Speaker 1: 0:27

Welcome back as my hint. In the last episode I mentioned this song is from a Canadian band and that it mentions one of the best things you can do to improve your health. Actually, it's one of the best things you can stop doing. If you haven't guessed it yet, it's no Sugar Tonight from the band the Guess who. The Guess who, like I said, was a Canadian band. They were prominent in the late 60s and 70s. They were led by Burton Cummins and Randy Bachman. It's actually pronounced Bachman, even though many say Bachman.

Speaker 1: 0:52

Eventually, randy left the band right after this song and album came out, ultimately later forming Bachman Turner Overdrive, also known as BTO. An interesting story about BTO is how Stephen King got his choice of a pen name. He was actually on the phone with his publisher when they mentioned coming up with a pen name. Bto was playing, so King chose Richard Bachman or Beckman, however you want to say it. So there were various reasons for Randy leaving the Guess who. Part of it was a difference in lifestyles. Burton made no secret about his hard-living rock and roll life. Randy, on the other hand, was a strict Mormon. So no drinking, no smoking, no drugs. He was also going through some health issues, with some severe pain, gallbladder issues and he just needed to stop touring. So he left the band. At that point the BTO song hey you was a poke back at Cummings and the Guess who, especially after Cummings said the Backman wouldn't make it in the music business. After leaving the Guess who, the two ultimately reconciled back in 2019, I think and they toured together for a while. Cummings actually joked about hey you during those performances and said it was a song Randy wrote when he didn't like me, but it's a great song. So back to the Guess who.

Speaker 1: 2:07

Some of their biggest hits include Undone, share the World, no Time these Eyes, american Woman and the song we'll discuss today, no Sugar Tonight. Interestingly enough, no Sugar Tonight was the B-side of American Woman. Actually, they were really both great songs, so it was essentially a double A-side. Let's talk a little bit about American Woman, which is a real interesting story too. That song was created while the band was playing in a very Canadian location, a curling arena in Ontario, and Randy broke a string. So Burton went out and he was out in the parking lot meeting with someone actually buying records in the parking lot from someone, and then he heard the band start back up, so he figured he better go back in. And actually Burton just started reeling off words and it came out as American Woman. American woman, mama, let me be, don't come a-hanging around my door. I don't want to see your face, no more. I got more important things to do Than spend my time growing old with you. Now, woman sit still.

Speaker 1: 3:24

Many people view that as an anti-war song, especially if you listen to that. But Burton mentioned it was really just a stream of consciousness and not specifically anti-war song, especially if you listen to that. But Burton mentioned it was really just a stream of consciousness and not specifically anti-war, and a lot of it was more about the cultural differences they found when they were traveling to the US of United States women versus Canadian women. That song reached number one in the US and they were also invited to play the White House by Richard Nixon's daughter. They went, but they didn't play American Woman. Some people feel that they were told not or asked not to play it. They just decided to not play it on their own. But they did play no Sugar Tonight.

Speaker 1: 3:55

So I think the story of no Sugar Tonight is even a better story. What happened was Randy was visiting California and he bought some records at a record store and note the common theme of buying records, both of them and at the time when they first started out, they really couldn't read music, so they would listen to other people listen to songs. They were a cover band for a while and play those songs until ultimately they started writing their own music and doing their own things. So anyway, back to the story. Randy had bought some records at a record store. He was walking down the street and he saw these three tough looking biker guys heading towards him. So he was about ready to head to the other side of the road and is heading towards him. So he was about ready to head to the other side of the road and this small car pulls up with a small woman and she starts berating one of the guys. The other two leave and she starts saying where have you been? You left me home with the kids. You're not helping out at home. And he had his tail between his legs and got in the car. And then she said as he was getting in the car and one more thing you ain't getting no sugar tonight. Those words stuck in Randy's memory and were the inspiration for the song.

Speaker 1: 5:51

So there's another song tied to no Sugar Tonight. It's called New Mother Nature and they were both done as a medley on the album and it also dovetails nicely with the message from today's podcast. They were combined, really, since they were both somewhat short and in the same key, very similar to when the Beatles did A Day in the Life. So this song perfectly nails the number one self-care habit that we can do to improve our health when it talks about no sugar tonight in my coffee, no sugar tonight in my tea. According to Dr Mark Hyman, in his book called Food Fix he states that cutting sugar-sweetened beverages from your diet is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your health. So it looks like Randy had it right when he added the line no sugar tonight in your coffee and in your tea to what the woman said to her husband.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Hyman mentions how the food industry spends over $12 billion on science and research to attempt to show that junk food isn't bad for us. And guess what? Their research is up to 50 times more likely to show a positive outcome for their products. This is very similar to what the tobacco industry did years ago, saying cigarettes aren't bad for you, and we all know how that turned out. If you listen to the big food companies, you might believe that just eating less and working out is the answer, and it is not really because of sugar itself. They've launched marketing campaigns that emphasize personal choice and physical activity rather than the nutritional content of their products. For example, coca-cola funded the Global Energy Balance Network that shifted public health messaging away from diet and onto exercise. Pepsi also didn't want to miss the party, so in 2010, their CEO said if all consumers exercised, did what they had to do, the problem of obesity wouldn't exist.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Much of their research and conclusions are based on a calorie is just a calorie and that you can just limit other foods or exercise more to burn those calories. This is what's known as the energy balance hypothesis. However, there's one thing wrong with this scenario it's too simplistic and not really accurate. The calorie in, calorie out or energy balance theory may be correct if we lived in a vacuum and burned calories in a lab with everything else being equal, but we don't. Our bodies are much more complex and calories affect our hormones and bodies much differently depending on where they come from. Would you seriously consider that 100 calories from broccoli would do the same thing to your body as 100 calories from sugar.

Speaker 1: 7:55

To emphasize that point, dr Robert Lustig, who promotes the opposite of the energy balance hypothesis, which is called the metabolic hypothesis, argues that not all calories are equal based on nutrient and fiber content. He states the typical amount of sugar in a can of soda, which is around 150 calories, contributes to seven times the likelihood for the risk of diabetes, compared to 150 calories from, say, broccoli. I can personally attest to that fact because several years ago my wife and I were drinking a flavored water which we didn't even look at the label and didn't realize that there was sugar in that and our A1C numbers actually showed that we were pre-diabetic. And the A1C, if you want to show her, shows essentially three months worth of glucose levels and by drinking that we were pre-diabetic. Once we stopped that, we went back down to normal. So it certainly can agree with what he is saying.

Speaker 1: 8:43

An important thing too is it's not just soda, it's fruit juices. Fruit juice are just as bad, since they have no fiber, but they have about the same amount of sugar as a soda. So if you really want fruit, eat the whole fruit. Don't have the fruit juices, because that is also not healthy.

Speaker 1: 8:58

So to help understand the issues with sugar, we need to really travel back in time and kind of look at the history and the increase in the use of sugar Back when we were hunters and gatherers, back over 10,000 years ago and earlier we consumed very minimal amounts. It came from honey and it was pretty difficult to obtain. A hunter and gatherer would eat about the same amount in a lifetime as we do today in one day, so getting even closer to now. Prior to 1700, today in one day so getting even closer to now. Prior to 1700, we were eating about a pound of sugar per year. 1700, four pounds 1800, 20 pounds, 1990 pounds. Around 2010, it went up to about 150 pounds of sugar per year.

Speaker 1: 9:35

The dramatic increase back in the 18th, 19th century was really because of the industrial revolution, colonial expansion, lower prices and really the ability to process and more easily make sugar. So here's kind of the tie-in with the song New Mother Nature, where it's not nice to fool Mother Nature. The ultra-processed and industrial foods that we are making now are full of sugar and they're very hyper-palatable, just to make us want more. But it hasn't worked out that well for us. So let's look to history again, but this time, not that long ago, back in the 70s, it really was not that bad.

Speaker 1: 10:11

The obesity rates were not bad they were around 15%, but by 2020, the obesity rate jumped up to 42%. And really, what caused this? Well, the McGovern report in 1977 that set dietary guidelines. One of the major recommendations of that was reducing fat intake. It led to the demonization of fat and the increase of low-fat foods. And guess what or maybe should I say guess who replaced the fat? But sugar. Even more importantly, right around this time, it brought about the rise of high-fructose corn syrup. It was a cheaper alternative, sugar, which became widely used in ultra-processed foods and especially beverages, and still is today.

Speaker 1: 10:46

So it comes back to that same reason. Robert Lustig mentioned that calories from sugary drinks can contribute to a seven-time increase in diabetes. Between 1970 and 1990, the consumption of high fructose corn syrup increased by over 1,000%, and it's still growing. If you want to understand more about the negative effects of sugar, check out a book by Gary Taubes called the Case Against Sugar, where he researched the history and scientific evidence against sugar. So again, if there's just one thing you can do to improve your life, especially if you're overweight reducing sugar and especially sugary drinks is it, and it doesn't take long for positive results. There's a lot more about that story and the harmful effects of sugar that we'll definitely get to in future episodes. So our next episode will tell the story of a road trip and a broken down vehicle that became a significant hit from a band's debut album. The song's message will discuss the best way to start an exercise program. Until then, keep on rockin'.