First of all, carbs! Pasta! Turduken! My DH came up with "terduckenefork" -- turkey in a duck in a chichen in a cow in pork...he was joking, of course...
Anyways!
I'm so confused!!! Since when did everything "natural" become best for our bodies? Re: the sugar debate -- unripe green potatoes are NATURAL and poisonous. Vitamin D supplements are CHEMICALS and beneficial. Sugar is REFINED but not poisonous. Saccharin is a CHEMICAL and poisonous in large amounts.
I think there is a huge myth out there that any refined sugar at all is somehow BAD BAD BAD in and of itself. I don't know why this is. IF overeaten, or added to foods, it may create the desire to eat more and create obesity, but in and of itself, it is NOT poisonous.
Here is a list of just SOME NATURALLY and POISONOUS foods:
The stones and pips of apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, apples and pears all contain glycosides which if eaten release potentially lethal doses of cyanide.
The leaves of rhubarb contain large quantities of oxalic acid, which interferes with calcium absorption.
Many plants of the cabbage family have a tendency to prevent iodine from being used to replenish the body's thyroid hormones. In some parts of the world where iodine levels are low (a long way from the sea) this is a problem.
Green potatoes are lethal, thanks to the poison solanine which potatoes share with other members of their botanical family, deadly nightshade and henbane.
The tomato, every part of which is highly poisonous, except the fruit.
Honey from rhododendrons is highly toxic.
Fugu, the blow fish (puffer fish) the liver of which contains a poison so deadly it has been said that 'the element of risk in eating fugu may be one of the reasons why the dish is so popular with Japanese gourmets'.
Then there is cyanide in cassava and almonds (there are official limits for cyanide concentration in marzipan!).
The amines in cheese, chocolate, sauerkraut, and wine, tyramine, histamine serotonin, can cause unpleasant reactions in many people.
Given the cyanide content in almonds, and hoping I can avoid honey made from rhododendrons (a NATURAL sweetner, to boot!), I'll take a tsp or 2 of white or brown sugar any day...
lol you should see what they fry at the state fairs in the Southern US...snicker bars, twinkies, if they can put batter on it they will fry it!
LOL, my personal favorite is fried ice cream at the local "Apple Festival" every fall... You wouldn't think that it would be possible to deep fry the ice cream without it melting, but I tell ya, they work miracles with that stuff!
Not gonna lie, though; I've eaten it, and although I literally felt like I could taste all of the fat and yuckiness sliding down my throat and clogging my arteries (or depositing itself on my arms/thighs/waist ), it WAS pretty darn delicious! I just don't think I'd recommend it as a food that's fit for everyday consumption. I guess ya hafta admit, going to carnivals/fairs totally changes a person's attitudes towards food--something that would normally seem absolutely disgusting is suddenly a perfectly normal thing to eat! So despite the fact that right now I might think that a fried Twinkie sounds like the last thing in the world I would ever want to eat, I bet if I were in that atmosphere I'd be the first one in line to try it! Though I think I could only finish a little less than half of my fried ice cream before I thought, Hooookay, I think that's enough for now! Hehe!
How DO they deep-fry ice cream? I always thought they just coated it with crushed cereal or graham cracker crumbs so it looked fried; I didn't realize it actually was fried somehow... I'm repulsed and intrigued at the same time...
REALLY frozen ice cream block, dipped in donut-type batter, rolled in crushed cereal, thrown in a hot oil bath to crisp up the outside while keeping the inside frozen and cold. It doesn't take long in the hot oil because you are only trying to cook the outside (vice, say, french fries, that you want cooked through and through).
They do the same to Mars bars in Scotland (except they are only battered and deep-fried, not rolled in crushed cereal...)...
Kira
After reading all those posts about fried ice cream, fried candy bars, etc, I found myself compelled to add an extra twenty minutes to my walk this morning.
OH, and getting back to the original topic of this thread, last night I saw the commercial for the pasta bread bowls for the first time. OMFG those things don't even look good! It looks like an entire loaf of bread vomited down it's own shirtfront. EEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!
Last edited by freshmanweightorbust; 05-01-2009 at 11:36 AM.
Umm, how can you even compare natural sugar to cocaine? Seriously?
Qualities that sugar and cocaine share:
-- They are refined from plants, via chemical process.
-- They are physiologically addictive, as shown by scientific experiment.
-- They are psychologically addictive.
-- Many people have ruined their lives and bodies on these substances.
-- They are highly profitable.
Some other substances that share these qualities are heroin and alcohol.
Other than the fact that sugar is legal (and supported by government funding) and cocaine is not, there are no actual differences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Newlywed
But is it really that big of a deal, calm down its not like someone has tied you down and is forcing the thing down your throat.
I don't use sugar, so yes, obviously no one is forcing it down my throat. But that is not the point. The point, as I have stated previously, is that we let sugar off the hook rather than recognizing it as a potentially dangerous drug because we like it. We allow our government to subsidize massive production and consumption of sugar (and HFCS), at huge profit to private industry, at the cost of American health, because we like it.
So I went to go see what the Domino's pasta bowls look like based on the commercial. There were 2 pictures, one of a puff pastry (which looked good) and one on their website (which doesn't look so good). The one on their website looks like a deep dish pizza filled with pasta. I never liked Domino's though so even the puff pastry probably isn't something I would've ever tried.
I don't use sugar, so yes, obviously no one is forcing it down my throat. But that is not the point. The point, as I have stated previously, is that we let sugar off the hook rather than recognizing it as a potentially dangerous drug because we like it. We allow our government to subsidize massive production and consumption of sugar (and HFCS), at huge profit to private industry, at the cost of American health, because we like it.
The same could be said about many other industries as well. Look at the dairy industry...
I don't use sugar either but I do eat natural sugars like fruits, beets, carrots, etc.
Sugar is not a drug! It is SO NOT evil! It is an easy target for alot of people who find that their eating issues are triggered by sweets. I've NEVER heard of anyone being arrested for driving while under the influence of jujubes! I HAVE heard of the Twinkie defense, which involved the presentation of the consumption of junk food as a SYMPTOM of underlying psychiatric issues (NOT the cause)...If you ARE triggered by sweets, then of COURSE you'll see sugar as the devil, but it is hardly a drug being pushed by corporate America with the complicity of the government to enslave the people!
Honestly...
JMHO...
Kira
Y'all might actually want to do some background reading into these issues, in the scientific literature and responsible journalism. Specifically, try reading Michael Pollan and/or Eric Schlosser for insight into government subsides and corporate profits, and how those affect food supply and thusly American obesity.
Of course, you're also welcome to retain your opinions without reliance on research, and react to other views as if the poster is insane. Your free choice.
Of COURSE corporations who make and sell food do so for profit. Of COURSE these groups maximize their appeal with respect to food components. Of COURSE alot of food sold today isn't food.
But sugar is not a drug, nor is it the devil! Any more than Kraft Dinner is. Or pizza. (MMMmm, PIZZA...) We all have free choice in the matter! If you eat too much of anything and develop a weight issue, it isn't the fault of sugar, corporate America, nor the government. It IS the fault of my right hand that holds the fork...
JMHO
Kira
I guess ya hafta admit, going to carnivals/fairs totally changes a person's attitudes towards food--something that would normally seem absolutely disgusting is suddenly a perfectly normal thing to eat! 
So despite the fact that right now I might think that a fried Twinkie sounds like the last thing in the world I would ever want to eat, I bet if I were in that atmosphere I'd be the first one in line to try it! 
Though I think I could only finish a little less than half of my fried ice cream before I thought, Hooookay, I think that's enough for now! Hehe! 
