Food and Food Culture

The guidelines are for added sugar, not sugar and carbs in general. So the meals are not necessarily going to be Low Carb. They could give a meal of just brown rice, beans, cruciferous vegetables, and fresh fruit and it would still be within USDA guidelines since there isn't any added sugar, but it wouldn't be a Low Carb meal.

Still better then before at least.

I propose a radical solution: ban sugar completely. It's been proven time and again to be no good.

…From schools, you mean?

Not practical, and doesn't even make sense. Good bye fruits and vegetables.

I mean, I can understand banning added sugar over a certain limit, but simply saying "BAN ALL SUGAR" is asinine.

Fruits and Vegetables are fine because the Fiber isn't digested the same.

Simple sugar and white flour would probably be banned toady if they were invented today, though.

What sugars and flours could get through, though?

The USDA guidelines is specifically for added sugars, not sugar in general. So sweetened products like flavored milks and cereals are being limited, but naturally occurring sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables are still allowed in as much quantity as desired. Fiber blunts the absorption of glucose and the glycemic load. If you banned added sugar, you still will be able to allow fruits and veggies. And personally, I would like the banning of soda vending machines in schools. If kids want soda, bring it in from outside.

Honey and Brown flour.

Agave nectar probably would too, but its still not a good idea to overindulge on any of them, as they still effect your blood sugar the same way.

And while Artificial sweeteners aren't the best, They aren't quite the Cancer causers that they are made out to be, and even then, the amount a day you'd need to take in would be the equivalent of drinking 12 12 ounce cans of Diet Soda a day over the course of several decades for it to be truly negative on your overall health. IIRC, Thats the level of Aspartame that WHO said that could be only a mild carcinogen.

This: While Sugar found in its basic amounts in food existing is ok, Added Sugars in the processing phase is the main issue on weight gain for a lot of people.

Its the reason why Obesity Skyrocketed after the Loew Fat craze of the 80's and 90's took over and has only just been reevaluated as being the worst mistake in American Nutrition that still effect Americans today, and it spread worldwide due to Globalization in the 80's.

Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on Apr 25th 2024 at 11:07:23 AM

Of course, limiting added sugar is probably feasible. Banning added sugar starts pushes what's practical. And banning sugar period is just nonsensical.

I see nothing wrong with banning added sugar.

Its impossible to ban sugar outright, but it would at least make it so that people wouldn't be addicted to Sugar all the time.

Plus, Bread would be healthier in the US too, because we add so much sugar to our bread that it would be classified as Cake in European Countries (See what happened to Subway a few years back)

What about artificial sweeteners? Like Splenda? Or whatever they use in diet soft drinks?

As far as federal guidelines are concerned, most studied artificial sweeteners are considered safe for human consumption and will not figure into these added sugar guidelines. What I like about these updated guidelines is that they will also be more sensitive to differing dietary preferences, including cultural, dietary, and taste preferences. Though it still seems to focus on dairy milk as a standardized beverage, and I would have liked that they included fortified unsweetened plant milks as an alternative for those who don't like or can't consume dairy, but the inclusion of vegetarian options is a step in the right direction.

If everyone doesn't mind, I'd like to move on to a more light-hearted topic: I don't understand the hate against airline food. In my experience at least, I like airline stir-fried noodles.

I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been on a flight long enough to require airline food.

I might enjoy it, considering I liked my school lunches as a kid.

The hate is from the fact that commercial airlines fly in a lower air pressure environment, equivalent to 8000 feet (2440 meters) above sea level, higher than Mexico City. Food in general will taste more bland at such elevations because most of one's sense of taste is actually one's sense of smell (also why everything tastes bleh when you have a cold). Why don't they add more flavor to compensate? I figure it's because A) greater cost, and B) someone who's sensitive to flavors or is just more used to less intense flavors is more likely to complain/raise a stink either on-board or to customer service. Cost-cutting measures that airlines have taken since deregulation (moreso in the US) don't help either, especially on non-overseas flights where they wouldn't have direct competition from other countries' carriers.

I'm fine with airline food, to be clear, mainly because hey, food!

Most complaints about airline food relates to the unique challenges related to preparing airline food. Airplanes are lacking in space for a full blown kitchen, so food has to either be long lasting at room temperature or only have as their preparation a quick turnaround in a convection oven. Re-heated food already tends to be of lesser quality compared to freshly prepared food. On top of that, pressurized cabin, low air pressure and low humidity can reek havoc on your sinuses and taste buds, and that messes with your ability to taste properly. Unless the food is prepared with those in mind, to a lot of people, it can make the food feel off or bland.

Forgot about lack of space — good point.

To make an analogy, it's essentially like trying to serve a room full of people with just the equivalent of a microwave and an electric kettle with maybe a $10 budget per person and everyone has a minor cold. Good luck making anything good with those kind of limitations.

Recently tasting history had a video on airline food which stated it was once considered good but due to a combination of many factors like the difference in tastes at different altitudes as already stated, adoption of jets and the change in quality of service due to the shorter time of travel and changes it earned a reputation of being bad.

Edited by xyzt on Apr 25th 2024 at 10:09:54 PM

Florida bans lab grown meat. Florida just signed into law the banning of the sale of lab grown meat within the state, adding it to 3 other states who either have laws or are making legislative initiatives to the same effect, including Arizona, Alabama, and Tennessee. Looks like they're engaging in some food industry protectionism and trying to nip this in the bud while the industry is still in its infancy, while also engaging in some anti-leftist culture war rhetoric. As expected of the authoritarian governor.