# Which deadly delight would you give up ?



## Nathan (Aug 16, 2022)

If your doctor _strenuously_ advised you to quit one, which would it be?

1. Salt

2.Sugar

3.Fat


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## RadishRose (Aug 16, 2022)

This is tough, but....
2. Sugar


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## Blessed (Aug 16, 2022)

None for me, I already quit smoking, I at least need  good food LOL


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2022)

Nathan said:


> If your doctor _strenuously_ advised you to quit one, which would it be?
> 
> 1. Salt
> 
> ...


*Fat*..I'm on a Diet now, and have cut fat right down to less than 4grms in any 100 grms of food...


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## JustBonee (Aug 16, 2022)

Easy choice  for me ....  Salt


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## Murrmurr (Aug 16, 2022)

I could quit using salt, but I'd have to research all the items on our regular groceries list and substitute everything that contains sodium. That'd be a chore.


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## Lewkat (Aug 16, 2022)

Fat.  My sodium is always running low for some unknown reason and my doctor told me to use the salt shaker. Moderately.   Of course, I find that a bit ironic.


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## Geezerette (Aug 16, 2022)

I run low sodium too, right at the bottom of the range. I don’t use the salt shaker, never did,  it don’t avoid occasional crackers, chips, foods made with salt in them, like hot dogs, some cold cuts. But I’ve learned that being too low has problems like muscle cramps and spasms, GI problems, affects heart rhythms, and others. Your Dr wants to avoid that for you
Another example: I recently had to take a “water pill” for a condition for a few days, and since I’m usually low sodium, was told to  to add some salty foods while on the pill, to prevent being too low. Seemed to work ok.
I’d probably give up the sugar. . Sadly. I do like cookies, haha.


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## Bella (Aug 16, 2022)

Hands down, sugar. There are a lot of sugar substitutes that taste good and work really well in baking. I use them all the time, although I still use regular sugar, too. If I had to give up sugar altogether, I could do it.


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## Alligatorob (Aug 16, 2022)

Nathan said:


> 2.Sugar


Already pretty much given it up.  I don't eat a lot of fat either, more than sugar though.


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## Wontactmyage (Aug 16, 2022)

Nathan said:


> If your doctor _strenuously_ advised you to quit one, which would it be?
> 
> 1. Salt
> 
> ...


SUGAR!!!!


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## AnnieA (Aug 16, 2022)

I gave up sugar in January due to it exacerbating autoimmune pain and skin issues. Rarely, I use a few natural sweeteners such as maple syrup for baking along with little stevia and monk fruit extract.  My taste buds have changed so that fruit and other naturally sweet foods like sweet potatoes satisfy me.   Even plain pecans taste like a sweet treat now that I've quit sugar and artificial sweeteners.


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## jujube (Aug 16, 2022)

I'd give up the doctor......


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## DebraMae (Aug 16, 2022)

I was going to say fat, but after reading AnnieA's post I should probably say sugar.


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## Wontactmyage (Aug 16, 2022)

AnnieA said:


> Even plain pecans taste like a sweet treat now that I've quit sugar and artificial sweeteners.


Since taking on the keto lifestyle I agree with pecans and a few other nuts seem sweet. Reading food labels I have realized sugar is in almost any processed foods.
Here is a short list of sugars in foods that you might not think about


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## Pinky (Aug 16, 2022)

Gave up most of them, decades ago .. or, should I say, decreased or eliminated as much as possible.


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## Wontactmyage (Aug 16, 2022)

Fat and meat


hollydolly said:


> *Fat*..I'm on a Diet now, and have cut fat right down to less than 4grms in any 100 grms of food...


Fat and meat is my go to food. No wheat products/starch products/rice products. Sugars. Lost 60 lbs in a year, walk about 2 to 3 miles three times a week. I used to have terrible bowels, swooning, inflammation, dizziness and Dr said pre-diabetic. All of the above are gone. I also started intermittent fasting to reduce the insulin resistance. I feel better now than I felt in my 40s, 50s, and early 60s.


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## PamfromTx (Aug 16, 2022)

Nathan said:


> If your doctor _strenuously_ advised you to quit one, which would it be?
> 
> 1. Salt
> 
> ...


2.


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## HoneyNut (Aug 16, 2022)

Salt cannot be "quit" or a person would die, it is a vital nutrient.  That's a bad doctor! ha

I've already cut sugar way down to half the WHO recommendation for women, but I'd rather cut out all sugar than cut out fat.


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## Chris21E (Aug 16, 2022)

Fat...


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## feywon (Aug 16, 2022)

From everything  I've read,  rare is the person who would be told to *totally* cut out any of those.  Minimize them certainly but totally, i don't think would  be healthy.  We need some of all those. Not nearly as much as most do consume.  And i think one would have to have multiple health issues for Doc to settle for you to give up just one. Sugar and fat may contribute to some of same conditions, but not salt.

Salt is mostly implicated in hypertension, high blood pressure. I craved it mightily from early chilhood. I was in my  20s before i learned i had such chronically low BP  it caused a momentary wooziness whenever i stood up too quickly. I someimes had to do jumping jacks to raise it enough to donate plasma. Post- menopause weight gain raised it to low end of normal, and guess what, my craving for salt dwindled greatly.

Could you be more specific about the form of sugar this hypothetical doctor would say one had to give up?  Refined sugar is not that good for us but the chemical substitutes are often more of a threat to our health (also more addictive than sugar, which is why the soda companies were selective in which studies they submitted to the FDA to get approval to use them in 'diet' drinks), and most of us can get an acceptable level of sugars from foods. 

It can be harmful to get too little of some things as well as too much. And most anything can be harmful if overdone, including water.  But the levels that are detrimental can vary widely from one individual to another. I would definitely want a second opinion from before agreeing to give up any of them totally. But i already work to not over consume any of them.


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## Jeni (Aug 16, 2022)

Murrmurr said:


> I could quit using salt, but I'd have to research all the items on our regular groceries list and substitute everything that contains sodium. That'd be a chore.


it is a huge pain/ and forget eating out ...........  reading every label and measuring items below the word of thumb of 140 mg per serving.


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## Nathan (Aug 16, 2022)

Nathan said:


> If your doctor _strenuously_ advised you to quit one, which would it be?
> 
> 1. Salt
> 
> ...


Perhaps to be more precise- "added" salt-sugar-fat should have  been specified.

I cut out added salt some years ago. Sure, all processed foods will have added sodium, unless you specifically shop for and pay additional for "less sodium" products.   There are 'good fats' of course, but usually come with the 'bad' fats(saturated, trans).

I would sacrifice _added_ sugars as much as possible, if they don't come with essential nutrients, like with fruit.


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## Marie5656 (Aug 16, 2022)

*Salt for sure*


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## Jules (Aug 16, 2022)

jujube said:


> I'd give up the doctor......


Me too.

If I had to give up anything, it’d just be a little bit of all three. Everything in moderation.  

Again, to h*ll with that doctor.


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## Nathan (Aug 16, 2022)

Murrmurr said:


> I could quit using salt, but I'd have to research all the items on our regular groceries list and substitute everything that contains sodium. That'd be a chore.


I do check labels constantly, and yes it's a chore but I like to make informed decisions about what I'm consuming.


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## Remy (Aug 16, 2022)

That's a hard one. Can I rotate them? I'd probably cut back on fat but it would be really, really hard.


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## Nathan (Aug 16, 2022)

A TED Talk on "How sugar affects the brain"


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## Gary O' (Aug 16, 2022)

Jules said:


> If I had to give up anything, it’d just be a little bit of all three. Everything in moderation.
> 
> Again, to h*ll with that doctor


I'm with Jules on this


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## NorthernLight (Aug 16, 2022)

Salt, easily. I hate the taste, don't cook with it, don't add any at the table. I eat very little processed food.


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## Been There (Aug 16, 2022)

I try to avoid sugars, fat is hard to avoid if you like meat, so I would have to go with salt, which I think tends to harm the taste of food instead of improving the taste. I cook for myself and I seldom add salt to any recipes.


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## dobielvr (Aug 17, 2022)

I don't really do sugar.
If I do, it's just a pig out day...cause I've been good for too long.


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## WheatenLover (Aug 17, 2022)

I usually cook low-fat meals. Once in awhile I have steak, which is definitely not low fat.

I prefer my own baked goods, and settle for thinking about them in great detail. Lately I've been thinking about German chocolate cake, peanut butter cookies, chocolate pudding, and chocolate fudge with pecans in it, spice cake with caramel buttercream frosting, and pralines. Thinking doesn't count! These are all things I cannot bring myself to eat in moderation.

When I eat meat and eggs I use salt. I don't use very much, except on steak.

I agree with all things in moderation. I hardly ever eat processed food because I don't like it. I like my own home cooking. Although the Payday candy bars my son keeps buying me go right down the hatch. I have to wrestle with myself to not tell him to stop buying them. At least he always buys a good supply of walnuts -- those, I can eat without it being unhealthy.


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## Tish (Aug 17, 2022)

Salt and Fat.

You come near my chocolate and it's on.


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## Mike (Aug 17, 2022)

Sugar.

Mike.


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## C50 (Aug 17, 2022)

Pinky said:


> Gave up most of them, decades ago .. or, should I say, decreased or eliminated as much as possible.


Same for me.  It was kind of a slow evolution of my eating habits, not any kind of conscious decision.


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## JustDave (Aug 17, 2022)

I think fat for me.  Sugar would be a close runner up.  But why give up only one bad thing?  If the doctor says, "Here are 3 bad things.  Pick one to quit," I don't understand why this gives you permission to keep the other two.  Does giving up 1 out of 3 make you 33%  better?  I'd go for 100%.  But if you are now set on giving up just one, I'd read up on the negative effects of each and decide which one is the worst in your particular case.  The more I think about this, the 1 out of 3 thing just gets stranger and stranger.


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## Della (Aug 17, 2022)

I recently did a lot of research on high blood pressure and it seems that it's not salt by itself that's the culprit but the ratio of salt to potassium in your system  So, if you eat a pickle you might be able to offset it a little with a banana.  Giving up salt entirely means almost tasteless food forever.  My doctor said the salt from your shaker is nothing compared to what's in soup, any canned food, cheese, sauces, bread, etc.  So I would never give up salt completely.

We need fat to make our system run properly, "good" fats like olive oil are especially good for us and if we keep our fat content ratio fairly high when dieting we will not experience such extreme hunger on the same number of calories.  I once did a low fat diet for about a year and I remember getting up from a dinner of fat free vegetables and shaking so hard I almost fainted. I would never give up all fat.

Sugar has no benefits (other than pleasure.)  I have given up sugar (no more than 2 grams added sugar in anything) and no more than about 20 grams pre day total, including natural sugar in fruit and milk.
This was the easiest and most effective diet for me.  I stuck to it for a year and lost 60 pounds without too much extreme hunger.  I should have stayed with it but one day I decided to take a week off for Christmas, and never got back.  I have an all or nothing personality, moderation just doesn't work for me. 
I would give up sugar.


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## Jackie23 (Aug 17, 2022)

Through the years I've tried to limit or eliminate all three, but I'd say Salt was the easiest for me to do without.


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## StarSong (Aug 17, 2022)

Nathan said:


> *Perhaps to be more precise- "added" salt-sugar-fat should have  been specified.*
> 
> I cut out added salt some years ago. Sure, all processed foods will have added sodium, unless you specifically shop for and pay additional for "less sodium" products.   There are 'good fats' of course, but usually come with the 'bad' fats(saturated, trans).
> 
> I would sacrifice _added_ sugars as much as possible, if they don't come with essential nutrients, like with fruit.


I've pretty much given up added salt and fats.  
Sugar, not so much.


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## JustDave (Aug 17, 2022)

Processed sugar throws your body's chemistry out of whack.  I know this sounds like something a natures child-back to the Earth-wannabe would say, but I recently did some reading on this.  You can survive on processed sugar, but it presents all sorts of problems and the chemistry is too complicated to explain in a post.  My source is a book called "Diet and Fitness Explained."  I liked it because it focuses more on science than philosophy.  Of course, we all draw different conclusions from the same data.  I don't worry about sugar too much, because I stopped consuming it in large doses when I found out it was the cause of serious bouts of my hypo-hypoglycemia.  This was years ago.  Change of diet was the cure.


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## Chet (Aug 17, 2022)

I could do without fat. I'm easy on the salt shaker but it's in a lot of packaged products so it's hard to avoid. I'll hang onto sweets but not overdo it.


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## Alligatorob (Aug 17, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> I'm on a Diet now


Good for  you!  I hope it works out, I'm sure it will.


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## feywon (Aug 17, 2022)

NorthernLight said:


> Salt, easily. I hate the taste, don't cook with it, don't add any at the table. I eat *very little processed food*.


Your distaste for salt is likely your body's way of saying you get enough, from somewhere.  As i mentioned above, when my BP rose to low normal levels my near lifelong craving for it dropped dramatically.  

The part i made bold in your comment: IMO that is one the best nutritional habits we can acquire. If you buy fresh fruits/veggies (or grow some of what you eat) or fresh frozen ones that have nothing added, you don't have to do so much label reading. And if *at least* say 70-80% of your intake is foods with no added sugar or salt the occasional exception won't have as profound an effect on you unless you are hypertensive or have blood sugar issues.  

For myself, this has worked well--listening to my body.  When stressed i have to be very vigilant to keep indulgences to a minimum. And fortunately the autumn/winter holidays fall when weather is cooler so i burn more calories doing outside chores and some, like dealing with firewood are more frequent and imperative.  Activity levels are a consideration too not just food intake.


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## Chris21E (Aug 17, 2022)

After spending time in a hospital and the diet they put one on,  I vote for a healthy balanced meal.  

Enjoy Life, and try not to hurt in the process...


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## Wontactmyage (Aug 17, 2022)

Chris21E said:


> After spending time in a hospital and the diet they put one on,  I vote for a healthy balanced meal.
> 
> Enjoy Life, and try not to hurt in the process...


I vote for health balanced also but… the foods these days are nowhere near that. The processing these days, oh dear! Also I plea look into altering even slightly altering your diet if you have ailments. Eating is the fuel in the tank. 

https://drdavisinfinitehealth.com/


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## Chris21E (Aug 17, 2022)

Wontactmyage said:


> I vote for health balanced also but… the foods these days are nowhere near that. The processing these days, oh dear! Also I plea look into altering even slightly altering your diet if you have ailments. Eating is the fuel in the tank.
> 
> https://drdavisinfinitehealth.com/


By healthy no processed foods and fresh fruits   reason I enjoy summers


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## JaniceM (Aug 23, 2022)

Nathan said:


> If your doctor _strenuously_ advised you to quit one, which would it be?
> 
> 1. Salt
> 
> ...


Salt.  I never put it on anything, and except for rarely potato chips don't eat salty food either.


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## Leann (Aug 23, 2022)

Sugar but I'd still like to be able to have fruit.


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## Alligatorob (Aug 23, 2022)

Leann said:


> Sugar but I'd still like to be able to have fruit.


Natural sugar in fruit doesn't count, or shouldn't anyway!


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## amwassil (Sep 15, 2022)

@Wontactmyage


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## amwassil (Sep 15, 2022)

I *quit* sugar - the popular name for carbohydrates. No grains, no vegetables, no fruit. So far 5 1/2+ years and counting.
I eat lots of unrefined sodium salt - Redmond's Real and Himalayan Pink - and potassium salt - NoSalt. Also Deep Ocean Minerals.
I eat lots of animal/dairy fat plus coconut/MCT oils.


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## jujube (Sep 16, 2022)

Oh, dear.....can I have another 20 years or so to make up my mind?


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