Sweet Poison

It is well known that during the Cuban missile crisis the import of sugar (“Sugar hit,” Connections Vol 25 No 18) to the US plummeted, and so did the curve for the incidence of cancer. I wonder why?

Belle Gillespie-Howard
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Using anything in excess will have a negative effect on our health and wellbeing. Sugars and fats are an everyday part of most people’s diet. It’s the amount of each consumed and how they’re presented that’s important. Fruits are a valuable source of natural sugars for the brain, for example. It’s not enough to “ban” all forms of sugar just because it’s potentially not good for us in certain forms.

Sonja Garbutt
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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Sweet Poison

Interestingly, two of the main critics of David Gillespie (“Sugar hit,” Connections Vol 25 No 18) are Australia’s leading defenders of added sugar in food as harmless. Awkwardly, these high-profile The University of Sydney scientists are involved in a dispute about unscholarly behaviour in the publication of a pair of supposedly peer reviewed scientific papers that falsely claim an inverse relationship between the consumption of refined sugar and obesity.

Rory Robertson
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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The brain feeds exclusively on glucose, so if we eliminate all sugar from our diet, we risk our brain health. The problem is not the sugar but the form and the amount in which we consume it. For example, fructose can be harmful if we take it out of the fruit and consume it as a concentrate. The emphasis should be on consuming whole foods not isolates. Our body may be able to compensate for the other missing elements while we are young, but as we age, we will reap what we have sown.

Jasmin Kukolja
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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Good point, Josh. There is a lot more to a healthy diet than avoiding sugar. It’s not what we leave out that is most important, but what we put in (ie. fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, legumes). I’d sooner have an extra piece or two of fruit full of antioxidants and phytochemicals than a fat-laden hamburger.

Julie Baum
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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Good to see some common sense health advice from Avondale’s staff and students, despite the fanfare surrounding David Gillespie’s lectures.

Kyle Morrison
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Social Justice Week

Raising awareness becomes pointless after a while because everyone thinks it’s someone else’s responsibility to step out and do something about it. Time to stop talking and get out and do something.

John Dickson
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Sweet poison
Bravo, Avondale. For an entity of a church—the Seventh-day Adventist Church—that says it has the health message, you have just found the missing link (“Sweet poison,” Connections Vol 25 No 12). I have been sugar aware for nine months and have lost 20 kilograms—my husband has lost 16 kilograms. We have clearer minds to study and much more energy to go forth.

Sherree Morgan
wp.avondale.edu.au/connections
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Thank you for your comment, Sherree. The response to our Sweet Poison display has been positive and we are encouraged by the number of people attempting to eliminate sugar from their diet. We encourage you to join our Facebook, where we share recipes and information.

Lynette Frazer
wp.avondale.edu.au/connections
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A Kenyan adventure
Vanessa Reynolds’ message and paintings (“A Kenyan adventure,” Connections Vol 25 No 13) are beautiful.

Tammy
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COSMOS: Change Is Coming
Thank you for presenting such a well organised event (“Legacy lives,” Connections Vol 25 No 11). It inspired me. I brought my two girls, who are seven and nine, as part of their development. The only issue I had: the event could have started an hour earlier. My girls and their friend enjoyed the face painting, cupcakes and concert but could barely keep their eyes open.

Isel Rante
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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Thank you, Isel, for attending the concert with your girls and for your kind words. I brought my children and they struggled to stay awake, too. The organisers discussed the starting time of the concert at length, but because tickets were available for sale at the door, they wanted to wait until the end of Sabbath. The other issue: students and their dinner arrangements. The cafeteria opens only for a short time in the evenings on weekends. If the concert becomes a regular COSMOS event, the starting time will be discussed again, and the organisers will consider your comments.

Bruna Tawake
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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Venus Transit Festival
Wonderful photo, Lachlan. Thank you for sharing the joys of the night sky that so many of us miss while taking the time for our beauty sleep.

Corinne Knopper
wp.avondale.edu.au/news

Fine Arts Series: Evensong
It’s fair to say Hinsdale Men’s Chorus did not perform at its peak due to illness and general tiredness (“Minor key,” Connections Vol 25 No 10). The performance at Evensong, one of the last on the ensemble’s Australian tour, was the third in less than 24 hours—Wollongong to Parramatta to Cooranbong. And from the perspective of having attended the Sydney Male Choir and The Promise’s concert in the same venue this past Saturday (May 26), I find it amazing that while these ensembles are directed by full-time music professionals, the Hinsdale Men’s Chorus is directed by a practicing dentist without an advanced music degree, with the members of the self-supporting ministry committed to having God use them for His glory, musically and otherwise.

Kym Pullia
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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Ross Cole: Theology of ordination
[This is] a contentious subject I feel shouldn’t be (“The discussion we had to have,” Connections Vol 25 No 7). People tend to be dogmatic about things, which I believe is against the spirit of Christ’s message. I will be interested in the outcome. One solution could be to make ordination a local rather than worldwide issue. Perhaps this could take some of the sting out.

Roger Harder
wp.avondale.edu.au/news
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