Sweets, Sugary foods, and Junk Food

[Reluctantly]

There's a recurring theme in my life that involves these things. I've always loved chocolate and sugary foods, so much that I get made fun of for it.

I recently found out this is related to Se and not Si for good theoretical reasons, and although I don't really want to debate it, unless you want to, is this something that INTPs generally share in common?

I know the fictional character L from death note is like this, but that's fiction, so blah. And I know this is partly an autism-assburgers thing, which I probably have or am on the autism spectrum, but don't want to argue about it or care much since I think my intelligence balances it out enough.

I guess in other ways it indicates that the body craves energy, perhaps. This could mean I overexert myself or something, but maybe that's something INTPs believe they do because of so much mental focus and rumination.

So you can say whatever you want in relation to this; you can talk about yourself and I will listen to you! cause that's all people generally want anyway, right? I've already stepped into tl;dr; oh well.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

Consumption of high fructose corn syrup is extremely bad for your health. Typically excess consumption leads people to become obese. So aim to cut this out of your diet.

 

[Chronomar]

Not sugar at all. In fact I would say I'm most unusually attracted to savory and/or bitter tastes. Like slightly burnt coffee, over-steeped tea with no sugar, onions, leeks, radishes, baker's chocolate, dark kinds of leaf foods (not even sure what kinds they are, but like leaves that actually taste like leaves, goddamnit).

From what I know any unusual taste-patterns you have would be related to your genetics and what chemicals/compounds you can taste, how your brain reacts, what associations you have, than really your personality. Though I suppose personality is a function of the brain.

I'd always thought the Se predilection for indulgence was just that, for indulgence in whatever they were sensorialy* attracted to, not necessarily dictating what the Se-type's tastes were.

*not a word. Is now.

 

[Dapper Dan]

Not sugar at all. In fact I would say I'm most unusually attracted to savory and/or bitter tastes.

I like both, to an extent. This is why Dr Pepper is the king of drinks.

Personally, my favorite group of foods would have to be salt/vinegar. I mean, why let all of that leftover balsamic dressing go to waste? Might as well dip the fork in there and enjoy.

 

[crippli]

I eat sugary foods. Not junk food. I try to avoid combining fat and sugar. I avoid salt in the same combinations, is a bit more challenging. It's annoying since I like berries and fruit much better then chocolate. But still I find myself eating a lot at times. Way more then what can be healthy or even normal.

I don't drink soda or cola or sugar liquids. Mostly water and a lot of juice(apple, orange, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, grapes). I try to get those not from concentrate. But slightly worried what they do to the kidneys.

I try to at least balance my unhealthy habits with healthy. So I come out somewhat in the middle.

 

[Mello]

Do you eat sugary food when you're stressed?

 

[MissQuote]

Not sugar at all. In fact I would say I'm most unusually attracted to savory and/or bitter tastes. Like slightly burnt coffee, over-steeped tea with no sugar, onions, leeks, radishes, baker's chocolate, dark kinds of leaf foods (not even sure what kinds they are, but like leaves that actually taste like leaves, goddamnit).

this.

I don't want my coffee burnt though. Just very strong and black.

Also very spicy food. Very very spicy. But there has to be flavor not just heat. Habanero sauce? yes. But there needs to be a roasted flavor and hints of the other stuff like the garlic and what not in the sauce too.

 

[P.H.]

I'm a sweettooth. At work I get made fun of being addicted to cake. (Whenever it's somebody's birthday, they get cake. I always eat most.)
I've also had my fair share of junkfood in my life, though I'm starting to eat that less. Prolly has something to do with growing more mature. My boyfriend still eats a LOT of junkfood. He says he needs it because he's athletic and otherwise doesn't make his daily calorie intake. (I always say he just needs to eat more bread and meat.) But because he eats it a lot I eat it with him, most of the time.

I really like fruit, veggies not so much. I don't like sour or spicy food and I've learned to eat/drink bitter stuff now, but I'm not very fond of it. (Coffee and tea.) I guess my diet consists mostly of sweet/sugary stuff and fruits + some (really not a lot) meat and rice/bread. Don't eat dairy much. You don't really need it anyways.

And I'm not overweight. My BMI is 19.

This is why Dr Pepper is the king of drinks.

 

[Minuend]

My boyfriend still eats a LOT of junkfood. He says he needs it because he's athletic and otherwise doesn't make his daily calorie intake. (I always say he just needs to eat more bread and meat.)

Yeah, I don't think he's right either. I think junk food will rather lower his performance and mental alertness. I think he would notice a huge difference if he started eating better.

 

[Melkor]

Sugar is one of the few real things I live for.

 

[Minuend]

Feeding cancer cells are one of the only things sugar live for

 

[Sali]

My boyfriend still eats a LOT of junkfood. He says he needs it because he's athletic and otherwise doesn't make his daily calorie intake. (I always say he just needs to eat more bread and meat.)

Meat yes, bread no. Bread might as well be sugar. As far as weight and BMI and all that you won't be overweight unless you're getting too many calories regardless of what you eat.

 

[Amagi82]

I have quite the sweet tooth. I love sugary stuff, and my body really craves it. The point where something starts to taste sweet to me is about the same point other people are like "bleh, too rich for me". That said, I hate fake sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc. It's fucking disgusting. I don't drink any form of soft drink, or eat overly processed junk food.

 

[Fukyo]

It could be because sugar boosts your serotonin.

The reason sugar elevates serotonin is more a side effect than a direct effect. When sugar is consumed, insulin is released and binds with amino acids. Together, they go to muscles. This leaves tryptophan, a small amino acid that normally has competition for transport, a clear path to get into the brain where it is used in the production of serotonin.

Have you ever done a blood test to check for glucose levels? You could be insulin resistant by now, I think that exacerbates the cravings.


As for myself, I've always had a fondness for salty food.

 

[Reluctantly]

Consumption of high fructose corn syrup is extremely bad for your health. Typically excess consumption leads people to become obese. So aim to cut this out of your diet.

Isn't that high fructose thing kind of a myth? I heard from one of my professors that it tastes the same as sugar, but stores fat a little more than pure sugar; so it's only a concern for people trying to lose weight?

From what I know any unusual taste-patterns you have would be related to your genetics and what chemicals/compounds you can taste, how your brain reacts, what associations you have, than really your personality. Though I suppose personality is a function of the brain.

I guess it probably is. It's weird though because I have a hard time putting on weight. I once tried weight-lifting with compound movements and gained about 25 pounds in two months, but had to stop because I couldn't be bothered to eat so much. Then about a month later I lost most the weight.

I'd always thought the Se predilection for indulgence was just that, for indulgence in whatever they were sensorialy* attracted to, not necessarily dictating what the Se-type's tastes were.

Well, I guess technically, there has to be some metaphysical construct of desire for the action to occur, right? In this case, sugar-related?

Personally, my favorite group of foods would have to be salt/vinegar. I mean, why let all of that leftover balsamic dressing go to waste? Might as well dip the fork in there and enjoy.

Wow, I love vinegar. And spicy foods. And sugar. I think I like extreme tastes or something. I hadn't thought about it, but that seems very true.

Do you eat sugary food when you're stressed?

When I'm not too. It's stimulating for some reason. It's like having sex or listening to some very interesting sounds; it makes things plain exciting and my thoughts more alive.

I'm a sweettooth. At work I get made fun of being addicted to cake. (Whenever it's somebody's birthday, they get cake. I always eat most.)
I've also had my fair share of junkfood in my life, though I'm starting to eat that less. Prolly has something to do with growing more mature. My boyfriend still eats a LOT of junkfood. He says he needs it because he's athletic and otherwise doesn't make his daily calorie intake. (I always say he just needs to eat more bread and meat.) But because he eats it a lot I eat it with him, most of the time.

I hate it when people complain that a piece of cake is "too sweet" and they go on and on about how they can't eat it or take one bite and say they can't eat anymore. And then I eat a big piece about three times the size they had and they start to worry if I'm diabetic; I really don't get it.

I really like fruit, veggies not so much. I don't like sour or spicy food and I've learned to eat/drink bitter stuff now, but I'm not very fond of it. (Coffee and tea.) I guess my diet consists mostly of sweet/sugary stuff and fruits + some (really not a lot) meat and rice/bread. Don't eat dairy much. You don't really need it anyways.

And I'm not overweight. My BMI is 19.

I love fruit. Granny smith apples are so good. But I think consuming large amounts of fruit gives diarrhea, even though it's supposedly healthy food. Or maybe it's just apples, I know apple juice causes the runs in large quantities.

It could be because sugar boosts your serotonin.



Have you ever done a blood test to check for glucose levels? You could be insulin resistant by now, I think that exacerbates the cravings.


As for myself, I've always had a fondness for salty food.

I like salty foods as well. I had my glucose levels checked once many years ago due to adrenal fatigue and fibromyalgia, but that was due to overexertion and adrenaline addiction. The blood test came out fine and they treated me as a hypochondriac, yet they were wrong, and I really hate know-it-all doctors that don't know-it-all.
I remember drinking a glass of salt water and feeling really good almost immediately for about 5 minutes, at which case I knew it was adrenal malfunctioning related. It's possible I have a very bad awareness of my body, in general. But I also know that if I'm in pain or under-stimulated, adrenaline seems to alleviate it like some kind of natural morphine or excitation; it's interesting.

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say it raises serotonin. I know some think serotonin has a relationship to pleasure, but then it would also have to have a relationship to pain for that to be completely true and I don't think pain is something anyone is yet to fully understand. In other words, can one have pain and pleasure at the same time? I think it would be possible, but then that throws ideas of strict chemical causations out the window, I suppose.
Anyway, would you like to elaborate on a hypothesis? I'm interested.

 

[Meer]

HFCS paranoia seems to be mostly blown out of proportion. Yer gut will make sucrose into glucose+fructose, so it's basically the same thing, except that the hugely subsidized corn is bad for the environment and international trade and makes sugary food less expensive but only slightly less delicious so people get fat. I don't actually know anything, though.

I have polished off a few bags of jujubes this week and maybe I'll get some more tonight. Okay, I guess I am a sugarfiend. Especially with sweet tea and sometimes coffee.

 

[snafupants]

I usually avoid incomplete proteins, nutrient-deprived and high glycemic-index foods. Any additives are nixed immediately: I can be anal-retentive about food. A few years back I was improvident with candies and cheese-laced junk, so, in hindsight, I've made quite a turn-around.

 

[Fukyo]

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say it raises serotonin. I know some think serotonin has a relationship to pleasure, but then it would also have to have a relationship to pain for that to be completely true and I don't think pain is something anyone is yet to fully understand. In other words, can one have pain and pleasure at the same time? I think it would be possible, but then that throws ideas of strict chemical causations out the window, I suppose.
Anyway, would you like to elaborate on a hypothesis? I'm interested.

It's not my hypothesis, just something I read online a while ago when googling about causes of sugar cravings. Somebody knowledgeable about neurochemistry, like @Agent Intellect can probably explain the relationship with serotonin, if there's any.

 

[Cavallier]

I have always been strongly affected by sugar in that it gives me a big energy boost. As a kid I wasn't allowed to have much of it because I'd bounce off the walls and then crash into a depression shortly afterward. During my teen years I ate as much as I could get my hands on.

These days I've come to think of it as a kind of addictive drug. I crave it so much and I sometimes don't have the willpower to tell myself no. Sounds like an addiction and feels like an addiction. So I'm trying to cut it out of my diet.

I don't necessarily believe all the warnings about HFCS. I do however think that sugary beverages and eating lots of candy is a great way to become obese unless you exert yourself physically a lot or are blessed with crazy non-weight gaining genetics. I've found that while most of my friends could get away with consuming that much sugar in their teen years they have now become significantly overweight after getting into their 20s.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

I don't have a taste for deliciously unhealthy food but I like to indulge myself every now and then. I generally see them as unnecessary or a waste of $.

I drink about several sodas a year, maybe less.

 

[Agent Intellect]

It's not my hypothesis, just something I read online a while ago when googling about causes of sugar cravings. Somebody knowledgeable about neurochemistry, like @Agent Intellect can probably explain the relationship with serotonin, if there's any.

Intake of sugar causing increases serotonin levels may be getting the cause-effect backwards. Serotonin is involved in carbohydrate metabolism. SSRI's have been known to increase carbohydrate cravings and cause people to gain weight.

The point here being that increasing serotonin may cause people to crave sweets, not eating sweets causing a reward stimulus by increasing serotonin. However, I'm not completely knowledgeable on the connection between serotonin and sugar cravings.

 

[snafupants]

You could overlay a more lascivious tone to that SpongeBob picture, given the mouth-side slime, Squid's nose and plentiful amorous/near-satiated looks.

 

[Sanctum]

I usually just eat whatever is around, type is neither here nor there to me. And its like no matter how much sugar I eat I remain static. lol i am actually very concerned by this especially when i drink 5 hour energy's and barely feel a boost energy

 

[snafupants]

I usually just eat whatever is around, type is neither here nor there to me. And its like no matter how much sugar I eat I remain static. lol i am actually very concerned by this especially when i drink 5 hour energy's and barely feel a boost energy

Maybe you're partly hypoglycemic and you've worn out your insulin already.

Caffeine works mainly as a phony antagonist to adenosine receptors, but it also promotes blood sugar spikes.

 

[P.H.]

^ Like energy drinks? Don't you fake energy with that because of the caffeine? (And isn't caffeine stuff your body gets used to? So you will have to need to drink more to feel effect if you drink it regularly?)

 

[snafupants]

^ Like energy drinks? Don't you fake energy with that because of the caffeine? (And isn't caffeine stuff your body gets used to? So you will have to need to drink more to feel effect if you drink it regularly?)

Definitely. Drug tolerance on a physiological level is your body attempting to recalibrate and produce homeostasis by creating more of the receptors being altered by a foreign substance. In the instance of caffeine, adenosine receptors are blocked, the body then creates more adenosine receptors to counteract the effect of caffeine intoxication. Sort of asinine but your body is, fundamentally, trying to help you in a confusedly dim way. But yeah, over time you need more and more to plug up the ever-multiplying receptors as your body attempts to reestablish normality and baseline. I wouldn't call caffeine fake energy as much as stress. Caffeine affects your pituitary gland, your pancreas and your adrenal glands to produce its effects on the central nervous system. True, there are increased levels of acetylcholine and dopamine in the basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex, but essentially caffeine promotes a fight or flight response in the body-mind. I still drink some coffee because of the effect it has on the glutamate channel within the brain. Am I weaker long-term? Maybe.

 

[Architect]

Feeding cancer cells are one of the only things sugar live for

That comes from an old misunderstanding. One of the early cancer researchers found that cancer needs lots of glucose - a basic sugar, and somehow it turned into "sugar feeds cancer". The misunderstanding is that glucose is the energy source for your entire body; it just is that cancer, being fast growing abnormal cells, need a lot of energy and so use lots of glucose. The biggest consumer of glucose in your body is your brain, about 1200 calories minimum to keep your brain and vital functions running.

The problem with simple sugars are one, we don't have the satiation mechanisms to know when we've eaten enough, so we two, eat too much which three, causes all sorts of macro health problems such as glucose spiking, crowding out of other essential things we should be eating, food addiction and so on.

I was a sugar hound too - gave me a brain rush that I loved. Wrecked my health too, so I kicked it.

 

[snafupants]

That comes from an old misunderstanding. One of the early cancer researchers found that cancer needs lots of glucose - a basic sugar, and somehow it turned into "sugar feeds cancer". The misunderstanding is that glucose is the energy source for your entire body; it just is that cancer, being fast growing abnormal cells, need a lot of energy and so use lots of glucose. The biggest consumer of glucose in your body is your brain, about 1200 calories minimum to keep your brain and vital functions running.

The problem with simple sugars are one, we don't have the satiation mechanisms to know when we've eaten enough, so we two, eat too much which three, causes all sorts of macro health problems such as glucose spiking, crowding out of other essential things we should be eating, food addiction and so on.

I was a sugar hound too - gave me a brain rush that I loved. Wrecked my health too, so I kicked it.

Good man. The brain is, indeed, quite stingy when you consider its weight compared to its energy needs. Yeah, I would steer away from excess sugar because surfeit amounts basically promote breakdown of the insulin pathway and hypoglycemia on a long enough timeline. Hence the doddering lollipop lickers in the geriatric wards. Nature is sort of an idiot by making what we love so desirable and bungling the shut-off valve part of things.

 

[warryer]

I like my sugary foods every now and then. I don't drink pop (what the heck is soda?) and cookies and the like are kept to a minimum. When I eat too much sugar I start to get a headache and don't quite feel right.

Sugary foods are just not bodily satisfying like a plate of meat, potatoes and vegetables.

 

[Yet]

I'm lucky. I just really enjoy healthy food. Love soup, veg., fish, fresh bread & foods like that..

Still got christmas chocolates left which I nibble now and again. Usually just feel like one mouthfull of sweet at a time. Don't understand people who just chove it in. Would make my physically sick.

Prefer vinegary, a bit salty and sometimes bitter foods.

Cheese and wine is the most unhealthy stuff I eat I suppose.

 

[lucky12]

Lots of spices in my diet.. you might say I'm addicted to the spice, the whites and irises of my eyes are turning blue. I always opt for the spicy wings challenge if a restaurant has one.

@Dapper Dan

that's what bread is for, especially after a tomato salad loaded with olive oil, garlic, onions, oregano.. just dip that shit right up in some home made bread.

Dr.Pepper shout out.. jones soda.. dads rootbeer.. if I'm in a 4 hour lecture I'll treat myself to some sugar and a bit of caffeine.

A complete meal for me must be finished with an orange or some berries, milk, and about an hour afterwards I have a piece of dark chocolate. I can't believe how much some people eat, every lecture I see people eating something. One guy in my program drinks 4 extra large double doubles from timmys (coffee place in canada) just at school alone. The other weirdos (including my teacher, a very attractive 40yr old) drink diet coke at least once a day. A couple of guys drink multiple energy drinks each day. Before those got popular I was into them, *cough* hipster. Then I just stopped because I felt like I was doing drugs.

Snafu, that receptor explanation was pretty awesome.

 

[Zionoxis]

I am a huge sugar fan. I mainly like sweet/sour though. Neon gummy worms with Full Throttle or Mountain Dew....we have ourselves a good night. Oddly enough, chips and salsa with sweat tea make good programming food.

 

[Dapper Dan]

@Dapper Dan

that's what bread is for, especially after a tomato salad loaded with olive oil, garlic, onions, oregano.. just dip that shit right up in some home made bread.

I would agree with this, but uncooked tomatoes are disgusting. :P

 

[Pyropyro]

White choco and Coffee fuels my mental faculties.