Calories and Sugar in the human system

The most widely accepted view today is that too many calories are bad for health as they make for obesity, and that sugar (at least refined sugar) is best avoided completely.

Clearly, there are people who suffer from diabetes who should avoid sugar and be careful about the calories (particularly carbohydrates) they consume.

But I doubt that, for most ("normal") people, sugar is particularly harmful - and it may even be beneficial!

As evidence, I cite my own case: I have consumed vast amounts of sugar right from the time I was a child, and I am notorious in restaurants which know me, for eating as little as possible of the main course (which is vegetarian in any case) and of concentrating on the dessert. I often have two or even three desserts, as well as assorted cakes, biscuits, dried fruit and other suger-laden products such as commercially-produced cereal bars.

My weight has changed over the years gradually from the 60+ of my teenage years to the 70+ that I have now at the age of 61.

If I fast for a day or two, my weight drops by a little; if I indulge myself too much, my weight rises a little...for a little while.

That is because I try to eat as wide a variety of (vegetarian) food as possible, and try to be in tune with my body regarding how much of what food to eat.

If you are in normal health, my experience suggests that the best guide to the question of what and how much to eat is NOT your calorie-counter or your fashion magazine or even your doctor, but actually your own body.

It will tell you when you have eaten too much or eaten what is not good for you.

Get in tune with it. Communicate with it. Listen to it. You won't go wrong.

As for obesity, it is in my view entirely unrelated to how many calories one consumes. The sort of "obesity" one sees around the world today is a medical disorder that may be related to commercial soft drinks, to chemicals in our food or water, to plastics, to radiation, or some other factor. Some people may well be obese because they don't know how to listen to their bodies, and therefore eat too much of the wrong sort of food for themselves. However, in my observation, many obese people eat no more than normal people do.