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Comment by sillysaurus2 | Hacker News Reader

Doughnuts, one of my favorite foods, can be part of a healthy diet

Can they?

If you start from the assumption that sugar is a poison, then you'd probably say no. That seems like begging the question to me, though.

If you examine the diets of healthy people, you'll see that some of them eat donuts occasionally. That would seem to indicate yes.

I'd argue almost anything can be part of a healthy diet, when consumed in moderation. But in itself, there really is nothing in a doughnut your body needs, except energy. I wouldn't even call it 'food' in the sense that you eat it because your body needs it.

The OP seems to make a really big point out of justifying sugar as 'not a toxin' just because you can consume sugar without killing yourself or instantly getting fat. There's probably some denial and 'I like eating sugar' sentiment going on there or something.

I didn't find any convincing arguments as to why adding sugar to processed food, or consciously consuming suger because you think you need it is warranted. Alcohol can be part of healthy diet as well, or motor oil, for that matter. That doesn't mean these things are healthy, or that there aren't any health benefits not consuming those.

Sugar is a simplex carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are a nutrient. Your body needs nutrients.

Alcohol is not a nutrient.

That doesn't make sense, your body needs minerals as well but that doesn't mean you have to eat dirt, rust, or chalk. As far as nutritional value goes, sugar is one of the least healthy sources of energy, especially in its refined form (which is what this article is about). Mankind evolved through millions of years without even having access to refined sugar.

Also, how is alcohol less of a nutrient than sugar? It gets metabolised to carbohydrates your body can use as energy, store as fat, etc. Apart from the fact there's an extra metabolic step required to convert them to carbohydrates your body can burn as fuel, there isn't much difference compared to sugar, at least not from a nutritional point of view (obviously this says nothing about other health effects alcohol has).

You need minerals. You get minerals from food. Those minerals are in a bioavailable form. Eati g dirt or rust or chalk isn't useful because the minerals contained by those items are not so bioavailable and they contain far more minerals than are needed.

You're totally right about sugar being a problematic source of energy. A thin spread of honey on toast? Tasty and not so bad. A fistful of sugar in a drink twice a day every day? Obviously really bad.

One of the problems with the "sugar is toxic" mantra is that we risk making the same mistake as that "fat is evil" crowd. Selling a sack of sugar (sweets / candy) as "FAT FREE!" Is obviously really bad.

Alcohol isn't a nutrient, but the carbohydrates it provides are. But alcohol is actually toxic.

There's not a dietitian on this planet that when asked to define a "healthy diet" would include donuts. This guy is living in denial if he honestly think this.

You're assuming the healthy diet concept is entirely prescriptive, in that there's a List of Healthy Things to Eat which thou must not deviate from. That's not how dietitians approach it. It mostly revolves around ensuring your macro and micro nutrient intake keeps to certain levels determined largely by your activity level.

Actually, any dietician who knows their stuff and isn't trying you sell you something on comission will allow for a "healthy diet" to include pretty much anything you want in sensible amounts. Because they know that people aren't going to stick to a diet that completely bans their favorit foods.

Yes. They can be the unhealthy minority in an otherwise healthy diet.

I didn't think he was advocating eating only doughnuts. Doughnuts are great, unless you eat nothing but doughnuts, in which case the diet is not particularly balanced, nor is it healthy.

If it's ok to otherwise eat responsibly but allow oneself one doughnut a week—and I think that this is ok—then yes, they can.

Personally, I eat a lower-carb diet of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, and other healthy foods most of the time. A few times a year I have a doughnut. Do I have an unhealthy diet because of that?

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