10 teaspoons of sugar in coffee

[DoggyLady]

I had dinner with my exboyfriend today and we talked about the amount of sugar he consumes.

that cup of coffee he was drinking, has 5 teaspoons of sugar in it.

i took a sip and was grossed out by its sweetness.

and he said, "that's half the amount that i sometimes put"

10 teaspoons of sugar in a cup of coffee???

he explains, "I need a lot of energy in my job. the sugar is my energy source."

really??

I told him, that amount of sugar is bad for him, but he does not believe it.

he challenged me to show him better ways of increasing his energy.

he also relies on caffeine for energy. before his cup of coffee, he had a can of coca-cola.

How do you explain that there are better ways of increasing the energy?

[Agota]

Wow, this makes me feel better about my 3 teaspoons of sugar with tea (I'm cutting down to two now!)..

I get the energy thing, I'd often eat something sweet when I needed an instant boost of energy before martial arts demonstrations or in between long martial arts seminars. It's good for an occasional quick boost of energy. It's not wise to eat loads of sugar everyday just to keep the energy up. A well-balanced diet would work much better in the long run. Also, there is a high risk related with that amount of sugar intake, people have pointed out the risk of illnesses like diabetes in my thread about my 3 teaspoons, and keep in mind I don't drink sweet drinks like coke and usually don't eat sweets in general. Your friend is really messing with his health.

Caffeine is definitely not a way to go, since it messes up with your sleep. Caffeine is one of the three things that have very bad effects on sleep (the other two is alcohol and nicottine): you might get an instant energy boost, but you might have troubles with sleeping, your sleep will be shallow and you won't wake up next day feeling well rested. I suggest you google that and present the facts as long as caffeine is concerned.

I can't give advice regarding nutrition, since I'm only learning about it myself, but does your friend exercise? A morning jog and hitting a gym or a swimming pool few times a week would definitely give him an energy boost.

[BillyTheAdult]

From what I understand that is a huge amount of sugar, and soda first too? He is putting his health at risk, there are so many ways to get energy. He could eat a bunch of vegetables and some oatmeal and it would give him energy that would last a lot longer than sugar.

Caffeine as long as it's used in moderation, and not so late in the day that it causes sleep problems is good for you.

[Agota]

How is caffeine good for you?

I'm curious, because all I read about caffeine was in books on sleep mechanics, therefore obviously I might be missing something

[BellyGirl]

Originally Posted by BillyTheAdult

From what I understand that is a huge amount of sugar, and soda first too? He is putting his health at risk, there are so many ways to get energy.

and he also eats junk food like chips. and he eat everything with chilli and curries on it to make it spicy. he even pours chilli sauce on baked cheese rice.

and he eats super sweet sweets.

and he drinks beer.

it honestly scares me to watch how he eats.

it's his health i know, not my responsibility.

but i wonder, do i have to leave him to his own fate, or do i, as a friend, suggest how he can better take care of himself.

so many ways to get energy, you say? i must convince him somehow, why those ways are better than the ways he's been using.

[BellyGirl]

Originally Posted by Agota

How is caffeine good for you?

I'm curious, because all I read about caffeine was in books on sleep mechanics, therefore obviously I might be missing something

yeeks about caffeine. it makes my heart beat faster.

and i notice, i can't sleep early at night, if i drink coffee in the day. i then feel lousy the next day, due to poor quality sleep.

[BillyTheAdult]

Well I was sure I had heard this before, the most recent time being like two days a go so I googled it to make sure and I quite a number of results popped up. Some of them stress actual coffee, that's caffeinated as well as decaf as a benefit, and other benefits such as reduced risk of Parkinsons and Alzheimers seemed to be pretty specific to caffeine.

Anyway, so if your curious there is way more information out there than I could ever sum up, but I encourage you to check it out.

[InterfaceLeader]

Originally Posted by BellyGirl

it's his health i know, not my responsibility.

but i wonder, do i have to leave him to his own fate, or do i, as a friend, suggest how he can better take care of himself.

so many ways to get energy, you say? i must convince him somehow, why those ways are better than the ways he's been using.

The only way you can help him change is if he WANTS to change.

He'll see it as nagging or interfering.

If you cook for him, cook healthy tasty meals to show him that it can be just as nice (or better) than junk food.

Talk about YOUR success, say things like "Wow, now I'm eating quinoa porridge every morning, I have so much more energy through the day!"

But ultimately, it's his body, his diet, and his choice. You can only decide if it's a deal-breaker in your relationship.

[FelineNostalgia]

When I was a teenager I went through a whole summer of drinking tea with A LOT of sugar in it, I didn't even count the spoons, just poured the sugar in there. I didn't sleep or eat very much but I felt like I had loads of energy and it gave me a such a high as well, it was pretty addictive. Also it made decent food taste awful. All fake energy though, seriously mood swingy energy , that plus teenage hormones = dun dun dun

He must get really irritable? I think its potent stuff

[DoggyLady]

Originally Posted by FelineNostalgia

When I was a teenager I went through a whole summer of drinking tea with A LOT of sugar in it, I didn't even count the spoons, just poured the sugar in there. I didn't sleep or eat very much but I felt like I had loads of energy and it gave me a such a high as well, it was pretty addictive. Also it made decent food taste awful. All fake energy though, seriously mood swingy energy , that plus teenage hormones = dun dun dun

He must get really irritable? I think its potent stuff

interesting that you call it "fake energy"

what is REAL ENERGY then??

[FelineNostalgia]

Well it was like one side of my brain was like YEAHHH YEAHHH C MON!and the other half is like I don't remember actually walking into the kitchen

Real energy just generally feels a lot more stable and wholesome me thinks

[CoolBee]

Is he Egyptian? That would be normal over here

From what I can figure out, the Egyptian kitchen contains huge sacks of sugar to which you may add a little tea flavouring, coffee flavouring, juice flavouring or yoghurt occasionally. Diabetes is a huge problem over here.

My granny always used to swear by sugar "Dr Mills said it was Quick Energy" (Dr Mills being her doc way back in the 1930s).

[FelineNostalgia]

Wow I would have loved to live in Egypt when I was a kid! My mum was always so iffy about giving me sugar

She had type 1 diabetes and my grandad had pancreatic cancer, so I had a sugarless childhood and there was nooo escapin the diabetuus when I was 16. At least I got that 1 summer in

[DoggyLady]

Originally Posted by FelineNostalgia

Well it was like one side of my brain was like YEAHHH YEAHHH C MON!and the other half is like I don't remember actually walking into the kitchen

Real energy just generally feels a lot more stable and wholesome me thinks

Good explanation.


I can just tell him straight that sugar is not sustainable energy. It is an addiction.

He has to learn how to expand his energy capacity, so that he has sustainable energy.

[firenexx]

He wants energy? Tell him
FRUIT!

The sugar in that is not bad for you. In stead of putting 10 spoons of sugar in his coffee, he can eat 10 bananas. Then he will be ready to take on the world.

Refined sugar is very bad for him. If he does not believe you, you need to find a doctor to tell him or a study/news article that will convince him, or just let him get diabetes (if you plan on sticking around for a while, letting him get diabetes is not a good idea.)

[Zaphod]

Easiest solution?

Replace sugar with honey. He can still have it in coffee and other drinks. Honey has been shown to be much more benign on blood sugar and has a lot of benefits. There's really no reason not to switch if he keeps a convenient squeeze bottle on hand.

WHFoods: Honey