Captain's Log: The captain is in

The captain likes to take time time to answer questions, even if they're from imaginary readers. Here's a sample of my imaginary inbox:

If you're so smart, why are you so fat?

Good point. And the captain is glad you had to bring that up. What does a retired engineer and fake captain know about nutrition anyway? Well I'm glad you asked. I've been trained to think logically, but that doesn't mean I can't be fooled or that my education gives me some sort of advantage. It may even be a hindrance. My cousin sent me an interesting article from the Boston Globe on why facts are often ignored, especially by people who know they're right.  

If we don't question the things we know, how will we ever learn anything new? But back to your question. There is some information out there that seems to indicate that added sugar, specifically added fructose, contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. I have a family history for all of these, and it's only been six months since I quit eating food with added sugar, so cut me some slack. After a lifetime of abuse, it's going to take some time.

So if sugar is so bad for you, why haven't I heard more about it?

Because you don't watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. Here's the show on sugar if you missed it: 

There are numerous other sources of information on this topic, but some of it gets a little confusing. There are articles on why high fructose corn syrup is no worse than any other sugar and I totally agree. It's not the source of the sugar that's the problem, it's the amount of fructose those sugars contain that's being added to you diet. HFCS doesn't contain any more fructose than ordinary table sugar (cane sugar).

If fructose is that bad for you, the government would be all over it.

It took almost a hundred years for the FDA to come out with warnings about tobacco, even though there was overwhelming evidence that it was bad for you much earlier than that. Big sugar is big business.

Well, I'm not going to quit eating donuts. I don't care what you say.

Spoken like a true addict. Listen to yourself. You're exhibiting symptoms of addiction and that's exactly what it is. That's why moderation may not be the best way to go here. Treat your addiction like an addiction and just quit. No cheat days. None of that stuff. See the John Oliver video.

Well the captain ran out of wine, so that's all for now. Cheers.