Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Or is this old news...? Me thinks nopes. This message is something we already know about yet need to be reminded of on a regular basis. Myself include as you'll understand by the end of this. Shoot, if nothing you read in this post is familiar then at least you'll have learned something new today. Maybe you needed to hear this. Maybe you'll be bothered by the words that are flowing from my mind, through my fingers, typewritten on my free (open source) word processor, on a laptop, that was not free.
This knowledge that I will share with you today is in fact, not free. Nothing in life is. It comes from many years of trial and error. My whole life's worth really.
Now for the bit were I begin my back story that initially will seemingly have no connection to the title of this post. But, as some may already know, I often do this when trying to add color and brevity to an otherwise boring and old topic. It is the boring things where the finer details lie in life. And if you choose to push through the urge to be put to sleep by things that seem boring, then you'll never master and clean up said fine details. Thus, leaving opportunity for improvement on the table. Don't leave things on the table.
OK. Here we go.
So a month ago from writing this a seed was sown. This eventually materialized into a serious hankering for a sugary delicacy which made me think about sugar at large. And reminded me of why it should be consumed sparingly by myself.
This all started when I came across this YouTube video of one Philip H. Anselmo, lead singer of legendary thrash metal band Pantera, tell a hilarious story involving donuts. Ya know, the sugary doughy delights often purchased in chain supermarkets by the half dozen.
And for proper context, the story not only involved Philip H. Anselmo himself, but also Dimebag Darryl Abbot, and Yngwie Malmsteen (pronounced Ing-vay).
For those that don't know, let me describe who these people are for a bit of context. They are quite interesting and add a bit of body to the story.
When I was 16 and watching MTV (THE music television channel), a short MTV News clip came on the programming with a story of how Phil Anselmo, as the majority of his fans referenced him, overdosed on heroin and was revived back to life in an ambulance I believe. After which he released the following statement:
'I, Philip H. Anselmo, injected a lethal dose of heroin into my arm, and died for four to five minutes. I don't die so easy.'
At the time, that was one of the coldest and gnarliest declarations I've ever heard in my young life. From his stage presence alone, and demeanor during interviews, he came off as a steely dude. Needless to say, this just added to the mystique of this man and his band. And because I recalled this, I saw it fit to introduce him to you all with his full name, middle initial and all, as he did in that press release all those years ago.
Dimebag Darryl Abbot, was the guitar player of Pantera. He eventually became a legend in his own right. His playing style was not only heavy, but also very funky and soulful. This man’s range on the instrument itself was very wide. He could wow listeners with the most delicate of soft and gentle melodies one second, while the next blowing your hair back with driving riffs and screaming solos. Part of his mystique was not just his insane talent. He was eventually murdered on stage in 2004 by a deranged fan. Shot at essentially point-blank range mid performance at a show in Ohio.
Yngwie Malmsteen (once again, pronounced Ing-vay) is a Swedish born guitar player, and another legend. His major influences are classical greats like Bach, Paganini, and Antonio Vivaldi just to name a phew. His music blends these composers works with modern rock/heavy rock sounds. He was and is more popular overseas, Japan in particular. Insanely talented. Insanely proud and confident. Some may say conceited and condescending. Often in interviews from the past, he is highly critical of other much more popular guitar based bands in a very hilarious manner all while being serious as can be. Must be the swede in him.
Artists, or musicians in this case, tend to be characters for sure. And often, of the most successful ones, it seems as if the molds they came from were created just prior to their birth, only to be destroyed shortly thereafter. They are all one of one.
Anselmo hails from Louisiana, New Orleans I believe. Abbot is a Texan. When this story takes place, I'm guessing they were in their early 20's. The swede was in his mid-thirties most likely and had a decade of more of success as a musician in his back pocket. This story takes place probably anywhere from 1988-1990. For those that know know, but, the maturity level of an American in his or her early twenties is quite different from a European of the same vintage. Let alone a middle aged one from the Nordic region of the continent. Even from way back then.
For your viewing pleasure I've linked the 45 second video of the entire story but I will write it out for you because people who read these posts almost never click on the video's or music I embed. So basically, Pantera was in their early days touring as a popular band. The young Texan and Cajun ran into the older and more mature Swede at a hotel lobby of sorts. To be hospitable, Dimebag (the Texan) offered Yngwie (the Swede) a donut from his stash, to which the Swede hilariously denied with a tinge of vitriol. 'No I don't like DONUTS,' the swede shouted back. 'I don't eat fucking DONUTS...!' The way he said donuts, and how he emphasized the dough part with his Swedish accent, and how mad he got while doing so, had me rolling on the floor in stitches man. Now the dudes from Pantera were also hilariously rousing him a bit. Hence the Swedes sour attitude. And I shouldn't laugh, 'cause I've been roused and disliked it for sure. BUT, I've done some serious rousing of my own. Occasional immaturity offers a little spice to life I say. I'm grown for sure. But, I can still go to my inner teenager when I want to and need to. Anyway, the video is below.
What makes this even more serious is all the cast of characters involved. They are all major players in their own professional/artistic worlds. All three of them have composed music that has both entertained, inspired, and caressed millions around the world in period. Yet here they are being all human... It's just amazing to me.
A few days after watching this video, I was driving home from a writing session thinking of how hilarious it was too me. When all of sudden I found myself taking detour to find the nearest donut...pronto. And let me be clear, I didn't need a donut at all, but I wanted one. And I mean REAL bad. When I want something, watch out.
The location I landed on was a supermarket chain which is plentiful were I am from. Why? 'Cause on occasion, I used to get their donuts in the past and they hit the spot for me. But more so their chocolate croissants. That's a whole other story though. Back to the donuts. So I have not had one since before 2019 if you catch my drift. And since all that had gone down back then, they don't offer single pastries. You have to buy a pack all sealed up in a clear plastic box. Usually I just get one, but I couldn't deal, so I broke down and bough a pack of four.
When I got home, and as my real food was warming up for consumption in the oven, I dug into one of these glazed chocolate gnashed and sprinkled deals. And HOLY CROW, it was SO far beyond sweet. Lordy lord. It was so sweet, it was painful. I know sugar is bad on a regular basis but this one-off donut eating thing I got stuck into surely was not good for me long term... Twas my thought.
It was like they added something else other than sugar to enhance the sweetness. But since I am generally not a sweet tooth, this was not a good thing. On top of that, the actual fried dough bit tasted not so good with a not so good texture to boot. It had been 4+ years since I had one, and oh my have things changed. I gather if they used quality ingredients, in proper proportions, with a fraction of the amount of sugar, with perhaps a little honey as a sugar substitute, this would have been MUCH better.
A few days later when I was finishing off the last of the donuts, I had to sprinkle salt on this thing and warm it up just to not feel the pain of those sweetener daggers on my taste buds.
But let's get into the nitty gritty. Why is sugar bad exactly...?
To be clear, all things that are sweet are not bad. Honey is not bad. Fruit is not bad. Both come with lots of phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are amazing for your health. AND, you would have to eat 50 apples, 10 pounds of grapes, and a whole beehive to match the level of sweet that this SINGLE donut I ate had. That is to say, honey and fruit often dose up sugar in appropriate quantities and proportions with respect to the rest of the food you're eating that day. Yes yes yes, hordes of honey and fruit is not the best for you due to their own sugar content. But at least you get micronutrients from them.
But consuming added sugar and sweeteners (like fructose or high fructose corn syrup) that this donut most likely had on a regular basis is not the cats meow if you catch my drift. Cane sugar, or table sugar, which is a first go to sweetener comes sans any substantial nutritional value. All of the good micronutrients that I mentioned honey and fruit have are going to be absent in table sugar. It does give you heaps of the macronutrient carbohydrate though. So do the sweeteners, lots of carbs and a slightly different sweet flavor profile for sure.
Fructose is sugar extracted from fruit. High fructose corn syrup is sugar extracted from corn starch. Corn starch is processed, therefore extracting only the sugar from this means even more extraction. All these extraction methods require some chemical science stuff to take place, and is also known as processing of food. Or altering it from its otherwise natural consumable form. Processed foods are known to be rather bad. Fresh foods, minimally processed, or not processed at all are good. With all the chemistry involved during processing it is not a far-fetched notion to believe that some of those chemicals used to extract the sugars may be found in trace elements of the sweeteners. And their effect on a human’s health is dubious.
→ Above: Yngwie Malmsteen doing his thing in 2023. ←
Carbohydrates are great for energy. The sugar you ingest turns into blood sugar, or glucose, which the cells in your body need for energy. But, if your glucose levels are too high, or you are insulin resistant, your cells will reject it. The remainder of what is not used will be stored by your body as fat. On top of that, sugar is also hygroscopic just like I mentioned salt is. Likewise, both sugar and salt are not only used for flavoring, but for food preservation as well.
Bottom line, if you ingest too much sugar than your body actually needs, then you will gain lots of excess body fat and water weight. Foods that are highly processed typically use poor base ingredients. Like the flour for instance. It usually is of such a low quality that it will be that much lower on the glycemic index and sans much flavor or texture than a heartier flour. So the food manufacturers chuck in more salt and sugar than is actually needed to hit the taste buds hard. This not only helps preserve the food on a store shelf, sans refrigeration, for much longer. The duo offers a satiating point that makes people who consume these foods addicted to the spike in your taste buds.
If you are so inclined, you get the satisfaction. And you keep on going for more and more of it. But your body generally does not need all that sugar. So you gain more and more and more weight via body fat and water. Up to a point where your body stabilizes and you roll into a consumption schedule such that this larger body composition is maintained.
It's very dangerous to one's health and a huge problem not just in America, but in other industrialized nations as well. When I was a teenager, I visited family in Greece a couple times for 3-6 weeks each visit. Then in my late twenties I returned for additional visits. Two things I noticed right off the bat. When I was a teenager, I can recall people being fit and trim. A population that was virtually deplete of any instance of obesity. When I was in my late twenties, I can remember seeing American style supermarkets which didn't exist before. I can also remember seeing clinically obese children running around at this time. Which was startling.
No visible obesity in the population coincided with smaller local grocery markets full of fresh meats and produce. Visible obesity in children, and some adults, coincided with the American style supermarkets and all the convenience (ie processed) foods and snacks that come with them.
You see what I'm getting at...?
Consuming table sugar sparingly is alright all by itself. It can offer a short energy boost for sure. Just don't expect any micro-nutritional value from it. But, one can get themselves in trouble when adding it here and there on a regular basis. Plus, added sugars find their way in virtually every convenience food item in supermarkets. The majority of which is of the processed variety just so you know. So pay attention to the nutrition labels and look for the includes added sugars bit listed under the Total Carbohydrate section.
If you're not careful, and do not make a conscious effort to limit added sugar consumption, it will compound rather quickly tacking on lots of unnecessary calories really fast. Lots of excess calories means lots of excess body fat. From sugar this means lots of excess water weight as well. Simply put, your body simply does not need much added sugar. In fact, it can do without any table sugar. Rather, focusing on a good blend of nutritionally dense forms of good fats, good carbohydrates, and quality proteins is where it’s at (for more information on this, see the other posts listed in my archive).
Here are all the health complications associated with excess sugar consumption:
→ Obesity
→ Diabetes and Insulin Resistance
→ Cardiovascular Disease
→ High Blood Pressure
→ Cancer
→ Aging Skin
→ Tooth Decay
→ Acne
I leave you with Pantera arguably at their best. A concert after the fall of the Soviet Union. Moscow, 1991.
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