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Comment by rubicon33 | Hacker News Reader

I wish someone could explain in detail what EXACTLY is meant by "sugar". It's become an overloaded term.

When we say sugar, do we JUST mean refined, processed, isolated sugars of the likes of candy bars, sodas, etc?

Or do we mean carbohydrates in general, which are broken down by enzymes in our saliva (amylase) into sugars?

If the latter then can we conclude carbohydrates in general are cancer causing? I'm no biologist, or medical professional, so this all gets really confusing when you start thinking beyond the simple "sugar is bad" assertion.

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Of the people I know who have been on a sugar-free diet, all of them continued to eat carrots, even though carrots have an interesting amount of sugar.

http://www.sugarstacks.com/carrots.htm

So when people say they're on a sugar-free diet, I interpret that to mean they are avoiding refined sugars.

Yeah I guess it depends on what kind of diet it is, but most people on a keto diet will avoid sweet vegetables like carrots, corn, etc.

The total amount of sugar is less important than the glycemic load and the insulin response caused. Carrots are high in fibre.

"The glycemic index is a value assigned to foods based on how slowly or how quickly those foods cause increases in blood glucose levels" [1]

Coca Cola® (63) vs Carrots (39). Higher is worse.

[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glyce...

Coca Cola® (63) vs White Rice (72). Higher is worse. By using that logic, chicken nuggets and Pizza Hut beat plain potatoes. Clearly not a good recipe for a healthy diet.

Both pizza and chicken nuggets are higher in fat and protein so don't spike insulin or blood glucose levels. The preservatives and additives make the Pizza Hut pizza and frozen chicken nuggets unhealthy for other reasons.

If you were making your own baked chicken nuggets or pizza from quality ingredients then they are definitely healthier than potatoes or white rice, assuming the calorie intake was the same.

This is counter-intuitive to most people because of all the misinformation around the benefits of a low-fat diet [1].

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24945404-the-obesity-cod...

Refined sugar is the worst and refined carbohydrates are not that much better. I found that Dr. Fung's book and videos are the most informative and most scientific explanations of these concepts [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKC3hiyLeRc

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