Why cupcakes are the new cocaine-article

[TylerDurden]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/9275056/Why-cupcakes-are-the-new-cocaine.html

[aLptHW4k4y]

Bullshit, how come no one is addicted to plain white sugar?
But somehow everyone is addicted to the sugar in the cupcakes?? I don't see the connection with sugar they are making.

[blackrhino]

I believe white sugar is addictive,but I don't think it's only addictive in cupcakes.

[aLptHW4k4y]

Please start eating some pure sugar and let me know when you get addicted to it
Cupcakes have some water content for sure, I guess we can then say water is addictive too?

Here's some good review of the scientific literature about what may cause addiction in those cupcakes:
http://www.13.waisays.com/zombie.htm
http://www.youngerthanyourage.com/13/cooking.htm

[gc]

I am definitely addicted to water.

My half sister is definitely addicted to sugar. If something doesn't have sugar in it she won't eat it.

[blackrhino]

There are many things that have white sugar in them that drive people nuts,wanting  to indulge.I would say that's an addiction!!

[Dorothy]

Bullshit, how come no one is addicted to plain white sugar?
But somehow everyone is addicted to the sugar in the cupcakes?? I don't see the connection with sugar they are making.

I like this analytical thinking aLp! Cupcakes and minibites have lots of ingredients.
I tend to think that most modern people are addicted to sugar myself - but that doesn't mean we should discard basic logic. Why not say that people are addicted to grain foods mixed with sugar/high fructose corn syrup and lots of fake chemicals? To tell you the truth, I'm so sure that the plain old white sugar is nearly as bad as the new fangled frankenstein sugars that have been developed in recent years or the chemicals that are added that are probably chosen specifically to be addictive and increase appetite. I betcha there is more in that cupcake than meats the eye.

[blackrhino]

i agree,chemicals that are put in place to reap large quantities of money!

[aLptHW4k4y]

How come fruits are not addictive, they are loaded with that same sugar?
I agree Dorothy that saying "the combination of wheat, sugar, water, and other chemicals in cupcakes cooked at high heat is addictive" is much closer to reality, than just saying the problem is sugar.

[jessica]

maybe fruits arent addictive TO YOU
i can eat myself sick on fruit, and have taken it out of my diet for that reason

[aLptHW4k4y]

You must be the first but more likely you're confusing addiction with something else.
Anyway, I've never heard the media writing about addiction to fruits.. unlike cupcakes or cocaine or alcohol or smoking.

[Dorothy]

Ha ha aLp - I betcha we'll never see an article on addiction to fruits in this country! 

I used to say to my husband, "Can you imagine if I walked into AA wanting help with my addiction to cooked foods what would happen?"

For Jessica it really might be an addiction because it doesn't make her feel good in the long-run and yet she has trouble stopping. That's pretty my own definition of addiction - not sure if it's the "right" one - but the one I work for with myself anyway.

[blackrhino]

Thats how i feel,if you know that sugar or too much sugar is bad for you,makes you feel bad,yet you continue to consume it,i would say that im addicted! lol

[Haai]

Bullshit, how come no one is addicted to plain white sugar?
But somehow everyone is addicted to the sugar in the cupcakes?? I don't see the connection with sugar they are making.

When I was a kid I ate plain white sugar straight out of the sugar bowl every day by the table spoonful. Icing sugar was also a favourite of mine.

[HIT_it_RAW]

When I was a kid I ate plain white sugar straight out of the sugar bowl every day by the table spoonful. Icing sugar was also a favourite of mine.

Oh boy thats bad. ques you were a fan of white bread with sugar as well hé.

Kidding aside though i think the article is bang on. For those of you who read the whole thing not just the header, the cupcakes are clearly used as an example here. One can substitute them for anything high in refined sugar. Why would anyone(haai aside) want to get addicted to plain sugar when there are plenty, much more tasty (or disgusting actually) alternatives. Strip all stores of sweet foods except fruit and plain white sugar and i think people will start eating the stuff planly very quikly. It's just that there are easier, tastier, prettier ways to get your sugar kicks nowadays.

Personally i think the 40% figure is a massive underestimation. IMO at least 75% of the western world is severely sugar and starch adicted. starch is probaly even worse. Massive amounts of pasta, bread, (white)rice and dough have completly taking over peoples dietary habbits.

Take a good look around and you will see just about everyone around you tripping on sugar. Living from sugar kick to starch high with deep dips in between.

Thanx for posting the link Tyler.

[Dorothy]

Oh boy thats bad. ques you were a fan of white bread with sugar as well hé.

Kidding aside though i think the article is bang on. For those of you who read the whole thing not just the header, the cupcakes are clearly used as an example here. One can substitute them for anything high in refined sugar. Why would anyone(haai aside) want to get addicted to plain sugar when there are plenty, much more tasty (or disgusting actually) alternatives. Strip all stores of sweet foods except fruit and plain white sugar and i think people will start eating the stuff planly very quikly. It's just that there are easier, tastier, prettier ways to get your sugar kicks nowadays.

Personally i think the 40% figure is a massive underestimation. IMO at least 75% of the western world is severely sugar and starch adicted. starch is probaly even worse. Massive amounts of pasta, bread, (white)rice and dough have completly taking over peoples dietary habbits.

Take a good look around and you will see just about everyone around you tripping on sugar. Living from sugar kick to starch high with deep dips in between.

Thanx for posting the link Tyler.

Oh - but I DID read it and the thing that stood out is that they didn't talk about the starch! They didn't mention that every example also included grains and all sorts of of other nasty things in them.

It's this thing that happens with people - they see a cupcake, a doughnut, mini-bites, brownies - anything sweet and put it into the category of "sugar" - when it's not just sugar.

I'm totally with you that the addiction is rampant and the article is spot on in so many ways - it's just that it narrows the addiction to things sweetened with sugar when it is really a bigger addiction cycle. It's more like grains, fat, sugar and salt. Every single one of those "sweets" he mentioned also contained grains - but the article isn't saying that we are all addicted to grains is it? Knock out the grains, the fat, the salt and the addictive chemical and how many people do you think would be choosing like Haii to put their fingers in plain sugar and eat it compared to the rampant addiction that we see?

Grains aren't implicated because they are more of a sacred cow than sugar right now in our culture. People are getting ready to see sugar as something that they do when they are bad, but not that many are ready to think that about spaghetti.

[HIT_it_RAW]

Although I fully agree that starches and in particular grains are much worse and also very addictive I still think refined sugar is also very very addictive.

Grains are indeed held in high regard for some reason and it is very possible that addiction plays a large roll
In general I think carbs are addictive which probably has something to do with their  limited availability in palea times

[Dorothy]

Right! In paleo times it was really hard to come by fruit and seeds/grains. I remember the first time I found an almond fruit on the beach and tried to get out the seed. It took me over half an hour with a stone and the nut was so tiny. Out of the tropics, fruit is so very hard to come by and even in the tropics it aint easy. Salt is another one that is so very rare in the wild. Come to think of it - not much was all that easy to come by in paleo times was it? lol 

[HIT_it_RAW]

Come to think of it - not much was all that easy to come by in paleo times was it? lol 

lol. you're right. although it is terribly easy to "harvest" a whole bunch of insects very quick. That would be an easy meal, just not an appetizing one. oh wel who knows never tried raw spider snail worms etc. Come to think of it with my current earthworm population i dont have to startev anytime soon 

[Dorothy]

Yeppers! I bet paleo peeps ate lots of bugs. I haven't gotten myself to do that either yet. But my chickens would probably win the fight if it came to finding bugs in my yard.

I washed down a nest of wasps from the awning near the entrance to the yard and the chickens swarmed it. They eat scorpions. Where I get eaten - they eat.

Much more practical than almonds. 

[blackrhino]

Your own chickens?Dor,very convient.

[Dorothy]

Ha! Convenient would be a store that had good enough eggs for me! With building the coop, making a contraption with "chicken nipples" so they have fresh filtered water all the time, growing them bugs, sprouting them seeds, ordering them slankers, putting them to roost, having them all fly at me whenever I walk out the door - I'm not sure convenient would be the word to use! Fun, cute and nutritious definitely.

[Alive]

Jessica - how about just eating small amounts of fruit?


"60 Minutes NZ May 6 - Not So Sweet
Is sugar poisonous? New research coming out of some of America's most respected institutions is starting to find that sugar is a toxin and could be a driving force behind some of the Western world’s leading killers, including heart disease.

Sanjay Gupta reports on this research, showing that beyond weight gain, sugar may also take a serious toll on your health, worsening conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n&tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.8
"

[jessica]

even small amounts of fruit send my system into a craze, and then i want more and i eat more because my blood sugar is out of control.  fruit sugars really aggrivate my system, i feel like i have some powerful yeasties lurking away just waiting for the right fuel.  i have always been sensitive to sugars tho, and binged on them even as a little kid to the point of sickness because i never felt full or energy from them just the desire to eat more and more.  also dealt with alcoholism in the past and in my youth, addict all around

[Alive]

J - what is your normal diet?