> 2. The vast majority of calories come from carbohydrates.
Yes. Sugar is the enemy. It's ironic that so many substances are regulated or flat-out prohibited and not sugar or sodas. HFCS should be outlawed, and sodas regulated like alcohol (no sales to minors, bulk sales limited, etc.)
Also, the obsession with fats and the whole industry of low-fat food needs to be dealt with, as, obviously, when the proportion of fat decreases, the proportions of the other components rise.
Sugar is not the enemy, sugars are just a highly efficient mechanism for providing easily assimilated biochemical energy.
The problem is over-consumption of refined sugars. This is a problem because the results of sugar metabolism (particularly fructose) are highly reactive (which is why they are so easy to metabolize), and can mess up your biochemistry by reacting with proteins and other macromolecules. The phytochemicals in plant sugar sources seem to reduce the biochemical side reactions of sugar metabolism which is probably why the plants synthesize many of them in the first place.
Refined sugars tend to spike the concentration of sugar in your body, leading to more possibility for reactions. Secondly, without the phytochemical stabilizers, the incidence of side-reactions is greater.
The body is a complex system, we need to stop trying to analyze it as if it were linear and reducible.
Agreed; it seems that we are not, as a species, capable of withstanding the lure of sugary sweetness. The problem is compounded by our culture of instant gratification.
The theory that the problem is sugar – and not fat – does line up pretty well with available evidence.
I don't think the answer to the DEA's misguided paternalism is more paternalism. The inconsistency you've hit on is real, but the solution we should be fighting for is to make more things legal, not illegal. I don't want the government dictating how much I'm allowed to enjoy myself or how fast I'm allowed to die (nothing should be outlawed solely because it has a chance of shortening my lifespan). I deserve the right to choose what I put in my own body. I deserve the right to be as healthy or unhealthy as I want to be.
Yes. Sugar is the enemy. It's ironic that so many substances are regulated or flat-out prohibited and not sugar or sodas. HFCS should be outlawed, and sodas regulated like alcohol (no sales to minors, bulk sales limited, etc.)
Also, the obsession with fats and the whole industry of low-fat food needs to be dealt with, as, obviously, when the proportion of fat decreases, the proportions of the other components rise.