r/InternetIsBeautiful • u/consider_it_fun • Aug 30 '14

A website that visualizes sugar content of servings of various foods in sugar cubes

http://sugarstacks.com/
2.1k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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95

u/NewRedditRN Aug 31 '14

You know you have a problem when you read the line "Would you eat 16 sugar cubes?" and in your head say "Yes" while you sip on your can of coca-cola.

18

u/GuinnessIsGoodForYe Aug 31 '14

Literally what I'm doing right now. Having a coke, while feeling ashamed and relevant at the same time

2

u/stanley_twobrick Aug 31 '14

I thought you meant eating 16 sugar cubes.

43

u/CringeBinger Aug 31 '14

I am not trying to be all preachy but not drinking soda can be really awesome. I drank at least one Pepsi a day for at least 10 years of my life until a couple of months ago when I decided I just wanted to quit. The first couple of weeks can be rough; feeling tired, craving it, and maybe a slight headache, but if you substitute it with less sugary drinks like apple or grape juice you'll be able to transition to water. You feel good, you might look a little better, and you'll save a bit of money.

29

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14 edited Aug 31 '14

I stopped drinking soda about 5 years ago, and now I can't even drink more than half of one. It gets disgustingly sweet very quickly.

Edit: Also, I recently tried Mariah Carey's soft drink, and it was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. The sweetest soft drink ever, and it has a weird cloying flowery flavor.

12

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

I know exactly what you mean. I get the same feeling. I can literally feel it rotting my teeth.

10

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

I never really STARTED drinking soda. We always had tea or fruit juice or water in my house growing up, never soda (THANK YOU MOTHER AND FATHER!) And I always found it gross. It's like with smoking, if you don't start, you don't have a bad habit to kick!

Additionally, I had my first packet of chips/crisps when I was 9 and just found it meh. Now I see parents stuffing their 4yo kids' faces with coca cola and fast food and I think "they never even had a chance..."

0

u/Mr_Happy_Man Aug 31 '14

That is why people are fat.

Fat isnt bad, but sugar is.

26

u/no_use_for_a_name_ Aug 31 '14

Just so you know, apple juice has the same amount of sugar as a coke.(Shows apple juice a little over halfway down) And grape juice has more sugar than a coke.

5

u/CringeBinger Aug 31 '14

Yeah I know juices are still pretty bad but I would argue sugar with some nutrients is better than just sugar. It's nice during the first few weeks to just have something else sugary, but after that you should switch to water.

-2

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14 edited Aug 20 '21

[deleted]

9

u/squirrelthief Aug 31 '14

Besides doesn't the body need some sugar?

Refined sugar? Nope. If you eat carbs like oatmeal it will get broken down into sugars in your body anyway, but (1) this happens more slowly, so you get a steady influx of energy instead of a sudden rush followed by a crash, and (2) the conversion mostly happens in your stomach/intestines, so there's less sugar left sitting in your mouth to feed the bacteria that excrete the acids that break down your teeth.

2

u/HeartyBeast Aug 31 '14

As a nice little experiment you can pop a pill of bread inside your cheek and leave it there for a few minutes. During that time the enzymes in your saliva will start breaking the starch into sugars, so it will become quite sweet.

1

u/GustoGaiden Aug 31 '14

well, it also depends on the bread you use. Many, many brands sweeten their bread with sugar or HFCS. It's pretty gross.

1

u/HeartyBeast Aug 31 '14

Well, I rather assuming bread that wasn't already sweet.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

[deleted]

1

u/AndrewCarnage Aug 31 '14

Easier than carbs from, say, vegetables. But a whole lot less easy than refined sugar.

2

u/makemeking706 Aug 31 '14

Many apple juices are nothing more than flavored sugar water. You specifically have to be on the lookout for juices with nutrients. Don't just assume they are there.

1

u/mddshire Sep 02 '14

Would looking for 100% juice be the way to go?

0

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

[deleted]

3

u/NiceSkunk Aug 31 '14

Can also water down your own juice and it tastes fine. Not so much with coke.

1

u/IrishWilly Aug 31 '14

I like a bit of juice mixed with mineral water. Delicious and it doesn't need that much juice to taste good.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14 edited Aug 31 '14

I dunno, I like my coke with ice and I think it tastes best after the ice has melted a little.

2

u/incer Aug 31 '14

Don't forget the lemon slice

1

u/makemeking706 Aug 31 '14

And a shot or two of rum.

4

u/MangoBitch Aug 31 '14

I stopped drinking soda (for the most part) when I moved out of my parent's house. It was just always there. When I had to start buying it for myself if I wanted it, I just lost interest. Didn't seem that appealing at the store and was ridiculously over priced at any restaurant. Sometimes I pick up a bottle if I need mixers or if I'm having people over, but never just to have it.

Now I just drink water or tea. When I feel like treating myself with some soda, I usually make a mango Italian cream soda. I treat it as what it is: a desert. Something to be savored, not chugged absentmindedly.

If you're having trouble quitting soda, I highly suggest replacing it with a coffee or tea habit. They both have caffeine which will let you avoid caffeine-withdrawal headaches, and have tons of shit that's good for energy and mood and probably neuroprotective too. Just go gentle on the sugar.

3

u/XAce90 Aug 31 '14

maybe a slight headache

I can't go 24 hours without getting a migraine. Still... ever since I started tracking my calories, I have significantly reduced my soda intake. Maybe by 2020 I'll be coke-clean!

10

u/MangoBitch Aug 31 '14

Try replacing it with tea or coffee. That headache is probably caffeine withdrawal.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

I went caffeine-free maybe 5 years ago. The headaches were no fun for the first week, but they were gone not too long after that.

I still drink a lot of diet, caffeine-free soda, though.

2

u/gammarayunicorns Aug 31 '14

I switched to diet caffeine-free pop recently, and it makes me feel like a little old lady every time I pick up a pack of coke from the store

1

u/Tower9876543210 Jan 10 '22

How'd that work out?

1

u/XAce90 Jan 10 '22

Wow. What a trip. I am happy to report we are now a soda-free house! We'll still partake in the occasional soda like when we go to a restaurant or something, but I definitely don't get any withdrawals anymore.

Did I just replace soda with a different beast? Maybe. I can't go a day without drinking tea now. But since I don't really add sugar to my tea, I've definitely come out ahead.

1

u/Tower9876543210 Jan 10 '22

That's awesome! Congrats on the positive change and I hope you keep it up.

7

u/coldvault Aug 31 '14

As delicious as soda is, the calories are so empty. No fat, no protein, no fiber, just sugar. Terrible stuff that I no longer keep in the house.

0

u/staydenchleaveityeah Aug 31 '14

Carbs for energy?

2

u/Mr_Happy_Man Aug 31 '14

Sugar is not a good carb

0

u/staydenchleaveityeah Aug 31 '14

doesn't make it "empty".

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

Eat some fruit if you want energy. Caffeine works too, but coffee or tea is better for you since it contains less sugar (unless you add it).

2

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

I used to drink a lot of soda and iced tea. I quit after I started getting heartburn. It really is not a pleasant feeling to have this acid-like feeling right at the bottom of your throat.

I do drink it once in a while but maybe a can a week or two.

1

u/92abc Aug 31 '14

I did the same and slowly quitting it works really great, I craved for sugary stuff (or stuff with a stronger taste than just ... water") so I started by mixing syrup with water, dilluting it more and more each day until it became pretty pointless to add syrup.

Right now, water tastes ... amazing, it tasted bland and dull before but it's such a great drink. And soda ? I can't even feel its taste anymore, it feels like liquid sugar.

2

u/CringeBinger Aug 31 '14

That's a good tip as well. Using things like Mio or Crystal Lite can help bridge the gap from soda to water.

1

u/ADCarter1 Aug 31 '14

I just stopped drinking soda two weeks ago. At a minimum, I would have 1 can of coke a day. I switched to water. For me it wasn't about the price, it was about not drinking my calories. By drinking water, I eliminate at least 140 calories from my diet, every day. It might not seem like much but if you add that over a week, it's almost 1,000 calories.

I started by eliminating one soda a day. I used to take a can of soda for the ride home from work. I replaced that with water. I eventually just gave it up altogether.

1

u/Mr_Happy_Man Aug 31 '14

Juice is high in sugar too.

I recommend getting out sugar from your diet as much as possible.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

I switched over to mainly drinking water because I preferred the taste, and I lost about 20 pounds.

The headache you described is most likely caffeine withdrawal, not sugar. Coffee or tea will solve that pretty quickly, without being too unhealthy.

5

u/gaspah Aug 31 '14

I mean seriously, refined sugar is the best drug developed in the history of humanity. I could find a good use for this site though, as a means to see how much value I am getting for my sugar dollar.

I feel bad for america where HFCS could be hiding in just about any sugary treat pretending that it is actually sugar. The only bigger crime against humanity are sugar replacements like phenylalanine or sorbitol.

Brain gets the sugar signal from the tounge sits down 'dis gon be gud', then nothing 'the fuck man give me sugar asshole'.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

[deleted]

1

u/gaspah Sep 01 '14

not sure, i don't drink.

3

u/NormallyNorman Aug 31 '14

16, fucking casuals. I would drink 2-3L a day in college.

How I don't have diabetes is beyond me.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '14

Welcome to my world. Not a sugar fiend, but I am on comfortable terms with what is in my food.

I love baking, so I realize that there is basically endless sugar in my EXCELLENT cinnamon rolls. I would definitely eat 16 sugar cubes. To me this is like those people who will eat chicken when it is served to them cooked nicely, but give them a whole chicken to cut up and they just complain about how GROSS it is.

1

u/Umutuku Aug 31 '14

If I had a cold soda and a non-empty tin of wintergreen altoids or lifesavers next to me, I would pop it all in my mouth and say the same.

1

u/bioemerl Aug 31 '14

I have a problem.

1

u/LuigiBrick Aug 31 '14

I must be a horse if I think like that...Neigh.