Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I got this question in the comments the other day:

Hi,
I am type 2 diabetic.May I use organic cane sugar as a sweetener instead of splenda?
Thanks
manoucher

Dear Manoucher,

Firstly, it’s NEVER a good idea to get medical advice from the Internet. My favorite quote from Chasing Windmills is true in every case:

If you trust Google more than your doctor then maybe it’s time to switch doctors.

Jadelr and Cristina Cordova, Chasing Windmills, 08-21-06

That said, it seems the question is whether organic cane sugar will affect a diabetic the same as NORMAL sugar. Can you use organic cane sugar instead of Splenda?

The answer to that question is NO.

Just because something is organic doesn’t automatically mean it’s healthy. Organic cane sugar is still SUGAR. It has the word right in its name. It will effect you the same way as white sugar or high fructose corn syrup or any of the other foods that are restricted for diabetics.

The reason why so many people prefer organic cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup is because they think it TASTES better. I’m not sure whether that’s true or not. Personally, I can’t tell the difference between USA Coca-Cola (made with high fructose corn syrup) and Mexican Coca-Cola (made with cane sugar), but a lot of people say they can tell the difference.

If you’re diabetic, however, organic cane sugar acts exactly the same in your body as beet sugar or corn syrup. They are all simple carbohydrates that break down easily in the body and wreak havoc on insulin levels.

Remember to talk to your doctor, but if you’re diabetic, I think you should stay away from ALL sugars.

Good luck,
Laura Moncur

Back in April of 2007, I wrote an entry about Diet Coke Plus:

• Starling Fitness » Diet Coke Plus

Back then, I said:

Just because they added a few vitamins and minerals doesn’t mean it’s any healthier for you. If you enjoy Diet Coke, don’t bother spending the extra money for this. You don’t need a multi-vitamin in your soda when you eat whole foods in healthy portions.

I still believe that’s true, but it’s supremely pleasing to know that the FDA believes the same thing. Here is a copy of the FDA’s warning letter to Coca-Cola for their product, Diet Coke Plus:

• FDA Warning Letter to Coca-Cola

They are bothered because the word “plus” is supposed to indicate more nutrients than a reference and they didn’t provide that information, but this is even more damning:

Your product Diet Coke Plus is a carbonated beverage. The policy on fortification states that the FDA does not consider it appropriate to fortify snack foods such as carbonated beverages.

It took a year and a half for the FDA to smack down Coca-Cola, but they were eventually able to get them. I’m glad to know that they are doing their best to take care of American consumers.

The BBC has created this BRILLIANT documentary called Super Slim Me. Dawn Porter is a healthy reporter who never had to diet in her life. She looks gorgeous at the beginning of the documentary, hires a team of doctors and nutritionists and embarks on the goal of getting to Size Zero.

She starts with a beautiful 33 inch waist and a VERY healthy BMI of 22. Here is part one:

She sets up a dietary regime with her nutritionist of 500 calories a day. All she eats during the day would look like this:

This is NOT a healthy diet and she knows it. That’s why she has a team of doctors monitoring her progress during this experiment.

Tune in next week to see Part two of the BBC’s Super Slim Me.

The tabloids are in a tizzy about Jessica Simpson. They have decided that only the most anorexic of our stars are worthy of positive attention. Jessica Simpson has finally gotten to a NORMAL weight and they have deemed her “Jumbo Jessica.”

• Curvier Jessica Simpson dukes it out with tabloids – USATODAY.com

The tormenting has gotten so bad that Jessica’s sister, Ashlee, has spoken out:

“I am completely disgusted by the headlines concerning my sister’s weight,” Ashlee Simpson-Wentz said Tuesday on her blog.

“All women come in different shapes, sizes, and forms, and just because you’re a celebrity, there shouldn’t be a different standard.”

When Jessica Simpson was working out four hours a day to get her Daisy Duke figure, the tabloids blasted her for being too thin. They said that she was anorexic. Now that she is a little curvier, they’re calling her fat. Is there anything good enough for the tabloids?

Next time you see those newspapers at the checkout stand, don’t even look at them. Don’t consider buying them. Just pass them on by, because if Jessica Simpson is “Jumbo” what does that make the rest of the women on the planet? Tabloid magazines are just misogyny in action. Don’t let them get any of your money.

Photo via: Curvier Jessica Simpson dukes it out with tabloids – USATODAY.com

Daisy Duke photo via: a pro-ana site for “thinspiration.” NO LINK FOR YOU!

Yesterday, we watched the video for Weight Bias at Home and School, but this one is even MORE important. Weight Bias in Healthcare is FAR more dangerous and pervasive. It doesn’t matter what your ailment, if you go into a doctor as an overweight adult, they will ALWAYS blame your weight and make assumptions about your eating habits.

I’m sure doctors watch this video and think that it’s blown out of proportion, but this is EXACTLY the kind of health “care” I received when I was at my highest weight. If you think that you have been discriminated against by any healthcare professional, don’t go back to them. If it’s a nurse or desk staff, mention it to the doctor, but if the doctor shows the same disregard, find a new one. That’s what I did and now it’s MUCH easier going in for a yearly check up.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: Rudd Center Releases Videos on Weight Bias

The Rudd Center teamed up with super-model Emme to create a series of videos about Weight Bias.

I’ve found that kids tease about a lot of things. If they don’t tease you because you’re fat, they’ll tease you because you’re tall or smart or have green eyes or because your name rhymes with a funny word. TEASING is the problem, no matter what the teasing is about. It’s the first stage of bullying and THAT is what needs to be stopped.

Honestly, some of the worst offenders for weight bias are people who are overweight themselves (or even worse, used to be overweight). I like to think that I’m above this sort of thing, but even now, I catch myself making judgments about overweight people that I see. I won’t even know them. I haven’t even talked to them, but I’ll think that they are lazy or stupid. Catching it in myself and being aware of this is the first step toward getting past it.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: Rudd Center Releases Videos on Weight Bias

This postcard from PostSecret reminds me of how desperate we can all become when we are trying to lose weight.

It reads:

I want to use cocaine again so I can lose this extra weight.

There have been times when I have felt like I have no control over what I eat and I desperately want to lose weight. I’ve never been desperate enough to risk addiction to cocaine, but then again, I’ve never even had access to the stuff. Honestly, I can’t say that I would have been able to stay away from it if I could only lose weight. I was that desperate.

Sometimes it feels like we are willing to do anything EXCEPT eat healthy and exercise. When I follow the WW program, I lose weight. There are plateaus at times, but as long as I stay on the program, my weight goes down. Why would I be willing to risk my life rather than eat healthy? It makes no sense to me.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

This postcard from PostSecret feels different to me now than when I was a teenager.

It reads:

Everyday after lunch with my coworkers, I go to the third floor bathroom and make myself throw it all up.

Years ago, I would have read this and felt so superior to this person with an “eating disorder.” You see, I didn’t think I had an eating disorder. Sure, I ate massive quantities of food for hours in a gorged binge, but I NEVER made myself throw it up.

See? No problems here, right?

It took me YEARS to realize that bingeing, even if I don’t purge afterwards, is an eating disorder. Now, I only wish I could conquer the binge monster.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.

When I saw this ad, it brought back a ton of memories:

This particular ad came from a magazine run in 1990, but they ran this ad for a long time, starting in the late 1980’s. I used to look at this ad and wonder who Cristina Ferrare was. I looked at the before and after picture and was TOTALLY fooled by the different style of clothing hiding the fact that she didn’t lose very much weight.

I never even considered that using Slim Fast might be BAD for me.

When I was a senior in high school, I spent one month eating nothing but Slim Fast. I lost five pounds, but the month-long “fast” ended with a box of Twinkies from the discount bakery store. I still have that weight loss journal today. Days upon days of keeping track of how many Slim Fast shakes I had and then one day where I wrote, “Ate a whole box of Twinkies,” with a big frownie face.

Slim Fast might not cause binges in everyone, but for me, denying myself FOOD made me want to eat all the more.

Ad via: Found in Mom’s Basement: 1990 ad for Slim Fast featuring Cristina Ferrare

This ad for Pepsi shows how food advertisers will say ANYTHING to get you to buy them:

It reads:

Wonderful what a figure can do for a dress.

Those are mighty handsome creations they’re showing in today’s finest dress shop windows and in the stunning pages of our current fashion magazines.

But what fashion editor or window trimmer would even dream of showing them on anything but the typically slender figures of today?

Wonderful what a figure can do for a dress! But just as wonderful what the modern trend to lighter food and drink is doing for the modern figure.

That is the trend with which Pepsi-Cola has kept pace. Reduced in calories, today’s Pepsi is never heavy, never too sweet.

It is the modern, the light refreshment. Refresh without filling. Have a Pepsi.

This ad isn’t a lone rogue out there in the advertising world. Pepsi ran a LONG line of ads like this. You can see them here:

• Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage ad campaign: Pepsi-Cola, 1950s, Part I

• Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage ad campaign: Pepsi-Cola, 1950s, Part II

Considering how many calories Pepsi has, I have no idea how they even considered promoting it as “light refreshment.” I wonder, did anyone actually believe them?

Update 11-25-09: Here is another Pepsi is Light Refreshment ad:

• vintage_ads on LiveJournal