Don't Eat Sugar. What, Did You Think It Was Good For You?

The American Heart Association came out today with guidelines for sugar consumption. Did you know the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar a day? That's what they say. That means some people eat a whole lot more. No wonder we are all so fat. There are definitely a lot more really fat people around than when I was a kid.

I'm lucky on this one. I don't eat much sugar at all. I'm not much into sugared drinks, pastries or candy. I don't use it much in cooking.

I don't pay much attention to the AMA guidelines. Every decade or so they completely change things around. Remember in the eighties, everybody was supposed to eat a lot of carbs and no fat. In the nineties, no eggs, butter, red meat or whole milk. Brrrrr. They even said avocados were bad for a while. They don't want to seem stupid, so they never really go back and say anything is OK again. At this point, about the only thing they say you're safe with is lower carb veggies and fruit with a lower sugar content, maybe a little bowl of oatmeal with skim milk, in the morning. No grease, except maybe a little olive oil but don't use it to saute or it might hydrogenate on you.

Like most Americans I have adopted my own little mythology of healthy eating that allows me to eat almost whatever I like. Most people do this. I believe that I'm allowed to eat anything that people have been eating pretty much forever. My main no-nos are refined sugars, highly concentrated starches, and hydrogenated oils. I try to watch the salt. All these items are especially prevalent in prepared foods and restaurant fare. I avoid both. Heart disease was fairly rare before the 1920s and all of my no-nos didn't come into common use much before that. So that's my line of reasoning.

I think probably the most important thing is just not to eat very much. If you can stay thin, I don't even think you need to worry too much about exercise. I've seen guys fall over dead of a heart attack at 35, who were health nuts who hardly eat anything and exercise like crazy. All those guys seem to be real high stress type As. So don't worry, be happy.