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by somenameforme 219 days ago
The catch is that the body likes lots of things that are awful for it. For instance drug abuse isn't limited to humans - some bears have gotten addicted to huffing gas to get high. [1] Quite cute if it wasn't so awful! The big issue is that in modern times a whole bunch of things are going wrong - testosterone levels (adjusted for health/bmi/age) are declining, IQ is declining [2], basically every single psychological disorder is skyrocketing, and much more.

And the reason why isn't clear. So the most likely reason is that we're doing what humanity has done repeatedly and endlessly throughout history and likely accidentally poisoning ourselves with some thing or things -- things that we believe to be completely safe. So a precautionary principle approach to consumption is to consider what we evolved with and sugar definitely wasn't that. Sugar only really took off in the 19th century. And various further refined sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup and other such things only took off in the late 20th century.

[1] - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294757/Bear-ly-con...

[2] - https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a43469569/american-...

1 comments

> So a precautionary principle approach to consumption is to consider what we evolved with and sugar definitely wasn't that. Sugar only really took off in the 19th century.

We have evidence that apiculture has been a thing for well over 8,000 years.

Our bodies literally love to burn glucose as fuel and we perform better physically (and mentally I assume) when glucose is readily available.

We have literally evolved to be sugar burning machines.

Just don’t eat too much of it and you’ll be fine.

You completely missed the point GP was making. Yes, sugar is an easy fuel source. The point is we have NOT evolved to consume massive amounts every day without breaks (i.e. daily) and without lots of fiber to buffer it.
I think you might be the one that’s missing the point. I’m saying some sugar is absolutely fine as part of a balanced diet, this isn’t a controversial point. Excessive calories are bad, whether they’re sugar or anything else.