Abstaining from Sugar Makes People Angry

Talking about sugar abstinence makes some people angry. These sweeties try to rescue sugar. Some fight as if their livelihood depends on sweets. The pro-sugar arguments are often the same:

1. It’s just sugar. Everyone knows not to eat too much.

Remember when Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days and documented it in his movie Super Size Me? The general backlash was, “Everyone knows not to eat nothing but Micky D’s for 30 days in a row.”

The sad thing is that some people do eat the equivalent of a sugary fast food meal every single day. Some people can’t afford not to. Others don’t know better.

2. Sugar is not bad for you. You can have a little here and there.

True. You could have a little here or there. But that’s not what’s happening. Sugar is in health food, in our drinks, and in baby food. We’re eating massive amounts of added sugars and not realizing it.

3. I exercise and am healthy, I can eat as much sugar as I want.

That’s like saying, “I am healthy and I exercise daily. I can smoke and/or drink as much as I want.”

As a movement instructor I encounter this mentality often. People party hard all weekend (drinks and drugs) and then want to have an extra hard workout on Monday to “sweat out the toxins.” It’s like building a sky scraper out of poop. Why reward something healthy with something unhealthy?

4. Sugar conscious people are radicals who threaten freedom.

“How dare someone tell me what to eat! They killed Cookie Monster! I hate this PC crap!”

Sugar defenders argue that they grew up with the Cookie Monster and yet they don’t run around freaking out when they see a cookie. I don’t believe them. If it’s not a cookie it’s cake, candy, ice cream or beer. They’re coo coo for something.

Nobody is saying that there should be a food police force that breaks into houses in the middle of the night to arrest anyone who has sugar in the cupboards. But that kind of stuff happens regularly—the FDA does it!

5. In order to have this discussion, you must first understand…

Intellectualising the subject makes it moot. This kind of argument takes away from the root issue and turns the debate into a meeting of the minds to determine who knows more scientific facts.

Sugar is Big Business

From the local bakery to the huge soft drink giants and corporate candy makers, a lot of people will get angry if you talk smack about their sweet sugar. Can you blame them? They make a living off the stuff. I get that. What I don’t understand are the people who don’t make money from sweets. Why are they so protective over sugar? Why would they feel threatened by the words sugar addict?

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