I was explaining this to my daughter in quite simplified terms the other day- we evolved to taste sugar and enjoy it because finding a sweet edible plant meant we had a source of energy to help us hunt that day. Pretty useful if you’re a hunter-gatherer.

So we seek out sugar. Now we can get it whenever we want it, in much more massive quantities than we are supposed to be processing. Most of us are addicted. I’m not an exception.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    196·
    1 month ago

    I might advise not downing an entire pound-and-a-half jar of spaghetti sauce in one go.

      • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        531·
        1 month ago

        gf is prego

        we like to get kinky anyways

        one night things get particularly saucy

        i’m sticking my noodle in her when I notice weird fucking chunks coming out, so I turn on the lights

        wtf it’s red everywhere and she’s obviously not on her period

        i look up at her, she’s got a glassy, jarred look on her face and she’s not answering

        ohshitohshitohshitohshit

        i rush her into my car and speed all the way to the hospital

        she’s still bleeding everywhere

        by the time we get there, she’s not bleeding much anymore, but all the color has drained and she looks colorless and almost transparent

        oh shit, she looks like she’s in a vegetative state

        storm into to the emergency room, cary her to the nearest doctor and explain eveything

        he takes one look at ther and says

        “sir, i’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do”

        “WHY THE FUCK NOT???”

        “we don’t operate on empty jars of spaghetti sauce”

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
      63·
      1 month ago

      The actual spaghetti you add it to has an even higher percentage of carbohydrates - in the form of starch which the human body easily turns into sugars - than the sauce so paradoxically you’ll end up with less sugar in your blood stream by downing that sauce by itself than if you eat it with spaghetti.

      (That said, this is for uncooked spaghetti: when you cook it it grows by absorbing water which reduces the fraction of carbohydrates in the final product, so depending on the type of spaghetti it might or not end up with more carbohydrates than the sauce).

  • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
    7115·
    1 month ago

    To be fair, if you make pasta sauce from scratch you’re going to be using a fair amount of sugar to balance the acidity of your tomatoes, so I don’t find pasta sauce a useful demonstration.

    But you’re still making a good point. Once you start making stuff yourself, you really see what isn’t required.

    • thenextguy@lemmy.world
      861·
      1 month ago

      I have never put any sugar in my from scratch sauce. But that’s probably why I don’t like jar sauce.

      • BreadOven@lemmy.world
        40·
        1 month ago

        You get it from different sources. Breakdown of onions and as someone else mentioned, carrots. Balsamic vinegar has some. There’s other sources as well, I’m just blanking on them.

        But agreed, I rarely add actual plain sugar to my pasta sauces.

        • thenextguy@lemmy.world
          162·
          1 month ago

          I don’t put anything like that in my sauce. Tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, herbs and spices.

          I think cooking it for hours tends to lower the acidity a bit.

          But I think I just like it that way.

          • Cris@lemmy.worldEnglish
            15·
            1 month ago

            Your sauce will still have less sugar than others, but if I understand correctly, simmering for hours will break down the more complex sugars in tomatoes into simpler sugars resulting in a somewhat sweeter taste

            I think cooking does also dull the percieved acidity of food though, hence lemon juice or other acids often being added at the end so as to keep the brightness. But I’m not actually sure if the pH changes or if it’s just a change in the tartness we associate with acidity, maybe someone can chime in with more information :)

            • rhombus@sh.itjust.works
              2·
              1 month ago

              The actual acid (acetic in vinegar, citric in citrus and tomatoes) actually boils off with the water. So a long simmer actually removes the acid and changes the pH of the dish.