Siúcra, Special K, Sky News... Anger Rising

ApeXaviour

Siúcra
I have in my hand a bag of Siúcra sugar. On the back is a lovely little schpeel emphasised in a flowery feminine font that goes:

"Weight Loss
Research shows that including sugar as part of a weight reducing diet can help people to lose more weight than if the eliminated it completely. People are more likely to stick to a diet if they enjoy the food that they eat. Including some low fat sugary foods reduces feelings of denial and may improve slimmers quality of life."

There are so many... many things wrong with the above sentence, I feel a helpless with frustration.

Special K
I'm not sure how they do it. It's like they're illusionists, they've pulled the aul switcheroo and managed to successfully market crappy JUNK FOOD and somehow made people believe that it will make you lean.

Sky News
Saw a lovely little report there, suspiciously well timed a few days before easter, on how chocolate is "actually" good for you. "Belgian research" was very loosely referred and the the word flavanoids was thrown in there once for the token science bonus. Now while we know dark chocolate > milk chocolate etc. less sugar is always good, and sure if there's a few anti-oxidants then why not right?
The distinction the report made was that more expensive chocolates were better, reducing heart attacks by "39%", then showed a selection from thorntons or somewhere of white, brown, and fluffy looking sweets.
"Some chocolates even count towards your five a day as they contain real fruit!"
They proceeded to interview someone from behind the counter of one of these upmarket chocolate shops. Her expert opinion was that the more expensive chocolates were indeed healthier...
"The good news is the more you eat, the better!" :eek:
The reporter went on to close by saying: "Will they taste as good now that we know they're good for us? *chomp chomp* Of course they will"

Something fishy there... Rupert murdock probably owns stock in some high end chocolate companies, or at least is getting kick-backs from those who do.

I'm all for capitalism, but does anyone else think there should be much stricter rules on grossly misleading information such as this? Something like The Anti-Hoodwinking Regulatory Board that prevents the overt duping of consumers. Where actual humans make interpretations of how misleading something is. They had it for years with the censorship board, this is something that would actually be worth doing.

Sapsorrow

Worlds full of w*nkers, probably best to give up on it now and go live in a cave somewhere in Spain and live off wild olives and the likes for the rest of our lives and pretend non of it's real!

jam_mac_jam

That Special K thing has always driven me mad, those f**kers, I dont know how they are able to claim that.

banquet

Yeah it makes me mad. The thing that really pisses me off is sports drinks. People think that ANY bit of exercise they do needs to be accompanied by a sports drink. They seem to be under the impression its not just sugar and water but rather some miracle formula that gets you on the leinster squad. "keeps top athletes going longer" Your not a top athlete, drink some water.

How Strange

banquet wrote: »

Yeah it makes me mad. The thing that really pisses me off is sports drinks. People think that ANY bit of exercise they do needs to be accompanied by a sports drink. They seem to be under the impression its not just sugar and water but rather some miracle formula that gets you on the leinster squad. "keeps top athletes going longer" Your not a top athlete, drink some water.

Totally agree.

I ran the Dublin marathon 08 and trained but had to drop out for 09. In 08 I used those energy drinks and the gels for 08 because as a novice runner you're kind of made believe that you need them otherwise you won't have any energy for long distance. In 09 I used to hydrate in the days before i.e. drink water, then I'd run 10 miles drink some water and for the last 8-10 miles I'd bring 25ml of lucozade sport with me as a back up. Sometimes I wouldn't drink it.

Watching people run the marathon in 09 I was amazed at the amount of gels people had with them. Some people had 10 gels! IMO it's 90% a marketing thing as your body doesn't need that much sugar. Yes, it needs some sugar and electrolytes if you're running long distance but a gulp here and there is enough if you've hydrated beforehand.

I've seen people gulp back a full bottle of sports drink before a 5k run because they're convinced they wouldn't be able to run it otherwise. What they don't realise is they are piling on unnecessary calories.

HxGH

Not to worry.

I'm more of a muesli fella anyway.

El_Dangeroso

Don't get me started!! My OH is always reminding me that the people can't hear me when I'm shouting at the telly:D

My pet peeve is how they get away with making blatent medical claims without ever having to be independently evaluated.

'Lowers cholesterol', 'Improves digestion' etc..

The irony of Flora being advertised as 'heart healthy' despite evidence that vegetable oil increases the proportion of oxidised LDL, a very potent risk factor for heart disease. Unilever (maker of flora) even funded this recent study:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8580899.stm

Which is scientific corruption of the highest order, here's why:

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/03/leave-your-brain-at-door.html

And those activia ads where they show the good bacteria 'plugging' holes in the intestines, WTF? Colons do not work that way!!

It's really not worth the raise in blood pressure!

Pembily

banquet wrote: »

Yeah it makes me mad. The thing that really pisses me off is sports drinks. People think that ANY bit of exercise they do needs to be accompanied by a sports drink. They seem to be under the impression its not just sugar and water but rather some miracle formula that gets you on the leinster squad. "keeps top athletes going longer" Your not a top athlete, drink some water.

I am in college with a semi professional rugby player who says they are told sports drinks are way better than water and nutrigrain bars are the best for energy!!!

Oh I wish they knew the truth :rolleyes:

jam_mac_jam

Pembily wrote: »

I am in college with a semi professional rugby player who says they are told sports drinks are way better than water and nutrigrain bars are the best for energy!!!

Oh I wish they knew the truth :rolleyes:

That is so stupid, my son was playing rugby at under 13 level and they were told not to drink any fizzy drinks, including sports drinks, they were not able to have them only water. It was great because he would listen to coach while not me so much, a joke that they think they are good at that level.

banquet

Pembily wrote: »

I am in college with a semi professional rugby player who says they are told sports drinks are way better than water and nutrigrain bars are the best for energy!!!

Oh I wish they knew the truth :rolleyes:

Yeah nutrigrain bars are pretty good but powersauce bars unlock your true potential.

GSOIRL

In regards to rugby players and nutrigrain bars. The players (Well definately from at least one of the Pro Irish teams) are told NOT to eat them. They just stand beside them for photos.

Pembily

GSOIRL wrote: »

In regards to rugby players and nutrigrain bars. The players (Well definately from at least one of the Pro Irish teams) are told NOT to eat them. They just stand beside them for photos.

Then why were they saying that the Irish team would eat 6,000 nutrigrain bars over the course of the 6 Nations?

Davei141

Pembily wrote: »

Then why were they saying that the Irish team would eat 6,000 nutrigrain bars over the course of the 6 Nations?

Eh because they are paid to say that?

EileenG

Pembily wrote: »

I am in college with a semi professional rugby player who says they are told sports drinks are way better than water and nutrigrain bars are the best for energy!!!

Oh I wish they knew the truth :rolleyes:

My six year old came home from Taekwondo saying that Sir told them they were to drink water before and after sessions, to have an apple instead of a biscuit, and that pasta and bread were almost the same as bars. If the six year olds know this stuff, why don't all athletes?

Pembily

EileenG wrote: »

My six year old came home from Taekwondo saying that Sir told them they were to drink water before and after sessions, to have an apple instead of a biscuit, and that pasta and bread were almost the same as bars. If the six year olds know this stuff, why don't all athletes?

I am impressed!!! It's what they are told and they don't question?!?!

We only allow scouts to bring one fizzy drink on a weekend and the rest is water and treats are a minimum...

EileenG

Pembily wrote: »

I am impressed!!! It's what they are told and they don't question?!?!

Well, considering that my kids have been getting almost the same line from me, no! I'm pretty sure a lot of the others ignored it.

AARRRGH

Most people think emotionally rather than logically, so you can make them believe any nonsense so long as you communicate it properly.

My favorite mass manipulation is the "save the children" rubbish. For example, most new laws in the US now have "children" in the title, even if the law has nothing to do with children. Why? Because the law makers know politicans have no choice but to vote in these laws; doing otherwise will kill their careers. ("He doesn't care about children!")

Speaking of Special K... the fat girl in my office tut tuts at me for having the odd 6 egg omlette for breakfast ("eggs are bad for you"). She munches on massive 500g bowls of Special K every morning...

Brainless!

/end rant

superelliptic

banquet wrote: »

Yeah nutrigrain bars are pretty good but powersauce bars unlock your true potential.

...this just in - POWERSAUCE is AMAZING!

:pac:

koHd

superelliptic wrote: »

...this just in - POWERSAUCE is AMAZING!

:pac:

You lot joke about this, but I genuinely believe you could make a -!!-POWERSAUCE-!!- (the exclamation marks are part of the trade mark) product and market it to the masses as an energy booster and it would be a massive seller.

It could just be Tomato Ketchup in a new shiny POWERRRR wrapper. We'd have to trade mark the word POWERRRR in capitals with the added R's. The posible products are endless.

We'd make billions.

ciagr297

well i drink sports drinks sometimes purely for the calories though. not fooling myself that they are better than water.

they are handy if you need some cheap fast energy(i have hypoglycemia) but only as a stop gap until i get something good to eat and digested....although i know bananas are a better source

Shelga

I agree with everything said here!

Another thing that really, really annoys me is the "diet" section in a lot of women's weekly magazines, for example Now, Closer etc. (The magazines are a guilty pleasure of mine but I truly despise these sections for a multitude of reasons!) They feature such enlightening segments like "What's in my fridge" and "What I ate today" usually about D-list Hollyoaks actors. A "nutrition expert" then critiques the food, always banging on about fat content and how fat is bad Oh and they give out if protein levels are "too high"!

There are also bits like "swap this 500cal Big Mac for 3 Tesco mince pies!" and other rubbish like that. The focus is almost always on calorie content and fat, rather than advocating eating fresh wholefoods. I think these parts of the magazines are particularly bad influences on women and even writing this makes me feel bad about buying them occasionally! :P

WildBoots

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Siúcra
I have in my hand a bag of Siúcra sugar. On the back is a lovely little schpeel emphasised in a flowery feminine font that goes:

"Weight Loss
Research shows that including sugar as part of a weight reducing diet can help people to lose more weight than if the eliminated it completely. People are more likely to stick to a diet if they enjoy the food that they eat. Including some low fat sugary foods reduces feelings of denial and may improve slimmers quality of life."

There are so many... many things wrong with the above sentence, I feel a helpless with frustration.

Special K
I'm not sure how they do it. It's like they're illusionists, they've pulled the aul switcheroo and managed to successfully market crappy JUNK FOOD and somehow made people believe that it will make you lean.

Sky News
Saw a lovely little report there, suspiciously well timed a few days before easter, on how chocolate is "actually" good for you. "Belgian research" was very loosely referred and the the word flavanoids was thrown in there once for the token science bonus. Now while we know dark chocolate > milk chocolate etc. less sugar is always good, and sure if there's a few anti-oxidants then why not right?
The distinction the report made was that more expensive chocolates were better, reducing heart attacks by "39%", then showed a selection from thorntons or somewhere of white, brown, and fluffy looking sweets.
"Some chocolates even count towards your five a day as they contain real fruit!"
They proceeded to interview someone from behind the counter of one of these upmarket chocolate shops. Her expert opinion was that the more expensive chocolates were indeed healthier...
"The good news is the more you eat, the better!" :eek:
The reporter went on to close by saying: "Will they taste as good now that we know they're good for us? *chomp chomp* Of course they will"

Something fishy there... Rupert murdock probably owns stock in some high end chocolate companies, or at least is getting kick-backs from those who do.

I'm all for capitalism, but does anyone else think there should be much stricter rules on grossly misleading information such as this? Something like The Anti-Hoodwinking Regulatory Board that prevents the overt duping of consumers. Where actual humans make interpretations of how misleading something is. They had it for years with the censorship board, this is something that would actually be worth doing.

Turn off your tv, don't eat processed food, do at least one thing everyday that brings you joy and be happy. No need to pay any attention to the bull**** and the madness!

Ruu_Old

Have your favourite chocolate bar, or few slices of white bread or whatever it is but don't go telling me of its health benefits (which are few!) just to make me feel better. It just insults my intelligence!

silverharp

this is really a political issue, for instance the US food pyramid is run by the Dept of Agriculture ie a lobby for the corn industry , so guess what , up to a third of your diet could be HF corn syrup as far as they are concerned. Not to mention all the government money that finds its way into the foods that will kill you or turn you into a recpticle for the pharma industry.

Kellogs etc really are evil companies. My local supermarket has about 6 ailes and at least 3 of them will lead to a future of statin drugs and the rest. There was a prog on last week and the head of pepsico in the UK was saying how their drinks were a "treat" in people's diets, no mention of insulin spikes and how their drinks are more akin to a poison

WildBoots

silverharp wrote: »

this is really a political issue, for instance the US food pyramid is run by the Dept of Agriculture ie a lobby for the corn industry , so guess what , up to a third of your diet could be HF corn syrup as far as they are concerned. Not to mention all the government money that finds its way into the foods that will kill you or turn you into a recpticle for the pharma industry.

Kellogs etc really are evil companies. My local supermarket has about 6 ailes and at least 3 of them will lead to a future of statin drugs and the rest. There was a prog on last week and the head of pepsico in the UK was saying how their drinks were a "treat" in people's diets, no mention of insulin spikes and how their drinks are more akin to a poison

You might be interested in this!

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=DE483716CF71BBC79F005FDF473E3511

Torakx

Lol i dare you to post that link in the conspiracy theories forum.

silverharp

WildBoots wrote: »

You might be interested in this!

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=DE483716CF71BBC79F005FDF473E3511

if I saw that on a low carb site , I'd excpect it to be a comedy sketch

Crasp

ciagr297 wrote: »

well i drink sports drinks sometimes purely for the calories though. not fooling myself that they are better than water.

they are handy if you need some cheap fast energy(i have hypoglycemia) but only as a stop gap until i get something good to eat and digested....although i know bananas are a better source

Sorry but what do you mean you have hypoglycaemia? You mean you're diabetic? Have a GSD?


I also drink sports drinks, but because they're tasty and I have a (decaying) sweet tooth :pac:

metamorphosis

I take it the poster suffers from lower blood sugar. not diabetes.

Hypoglycemia equals Diabetic

Crasp

ULstudent wrote: »

I take it the poster suffers from lower blood sugar. not diabetes.

Hypoglycemia equals Diabetic

Hypoglycaemia isn't a disease. That is what's confusing me.


It's like saying I have haemoptysis...

CathyMoran

I am a type 1 diabetic and am currently pregnant - I go through a lot of the "isotonic sports drinks", they are great when I have a low blood sugar but I am shocked by the amount of people buying them, they can not be all type 1 diabetics! I laugh at some of the breakfast cereals though when they have low fat anythings they more than often replace the fat with sugar, not a great idea in my opinion.

WildBoots

CathyMoran wrote: »

I am a type 1 diabetic and am currently pregnant - I go through a lot of the "isotonic sports drinks", they are great when I have a low blood sugar but I am shocked by the amount of people buying them, they can not be all type 1 diabetics! I laugh at some of the breakfast cereals though when they have low fat anythings they more than often replace the fat with sugar, not a great idea in my opinion.

You should check if there's aspartame in those drinks Cathy, in my opinion, I don't think it's safe.

CathyMoran

WildBoots wrote: »

You should check if there's aspartame in those drinks Cathy, in my opinion, I don't think it's safe.

Yes, there is and yes I am not very happy about it but I would be in a bad way without the sugary drinks, other ones contain caffeine which is not great either! I have bad low blood sugars so rely a lot on these drinks.

El_Dangeroso

CathyMoran wrote: »

Yes, there is and yes I am not very happy about it but I would be in a bad way without the sugary drinks, other ones contain caffeine which is not great either! I have bad low blood sugars so rely a lot on these drinks.

There's no aspartame in those drinks anyhow, because they have glucose to sweeten them. Cathy you mentioned a while ago you were attempting to make an isotonic drink from glucose powder, how did you get on?

Sapsorrow

WildBoots wrote: »

You might be interested in this!

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=DE483716CF71BBC79F005FDF473E3511

WTF?

ApeXaviour

Sapsorrow wrote: »

WTF?

Wow just watched that... Okay it's obviously sensationalised. It's true however that the love of statins has gone a bit nuts. The eades blog has some good posts about it.



Now while I'd disagree with this I'd advocate putting non-pharmacological amounts of lithium in the water... though not more than it occurs naturally in many areas. These areas btw have significantly lower suicide rates. On that basis it could be considered a mineral, especially considering it technically is. Since the "dose" one would get would be many thousands of times lower than any prescription, it's no more a drug IMO than homeopathy remedies are a poison.

CathyMoran

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

There's no aspartame in those drinks anyhow, because they have glucose to sweeten them. Cathy you mentioned a while ago you were attempting to make an isotonic drink from glucose powder, how did you get on?

Opps, have been busy feeling ill for the past few weeks...must get back to it.

El_Dangeroso

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Now while I'd disagree with this I'd advocate putting non-pharmacological amounts of lithium in the water... though not more than it occurs naturally in many areas. These areas btw have significantly lower suicide rates. On that basis it could be considered a mineral, especially considering it technically is. Since the "dose" one would get would be many thousands of times lower than any prescription, it's no more a drug IMO than homeopathy remedies are a poison.

I read about lithium deficiency before, shocking isn't it? massive disparity in homicide rates too. I'd like to see some (a lot of) well designed clinical trials first before they start adding it wholesale to the water, but it does sound promising, wonder what the lithium content of the Irish water supply is?

That pharmaburger thing is true too, I thought it was a joke when I first heard it. Bloody ridiculous!

Wonkagirl

Shelga wrote: »

I think these parts of the magazines are particularly bad influences on women and even writing this makes me feel bad about buying them occasionally! :P

I agree. Weight watchers are guilty of this kind of thing also. I went to a WW class one time (in band camp), and the leader excitedly held up a can of diet coke and a packet of winegums, and said ''Only 2 points in both! what a great low point snack!'' :eek::eek:
Never went back again.