From skwigg's journal:
So, I watched That Sugar Film. It's an Australian Documentary where a healthy guy gives himself fatty liver and prediabetes in only six weeks of eating the same amount of sugar as average Australians, which is 40 teaspoons per day. The main reason I enjoyed the documentary and didn't just shake my head and call him a moron is that he did this while consuming NO candy, soda, ice cream, or cookies. He ate "healthy" foods like juice, yogurt, granola bars, and fruit smoothies.
I think it was of interest to me right now because I have a friend trying to figure out why her health numbers have recently gone rogue, and because I remember when mine did. There was a time in my mid-twenties when I watched my total cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, and triglycerides all spike rather alarmingly even though I was an "ideal" weight and eating low-fat everything. However, I was eating primarily what the guy in the documentary was eating: orange juice, breakfast cereal, granola bars, frozen waffles, frozen entrees, fruit roll-ups, sports drinks, that kind of thing, plus low-fat frozen yogurt, low-fat cookies, low-fat candy.
My sugar thought was that I probably consume less of it now that I bake cupcakes, eat candy bars, and drink real soda. :-) The intake has become intentional and obvious rather than accidental and hidden. I used to slam added sugar all day and not even realize. Now, much of that has been displaced by cheese, chicken skin, avocado, and almonds, oh, and plants. Previously, I didn't consume many of those, even as a vegetarian. I was more like a bread-atarian.
I don't think processed foods with added sugar are bad or to be avoided, but I sure feel better and have better health markers when they're part of my diet and not the whole thing. It kind of goes back to balance for me, not high or low anything, nothing off limits, plenty of whole foods, no extremes. That has worked far better than any of my schemes to eliminate villain foods or macros, which only ever resulted in worse health/moods/energy.