Soda = Poison

I think aspartame is just in diet sodas seeing as how it's an artificial sweetener. And as with saccharine, there wont be any side effects unless you ingest ridiculous amounts of it, which will be hard to get from soda since it has fairly low levels of it. Just drink regular soda in moderation, sugar isn't in any way bad for you aside from supplying empty calories.

I knew someone would say that, do you have any evidence for it? In a nutrition class I took, we learned that sugar has no direct link to developing diabetes. Obesity has been linked to diabetes and high sugar diets tend to be higher in calories which can lead to obesity, but that's no different from any other high calorie diet. The belief that sugar directly causes diabetes is just a misconception that pops up a lot because of the importance of regulating sugar intake in diabetics' diets.

As I mentioned, high sugar diets tend to be high in calories, which results in obesity which is considered to be one of two main risk factors for the development of diabetes (the other being genetics).

Saying that sugar causes diabetes because diabetes becomes more common when sugary foods are introduced to a society is like saying that cleanliness causes polio. Sure, polio spread like crazy in the 20th century when there was an increase in emphasis on sanitation, but they aren't directly linked. Polio already existed and could infect people, but it wasn't until a generation with notably weaker immune systems because of a lesser exposure to various bacteria and viruses. Polio became an epidemic because people didn't have immune systems equipped to properly deal with it which was due to increased cleanliness. Cleanliness can lead to a weaker immune system which can lead to an increased risk of polio, but that doesn't mean cleanliness causes polio. In the same way, high sugar diets are often high in calories, high calorie diets increase the risk of obesity, obesity increases the risk of developing diabetes but sugar itself doesn't cause diabetes.

People with diabetes need to be careful about their sugar intake, no doubt about that. People with type 1 will need medication regularly no matter what dietary or other lifestyle changes they make. People with type 2 can generally manage it with diet and exorcise depending on the severity of it. The reason for it being that weight loss can trigger an increase in insulin sensitivity.

I agree that people shouldn't consume too much sugar because it is just extra calories without any nutritional benefit, but it isn't dangerous in moderation. As tsujoi demonstrated with the example of caffeine, just about anything can be dangerous in excess. For example, people can also overdose on plain 'ol water. Too much water can through off the balance in the brain, hindering the electro-chemical process in it. Many people have been put into comas and/or died as a result of drinking ridiculous amounts of water in a short period of time in order to get a high produced by hindering the electro-chemical reactions in the brain.

But sugar does not = high calorie. High amounts of sugar=high calories. High calories does not = obesity. High calories can = higher risk of obesity when you don't use those calories but store them instead. Obesity does not = diabetes. Obesity = higher risk of obesity.

Sugar, like other carbs or protein, has 4 calories per gram. Sugar basically just adds more calories without adding nutrients.



Precisely. :D

So you were just pointing out that anything with calories can be indirectly associated with the development of diabetes? Well yes it does play some role, just the same as any other ingredient in our food that contains calories.

I've never heard of that. Do you have a source to back it up? I wouldn't be surprised if diabetes became much more common as sugar was increasing added into people's diets, but that would be just because of extra calories from excess food in general, not specifically anything to do with sugar itself. Sugar has always been a luxury item, normally when civilizations have had a lot of sugary food, it was/is while having a general excess of food.

The American Diabetes Association lists it as a myth that too much sugar causes diabetes and that the only threat from too much sugar(regarding diabetes at least) is obesity, which is a risk factor for developing diabetes. http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-myths.jsp

Personally I've never seen any evidence directly linking diabetes to excess sugar intake. Of course you can indirectly associate excess sugar, or any other excess food containing any calories, to it by saying it increases the risk of obesity which in turn increases the risk of developing diabetes.

Well to clarify, I'm in no way arguing that low-carb/ low-sugar diets aren't effective in the treatment of diabetes. The point I was trying to make is that sugar is not directly linked to the development of diabetes. Of course low-carb diets are useful in managing diabetes and in the case of type 2(the more common version) moderate exercise and a low-carb low-sugar diet can virtually eliminate the need for medication, which is why thats exactly what any doctor will suggest it. The usefulness of such diets in treating diabetes isn't just your opinion Minsc, it really is fact, scientifically proven by mountains of evidence.

And you probably shouldn't be too quick to refer to sugar directly influencing the development of diabetes as an "obvious myth". While it is a myth, it's extremely common, perhaps even believed by the majority of people.

The point I was trying to make in response to the comment about sugar being linked to the development of diabetes is that sugar is no different then any other source of calories(aside from maybe fat, but thats going into something entirely different) when considering the development of it, not to be confused with the treatment.

The part I was asking evidence for wasn't the comment about low-carb/low-sugar diets, but rather the comment about diabetes being non-existent before sugar became widespread. While diabetes probably wasn't well understood or named until later, it was likely to have existed long before. There's really no reason why it wouldn't seeing as how it isn't a bacteria or virus that causes it, but rather a failure of the body, made more likely in some individuals due to genetics and/or obesity. There have been obese people all throughout history in any civilization where someone had more food then they really needed.

Perhaps my initial comment about sugar being harmless aside from being an empty source of calories should have included a disclaimer "assuming the individual is not diabetic or otherwise troubled by some medical condition that may be effected by sugar intake". I had thought such a disclaimer were unnecessary under the assumption that I was referring to people of normal health.