Pour Some Sugar On It

Fine, indeed!

A old and very good friend of mine, who I am now Facebook friends with, posts regularly about the dangers of sugar.  Her posts are usually dotted with liberal  heapings of exclamation points and capital letters. It will usually say something like:  SUGAR IS TOXIC!!!!!.  IT WILL AGE YOU!!!  IT WILL KILL YOUR ORGANS!!!  And it will then link to some study which backs up these findings.

It is no coincidence that my dear, sugarless friend lives in the city and is, officially, a Lady Who Lunches.  She's a lovely person, inside and out.  And as for her sedentary lifestyle, I'm sure adding too much sugar would have negative health consequences, since she doesn't do much to burn it off, except tote shopping bags around town.  But the Hot Flash Homestead runs on sugar, let me tell you.  And I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Yesterday, for instance, during my 4,000 pound rock-moving exercise, I took a break about halfway through the morning, utterly fatigued and hungry.  I wasn't craving protein or carbs -- those would come later, at lunch.  I wanted something sweet.  And as my oldest son just happened to bring me some Ghiradelli chocolates during his whistle-stop visit, I dove into a bar of caramel/dark chocolate and demolished about 3/4ths of it, before returning to moving rocks.

The calories in that bar were consumed so quickly I'm pretty sure my organs did not even get the chance to recognize they were being provided by sugar.

My motivator, my muse and my love

I used to be the same way when I would backpack through the Sierras when I was younger.  Most backpackers carry Trail Mix with them, to munch on as they walk, because hefting a 50-pound pack up 2,000 feet to steep switchbacks pretty much requires a constant fuel source if you want to do it and still feel good enough to enjoy the scenery.  But I am allergic to nuts, so Trail Mix was never an option for me.  I chose things like M&M's and beef jerky instead. They didn't replace meals, they were eaten all day in addition to meals.  And since I would regularly return from those weeklong trips 10 pounds lighter than when I left, I don't think the M&M's had any lasting ill-effects.

Just like any medication, food or environment, I think different people's individual metabolism handles things different ways. Antibiotics that I can't tolerate, you may be able to take with no trouble.  Food that I love may do wonky things to your intestines, or give you a rash, or a migraine.  

No, indeed, I think while there are some general guidelines you could post on your Facebook wall that would hold true for everyone (DRINKING ANTIFREEZE IS TOXIC!!!!) I would say that generalizations about sugar, gluten, carbs, caffeine or protein are probably individual matters, best left to the judgement of you and you and your individual body.