and I don't want to add stress. I just know that many people would be kicking me if they knew all this time.

    In the big scheme I am going to not worry about my diet soda and starbucks addictions for a looong time while I get these lungs healthy. Sorry wandered off there.
  • Yes to 1-3 but no to 4. I love soda, Coca Cola and Dr Pepper are the elixirs of life in my opinion. I don't eat fast food that often but I can still enjoy it. As for processed foods, it may be hard to find something that's not processed in America unless you eat whole fruit.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
    3. How many eat processed foods?
    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.
    Yes to all of the above, but I am most concerned with high levels of salt.

  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited April 2012
    . I love soda, Coca Cola and Dr Pepper are the elixirs of life in my opinion.
    :lol: Thanks for the candor! ^_^ And yeah, to avoid processed food, you pretty much have to cook most things from scratch. That's not really an option for university students. One thing I discovered when I quit buying canned and packaged food is that there's a lot less trash each week. I can get by with a small trash can. There's not much to recycle, either.

    @vinlyn "high levels of salt" Good point. Canned and processed foods are high in salt. What kind of table salt do you use for cooking? Have you tried the health-food-store salt, the un-iodized salt? The higher the mineral content of salt, the higher it pushes your blood pressure. So un-iodized salt has very little effect. Tibetan salt and Great Salt Lake salt are the worst. Highly mineralized.

  • edited April 2012
    1. Very rarely.
    2. Probably at least once a week.
    3. Almost every day. One of my favorite meals are a $0.90 small tv dinner mixed into a can of beans. That's kind of what I've been living off of.
    4. I don't know.

    Fun fact: Correlation shows that the poorer you are, chances are you are less healthy than your wealthier counter-parts.
  • When I'm at home I eat a strict paleo diet. after about a week of withdrawals my energy level shot way up. Breaking it makes physically ill for a few days.
  • I love chipotle! Even though there is a bizarre rumor going around that chipotle burritos give you a bleeding asshole....

    No fast food, just Starbucks crack and pounds of gourmet chocolate with lime flavored Perrier!

  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran


    @vinlyn "high levels of salt" Good point. Canned and processed foods are high in salt. What kind of table salt do you use for cooking? Have you tried the health-food-store salt, the un-iodized salt? The higher the mineral content of salt, the higher it pushes your blood pressure. So un-iodized salt has very little effect. Tibetan salt and Great Salt Lake salt are the worst. Highly mineralized.

    Salt itself is a mineral -- halite.

    I use virtually no salt in cooking unless it is required for some chemical process in cooking.
  • The only soda i drink now is an occasional Fresca, and an occasional beer.

    I have also cut out fast food in the last year

    i don't study labels
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    ...

    i don't study labels
    I'm glad you don't have to. It's a pain!

  • Drink soft drink all the time. Don't do fast food, but some processed. Don't read the labels too scary! Don't drink or smoke...
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    1. Never
    2. Hardly
    3. Sometimes, but it's mostly cookies/candy.
    4. All the time
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
    3. How many eat processed foods?
    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.
    1) I have half a can of soda every other day (the other half I usually share with my gf)
    2) Hardly ever.
    3) Define "processed?" Almost everything is processed if you take it to mean that the product in question has been cooked or preserved in any way - canned beans, dried fruit, roasted nuts, any sort of meat/fish (unless you eat it raw, like in steak tartare or sushi), etc.

    So yes.

    4) I always read labels, but I don't necessarily opt out of foods w/ added sugar since I don't really buy that many sweet things. I do try to watch my sodium intake though since I'm a savory type of guy.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    give me sugar instead of artificial sweeteners any day. have you seen how toxic that crap is?? Aspartame and saccharin make me heave - i know simply by smelling something, if they're included. I avoid them like the plague.... yecch!
  • give me sugar instead of artificial sweeteners any day
    Agreed, I hate how they can't use real sugar in American soda. I was in Mexico and they can, at first it tasted weird but then by the end of the week I was addicted to Mexican coke.
  • Never
    Never
    Never
    Always.
    I think that I have mentioned before that I cook all of our meals from raw ingredients, make the bread, cakes etc. so I'm pretty much aware of what goes in ;)
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    1. Hardly ever, maybe once or twice a year. I pretty much only drink water or tea.
    2. I eat at fast food restaurants a lot. I do stick to healthier options like subway or chipotle though and select the healthier choices. A few times a year I may get McDonalds or some other junk.
    3. I eat frozen meals and frozen veggies with a light sauce in them quite a bit. Once again though I choose the healthier options with veggies and maybe some chicken, pasta and a sauce.
    4. I love sugar, I stay away from high fructose corn syrup and read labels. But everyday I'll usually have some fruity yogurt or an english muffin with almond butter and jelly. When I go grocery shopping I'll usually pick up some sugary treat for the day like a pint of ice cream or some cookies, I don't buy the super sugary stuff to keep around the house or I'll eat it all up in a couple days. After the 60 minutes piece though I think I may have to change this up.
  • patbbpatbb Veteran
    1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
    3. How many eat processed foods?
    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.
    1. no, water is fine
    2. no fast food.
    3. no processed food unless unavoidable (takes effort tho)
    4. yes
  • YishaiYishai Veteran
    1. I drink a lot of diet sodas, but I drink large amounts of water too. I use the restroom probably once every hour or so. I might be over-hydrating.
    2. Occasionally (3 times a week? I am a uni student)
    3. Only at fast food restaurants. We cook at home from scratch otherwise. Typically rice and curry/jjajang/kimchi-chigae/dukbokki or just fried-rice, and sometimes kim-chi bap.
    4. I read labels occasionally. More often than not. If I am making an unfamiliar purchase, I read the label 100% of the time.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    1. I drink a lot of diet sodas, but I drink large amounts of water too. I use the restroom probably once every hour or so. I might be over-hydrating.
    2. Occasionally (3 times a week? I am a uni student)
    3. Only at fast food restaurants. We cook at home from scratch otherwise. Typically rice and curry/jjajang/kimchi-chigae/dukbokki or just fried-rice, and sometimes kim-chi bap.
    4. I read labels occasionally. More often than not. If I am making an unfamiliar purchase, I read the label 100% of the time.
    jjigae, ddeokbokki, and kimchibap are sooooooo good
  • 1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
    3. How many eat processed foods?
    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.
    I have coffee in morning 2 tsp of raw sugar, rest of the time it is water, and often we will have chamomile or some other relaxing tea before bedtime with a little honey in it. We only get soda when we go out, it is very rare to have any in my house unless we are having a gathering. I agree with federick on the whole sugar thing, but I avoid white refined sugar as long as I have the $ for the raw stuff.

    McD, Wendy's, Burger king all those make me so nausea just drive by them the smell they make ICK. I will indulge in either Inn N out, Rubios, one Philbertos (local mexican stands) go there maybe once a week.

    Process food well I will have a bologna or tuna sandwich with chips sometimes for lunch, or if we in a time crunch for dinner. My son loves pizza rolls so I get them ever few months, but routinely I make things mostly from scratch, I will use the assist of a season packet to speed things up (I watch what is in them). I keep some canned veggies around just in case I for some reason run out of everything else to eat, but I stick to frozen Veggies as much as possible. I always opt for the less chemically drenched foods when I can afford it.

    I always watch labels, even on the things I regularly buy (I will take the occasional comparison to some new like item on the market).

    My son was allergic to milk when he was very little, even the minute amounts in bread and crackers would make him sick, so every thing for him was made at him until he was 9 and finally tested clear of the allergy. Also I grew up on a farm where we pretty much grew everything that we ate, other than bread (I don't guess my mom knew how to make it). When I first moved to a city, I nearly starved myself, because the food in grocery stores was so gross, lacked flavor. I am not finicky toward any type of food, I love food and physically it shows, but I do hate chemicals and I can taste them to the point that if I try to make myself eat them I get physically sick, a little nibble is all it takes for me on most process food.

    I full believe that at least 1/2 of American's illnesses are caused by the decades of the polluting our food with all this trash. The is just too much correlation, and some facts to the decline in the health of our society with the increase of the food pollutions. What some companies won't do for $$$ (BTW, when I can manage it I want to get a degree in Nutritional Science, so that I can better advise people on how to have a healthier diet in the American markets and not bust the bank, especially those with conditions like Autism, ADHD, bipolar. They haven't been show YET to be connected to being the cause or if they have it's being kept quiet, but it has been show that it does worsen these and many other health problems from diebetes to chrones disease to heart/liver issues. It's appalling to me, what we don't know and what we The People don't want to know.
    Sorry about the long post, but well food and what we in America are doing to ourselves is a passion of mine.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran


    I full believe that at least 1/2 of American's illnesses are caused by the decades of the polluting our food with all this trash. The is just too much correlation, and some facts to the decline in the health of our society with the increase of the food pollutions. What some companies won't do for $$$ (BTW, when I can manage it I want to get a degree in Nutritional Science, so that I can better advise people on how to have a healthier diet in the American markets and not bust the bank, especially those with conditions like Autism, ADHD, bipolar. They haven't been show YET to be connected to being the cause or if they have it's being kept quiet, but it has been show that it does worsen these and many other health problems from diebetes to chrones disease to heart/liver issues. It's appalling to me, what we don't know and what we The People don't want to know.
    Sorry about the long post, but well food and what we in America are doing to ourselves is a passion of mine.
    More proof that the economic system is screwing everyone over.

    And of course, that's probably not going to change any time soon.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    I full believe that at least 1/2 of American's illnesses are caused by the decades of the polluting our food with all this trash.
    If you watch the Jamie Oliver TED talk over on the meat thread there's a graph showing causes of death in the US and its way over half of the deaths are a result of diet related illnesses.
  • zombiegirlzombiegirl beating the drum of the lifeless in a dry wasteland Veteran
    1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
    3. How many eat processed foods?
    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.
    1. Almost never. I hardly ever choose to get a pop.
    2. Probably once a week at Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell and they are really veg friendly.
    3. Not all the time, but of course, sometimes.
    4. I do read labels and opt out of things with aspartame (something my mother drilled in my head since a child), but I'm not exactly religious with just "added sugars"

    Question: Does anyone here use Stevia as a replacement for sweeteners?
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    Question: Does anyone here use Stevia as a replacement for sweeteners?
    I wonder why the food industry doesn't use Stevia more. I've heard some people say the flavor isn't the same. But diabetes specialists give classes in diabetes prevention and managemet programs on how to use Stevia. I don't cook anything that requires sweetening, so I don't have any personal use for it.

  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited April 2012
    The higher the mineral content of salt, the higher it pushes your blood pressure. So un-iodized salt has very little effect. Tibetan salt and Great Salt Lake salt are the worst. Highly mineralized.
    What are you basing that on? "Salt" does not raise your blood pressure. Excess serum sodium does, and NaCl has the same number of Na atoms regardless of what else is in it. Anything in table salt besides sodium and chlorine is a contaminant, and (very likely) has no effect whatever on your blood pressure. Sodium causes retention of water (the axiom is "water follows salt") by pulling fluid into your blood stream, thereby increasing total blood volume. It raises blood pressure when the amount of sodium in your body is more than what your kidneys can process out. You put more water in the hose and the pressure goes up.
  • Question: Does anyone here use Stevia as a replacement for sweeteners?
    I wonder why the food industry doesn't use Stevia more. I've heard some people say the flavor isn't the same. But diabetes specialists give classes in diabetes prevention and managemet programs on how to use Stevia. I don't cook anything that requires sweetening, so I don't have any personal use for it.
    The jury is still *very* much out on the long term health effects of stevia use. And as a general rule, just because diabetes educators say something doesn't necessarily make it gospel. There is a good bit of ongoing research presently into the effects of 'fooling' your body with artificial sweeteners, regardless of whether they're 'natural' or not. There is a line of thinking, supported by a some pretty good science, that says that part of the obesity epidemic may, ironically, be due to the use of aspartame and other non-sugar sweeteners.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    The higher the mineral content of salt, the higher it pushes your blood pressure. So un-iodized salt has very little effect. Tibetan salt and Great Salt Lake salt are the worst. Highly mineralized.
    What are you basing that on?
    Experience--my own, and my friends'.

  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    The higher the mineral content of salt, the higher it pushes your blood pressure. So un-iodized salt has very little effect. Tibetan salt and Great Salt Lake salt are the worst. Highly mineralized.
    What are you basing that on? "Salt" does not raise your blood pressure. Excess serum sodium does, and NaCl has the same number of Na atoms regardless of what else is in it. Anything in table salt besides sodium and chlorine is a contaminant, and (very likely) has no effect whatever on your blood pressure. Sodium causes retention of water (the axiom is "water follows salt") by pulling fluid into your blood stream, thereby increasing total blood volume. It raises blood pressure when the amount of sodium in your body is more than what your kidneys can process out. You put more water in the hose and the pressure goes up.
    I agree, Mountains. I have high blood pressure and have to watch salt intake all the time. I have some bad days with blood pressure (like yesterday). My doctors (note plural) have always said it's sodium...period. And, you have to have a small amount of salt that is iodized. I'm old enough to remember people with goiters....which pretty much disappeared once we went to iodized salt. I've tried a couple of the different "types" of salt, and it doesn't matter...more salt = higher blood pressure for me.

    Interestingly, along the coast of the Gulf Of Thailand you will see large evaporating ponds where they let in the salty water and then harvest the salt. Quite a sight. But where I'm from in NYS, as a kid I remember seeing the salt mine in the lake at Retson...but that was a mine that actually went down into the salt layers.

  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited April 2012
    San Francisco Bay is full of salt in some parts.
  • 1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?

    sweetened beverages.... I guess it depends on whether you consider the sweet'n low I put in my tea as a sweetener. If so, multiple times daily. If not, I would venture about once a month give-or-take. Soda pop doesn't agree with me the way it once did which is a shame cuz I LOVE Dr. Pepper.

    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?

    I don't eat at any restaurants now since I've gone vegan because of two reasons
    a. I'm too poor most of the time to eat all the foods at the local vegan restaurants. They are just way too steep for a single meal(somewhere between 10 to 15 U.S. dollars for something I would want to eat.)

    3. How many eat processed foods?

    I try to eat as little as possible.

    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.

    I read food labels anyway for other ingredients, but generally I don't notice the sugar in the foods I buy unless it is the only potential offender.
  • 1. How many people here drink soft drinks or other sweetened beverages (this includes "diet" drinks)?
    -No, because they erode the teeth

    2. How many eat at fast food "restaurants"?
    -No, I live frugally.

    3. How many eat processed foods?
    -Try to avoid heavily processed food

    4. How many always read food labels and opt out of foods with added sugar?
    Alcohol is a sugar, but we won't go there on this thread. This thread is a spin-off from the video "person" posted.
    -I don't care about sugar because I don't eat a lot.
  • possibilitiespossibilities PNW, WA State Veteran
    1. none
    2. none
    3. none
    4. read labels often, opt out of sugar
  • zombiegirlzombiegirl beating the drum of the lifeless in a dry wasteland Veteran
    edited April 2012
    Question: Does anyone here use Stevia as a replacement for sweeteners?
    I wonder why the food industry doesn't use Stevia more. I've heard some people say the flavor isn't the same. But diabetes specialists give classes in diabetes prevention and managemet programs on how to use Stevia. I don't cook anything that requires sweetening, so I don't have any personal use for it.
    The jury is still *very* much out on the long term health effects of stevia use. And as a general rule, just because diabetes educators say something doesn't necessarily make it gospel. There is a good bit of ongoing research presently into the effects of 'fooling' your body with artificial sweeteners, regardless of whether they're 'natural' or not. There is a line of thinking, supported by a some pretty good science, that says that part of the obesity epidemic may, ironically, be due to the use of aspartame and other non-sugar sweeteners.
    I'm with you on the artificial sweetener thing, but unsure if Stevia should be lumped with them. It's a different compound altogether and it's hardly a new thing. In Japan, they've been using it for decades, but it dates back centuries in some parts of the world. According to the article linked below, they've done tests but haven't been able to find any definitive answers. Some tests say it can be bad... some say it isn't... typical.

    "In relation to diabetes, studies have shown stevia to have a revitalizing effect on β-cells of pancreas,[10] improve insulin sensitivity in rats,[48] and possibly even to promote additional insulin production,[49] helping to reverse diabetes and metabolic syndrome.[50] Stevia consumed before meals significantly reduced postprandial insulin levels compared to both aspartame and sucrose.[51] A 2011 review study concluded that stevia sweeteners would likely benefit diabetic patients.[52]"

    From Wikipedia:Stevia

    From personal experience, it tastes... different. It's sweet, but not exactly like sugar. But, they say that it takes you 21-30 days before your taste buds adapt to something new.
  • 1. haven't for years (unless 100% fruit juice counts - that is, concentrated fruit juice that is made of fruit only, with else nothing added; that i drink occasionally).
    2. I do eat at those restaurants, although as of now i haven't for over a year probably
    3. i do eat processed foods often.
    4. I always read labels, i don't opt out foods with added sugar. Whether i buy a product or not depends on how sensible i think is for it to have added sugar. Like if i buy candy, i prefer for it to involve sugar instead of the sugar substitutes, that i really know nothing about.


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