Comments by "JLH" (@Kyarrix) on "Boxed cake vs scratch cake — Why bakers can't beat SCIENCE" video.

Joshua Weissman has a great channel full of genuinely useful information. You will not find him advocating for chemical and preservative laden pseudo foods.
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I thought this had to be a satire. "Why would you bake a cake when you can defer to the food scientists at the mega corporation ConAgra to do it for you!" (Cue evil cackling laughter) Then I realized that he is serious. Adam is great with Teflon (hey, it won't give you cancer immediately!) He is just fine with cake mixes and mega corporations and turning your health and well-being over to them. This is supposed to be a cooking channel brought to you from the deep south. I guess it shouldn't be surprising but it is depressing and saddening. Once again. Cake mixes are not food. They are a carefully calibrated science experiment complete with preservatives, artificial colors chemicals not found in food and rancid trans fats. Do not buy them, do not use them. Do not feed them to anyone you love or to anyone you hate. The fact that there are food scientists with degrees who are paid to compile the stuff doesn't mean anything. Remember when big corporations told you that margarine was a better substitute for butter? Margarine is poison and everyone knows this now. Trans fats are uniquely damaging to our health. Remember when sugar was made out to be innocent and fats were demonized? That too is incorrect and the result of a lot of corporate money. Please take responsibility for educating yourselves. Don't defer to a YouTube personality (and certainly not to a large corporation whose interest is in making money not in your health) and if something doesn't seem right, exercise due diligence and find out if it is or is not. And finally, The virtue is in taking care of yourself and those close to you. When you bake a cake from scratch, or cook a dish you are expressing love in action. You are spending your time to research and then prepare something that is delicious and hopefully healthy as well. You are in control of the ingredients, you can find out where they come from and decide to incorporate them or not. You get to decide what's going into the food that you prepare.
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You are far more temperate in response to this video than I was. He's advocating for boxed cake mixes (more than advocating) on a cooking channel that presents itself as a place to learn. People who respect Adam's opinions are more likely now to buy boxed mixes and will justify it by saying that if this guy who runs a popular channel and knows a lot about cooking says they're good, they must be good. He wouldn't steer us wrong, he's an expert, we can trust him. With a platform like this comes responsibility towards the people who are listening. Where someone is making a living by presenting information as reliable they have an obligation to ensure that to the best of their knowledge the information is accurate. I don't think it's reasonable to say that Adam is unaware of the health risks associated with processed foods such as cake mixes. At this point it is common knowledge that hydrogenated fats are extremely damaging to our health. Boxed mixes also contain far more sugar, emulsifiers, preservatives, artificial flavors and artificial colors.
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Or avoid getting all the ingredients that are in boxed cake mixes. Avoid the hydrogenated fats like the plague that they are - there is no safe level of trans fats in our diet. Avoid the preservatives and additives and artificial flavors and artificial colors. Cake from cake mix takes artificial because it is. We take enough of a hit to our health by eating that much processed carb and sugar, adding to that risk by eating all the rest of the pseudo food ingredients is unnecessary risk.
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@pendlera2959 I'm not relying on any industry-funded research to tell you that hydrogenated fats are damaging to your health. Nor am I relying on industry-funded studies when I tell you that processed carbohydrate does damaging things to your body in comparison to healthy fats and protein. You can look up Drs Jason Fung and Robert Lustig. I'm not sure why you would throw a red herring like this out there, but maybe I misunderstood you, and if so I apologize. I would absolutely not rely on safety studies by the FDA where food additives are concerned because it is the cumulative effect, the aggregate effect over a period of decades that we are interested in. Is some food additive that is routinely put in processed food safe in a small amount? Possibly, but we don't know what it would do to your body over the course of 30 years or if you eat lots of processed foods that we already know is detrimental. Processed fast foods are damaging to your health for lots of reasons that are beyond the scope of this comment. The FDA has found a lot of things arguably safe leading us to the current standard American diet, the worst we've ever had and arguably the worst in the world. Diabetes, cancer and other at least in part avoidable diseases are attributable to our diet. It's an interesting conversation if people can come at it without preconceptions.
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@darkdragon1194 I think you are intentionally misunderstanding. When we talk about control with regard to making something at home, a cake in this case, we mean that we can control what goes into it. We control whether it has hydrogenated fats or emulsifiers, artificial colors, preservatives, stabilizers, artificial flavors and other additives. If you mean control in the sense of standardization then yes every box of a specific cake mix will have the same ingredients.
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I don't understand Adam's approach to many things. He advocates in favor of Teflon and here he supports cake mixes with all of the garbage that is included: preservatives, chemicals bleached flour, all of the things that are extra damaging to health. And this is on a channel that is intended to be about cooking.
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@wright96d I am not a subscriber and I generally don't like his videos but the algorithm continues to recommend them to me. I do like quality cooking videos but unfortunately I can't count Adam's among those. The percentage of time that he spends shilling for advertisement dollars is higher than others, and the positions he takes are unsupportable. I've also noticed that he has a habit of posting several long paragraphs angrily defending each video after questions are asked.
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@drew13600 Is this a real question? Or are you here to troll on Adam's behalf? A cake mix is a carefully calibrated science experiment made by a large corporation that is very much invested in getting your money and not at all invested in your health. A cake mix is designed to be perfect in appearance and as addictive as possible. It contains preservatives artificial colors, processed ingredients and often trans fats. You have no control over where are the ingredients came from. They also contain far too much sugar. Eating cake made from a mix yields a specific experience that causes your brain to react in very specific ways resulting in more purchasing of that product. If you like cake learn how to make a healthier version of it and eat it infrequently as a treat.
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@scottw2317 I'm going to guess that cheesecake with pork rinds is a keto reference. I try to run low carb high fat but I don't maintain ketosis usually. I miss sweets sometimes and I haven't found an artificial sweetener that tastes reasonably good to me. If you have some great recipes or a resource please share it. I also try to maintain intermittent fasting. The biggest shift is conditioning, we are taught to eat breakfast lunch and dinner, we're taught that breakfast is the most important meal, people still believe that a big glass of orange juice is a good thing. When you learn differently and realize how much of this is convention and how much of it is pushed by corporations that benefit from the sales of convenience foods your perspective slowly changes.
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@benos1799 so can you if you heat your Teflon too high. How about we agree to just not use it or produce it?
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@drew13600 Please go troll elsewhere. Do you work for a company that produces preservatives? There is not a lot to "unpack" here (you realize that you out yourself by word choice, don't you?) Artificial color additives to foods have been banned in a few European countries - you should do your own due diligence and research these issues rather than abdicating responsibility via snark and pretend concern. The various non-food additives have not been shown to be safe over time and in the large amounts we eat them. "Generally recognized as safe" in the US is not the same as "sure, we know it's good for you, it's GOOD for your gut health, it won't have any ill effects over the 30 or 40 years that you eat lots of it cumulatively because you're listening to someone tell you that it's safe." Do you really need me to break down every ingredient in boxed cake mix? Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix: Sugar, Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil Shortening (Palm Oil and/or Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil) Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate Monohydrate), Wheat Starch. Contains 2% or Less of: Salt, Propylene Glycol Mono- and Diesters of Fats and Fatty Acids, Mono- and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Dextrose, Artificial Flavors, Cellulose Gum, Xanthan Gum, Yellow 5 Lake, Red 40 Lake. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil should never be eaten in any amount. There is no safe amount - and no one eats 1/12 of a cake (the designated portion size) The trans fatty acids are extremely damaging to your health. Remember when margarine was touted as the better option to butter? Margarine that contains trans fats is in fact poison and is no longer sold. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-case-for-banning-trans-fats/ The FDA has banned trans fats in the US effective last year. Twenty years before that you would have been advocating for its consumption and innocently asking for "proof" that it's really bad. Look - I don't have to prove anything here. When I go to bake a cake I use flour, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, vanilla. The box mix contains a host of ingredients that are toxic and damaging to your health. Is it a problem if you eat one small slice every few months? Possibly not but there is no safe threshold for trans fats and any consumption is risky. My cake isn't terrific for anyone's health because it contains processed sugar and is a concentrated source of processed carbs that hit your bloodstream with a bang and cause insulin to spike. That's why cake should be a rare indulgence. If you make a genuinely healthier cake that doesn't have bleached flour and white sugar, it might be less damaging - but we haven't evolved to eat the amounts of processed carbs and sugar that we do. This is why we have the epidemic of obesity and diabetes and cancer (note: obesity isn't what you see on the outside, there are plenty of people who are thin on the outside and have far too much fat attached to their internal organs causing disease). Eat cake occasionally and reduce the risks by not eating it from a box. You don't need the carbs and sugar AND trans fats AND preservatives AND additives to challenge your health.
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@flaminghorsebackrider6969 What diet are you under the impression that I was advocating for? Please clarify. I do not believe I was advocating for anything other than not eating garbage. Were you under the mistaken belief that I was pushing soy? Please show me where I did that. Also, it's error to suggest that there is "merit to every single diet" - that's patently false and damaging. There is no merit to the standard american diet - unless, by merit, you mean diabetes, cancer and obesity?
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evilkingstanley That's great. It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, hydrogenated fats and other similar food additives are carcinogenic and bad for you.
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And why would you ever want to eat something that has all of these chemicals and garbage in it? Before or after the expiration date it's toxic, stay away from it, don't donate it to the poor, don't make it, avoid it like the poison it is.
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@drew13600 I answered this question already at length. I said that a cake mix is a carefully calibrated science experiment made by a large corporation that is very much invested in getting your money and not at all invested in your health. A cake mix is designed to be perfect in appearance and as addictive as possible. It contains preservatives artificial colors, processed ingredients and often trans fats. You have no control over where are the ingredients came from. They also contain far too much sugar. These are the ingredients that I am concerned about.
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@drew13600 Please troll elsewhere. Best wishes.
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@drew13600 I've answered twice. Is your reading comprehension so poor? Artificial flavors. Artificial colors. Preservatives. Hydrogenated fats. Other additives and stabilizers. If you were really asking in order to be better informed I'd be happy to help you. There is a great deal of information available on this topic. Educate yourself for your own good. Troll less, you end up irritating those who have information you need.
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@drew13600 You were the one who opted into pretension and wanted to "unpack" things. I've made my case clearly and there is substantial evidence to back it up. Your goal is transparently to irritate. Mine is to educate so that people can make better choices. If you want to eat boxed cake mixes, please do. They contain hydrogenated fats that are damaging to your health. That should be enough. We don't have to engage in a pretend debate about the relative benefits or detriments of preservatives, artificial flavors and artificial colors many of which are already banned in other countries by governments less beholden to business and lobbies and more interested in the health of their citizens. You sought to limit the conversation to preservatives, I did not. You can make the choice to eat boxed cake mixes and other processed convenience foods. It's not a good choice but if you're determined to believe that it is, no one can stop you.
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@drew13600 I have supplied proof. You seem to get a lot of joy out of trolling. Reading comprehension doesn't appear to be your strong suit. Numerous governments have banned artificial colors, flavors and other additives routinely found in our processed boxed foods. Cake mixes contain these additives, artificial flavors and artificial colors. They also contain hydrogenated fats. There is no debate that these are very damaging to our health. Are you unable to google "hydrogenated fats risks and health?" If you really need me to supply a dozen sources I can do it. What would be next? Proof that it's dark at night?
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Liam Lians Are you okay?. You might want to go back and read what I wrote. In your haste to find someone to attack, a common thing here, you didn't actually pause for reading comprehension. Go back and read it. I'll help you out, it says don't eat it, don't buy it, don't donate it to the poor. Apologize.
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@drew13600 And none of this changes the facts which I have cited. Why are you so determined to be contrary? Hydrogenated fats are toxic. This is an established fact not a factoid. You can attack me as much as you want but that won't change the reality of the situation. Why do you want to defend things that are clearly unhealthy? I'm not spewing vitriol at you, you were condescending to me and I responded in kind. I try to maintain patience and kindness and tolerance but it's difficult. I do not want you to eat boxed cake mix until you choke, that actually makes me feel a lot of sadness. Please don't do that. What is actually in contention for you here? Do you believe hydrogenated fats are okay to eat? Are you comfortable with processed foods? We have an epidemic of diabetes and cancer in this country that dates to a dietary change that was in large part sponsored by the sugar lobby. If you genuinely want information I'll supply it for you. But that would require you to not condescend and to try to be open and fair. I'm trying to save your health, I'm not the enemy. And you're wrong about my motives. I do want to win because I want people to be healthy and I want them to educate themselves. The more you learn about this the more upsetting it is. Further, tone can be difficult to judge in a YouTube comment.
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@sonofaquack6987 I'm not sure. But I do know this, and feel free to do some research. Trans fats are very seldom present in natural foods. They exist in trace amounts but are primarily added to foods.
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Why is there always a long defense from Adam after every video? Is this because his positions on the whole are unsupportable and often kind of ridiculous on their face? Please, folks. Do not buy cake mixes. If you're going to eat cake, make it yourself. Something like cake should be an occasional indulgence, it's not healthy, it will destroy your overall health and if you eat it from a box mix with any frequency it will do that more quickly. I've seen a video where Adam advocates for using Teflon pans, I'm trying to understand the point of this channel, is it to reassure people that the worst things they can possibly do aren't that bad? The videos are proudly tagged with Macon Georgia, should we take a look at the overall health and well-being of our southern States?
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@aeircrown7994 I'm sorry, but I have limited patience right now. If you need me to explain to you why artificial colors, artificial flavors, hydrogenated fats and other unhealthy additives in boxed cake mix are bad for you then there's not a lot I can do or say to help you. Please do your own independent research. Your health and the health of people you cook for is at risk. Spend less time arguing with people on YouTube, spend less time trying to be clever and more time taking care of yourself. No one suggested that salt is an unhealthy additive. I specifically referred to artificial flavors, artificial colors, hydrogenated fats. Moreover there is a great deal of research on the topic. Foods are healthiest when they are less processed and before you go off on a tangent talking about how everything is processed, you know what I'm saying here. Something you make in your home is generally speaking going to be healthier than something that was manufactured at a factory and packaged with a shelf life of several years due to the artificial preservatives, flavors, the hydrogenated nature of the fats in the food. Generally I try to be courteous even here on YouTube. I lose that patience in the face of a comment that is disingenuous and an attack. My comment was clear, you understood it and you are attacking anyway. What do you gain from that? I am not telling you not to eat boxed cake mix if you really want to. I wouldn't eat it and I've explained to you that it's unhealthy but I can't force you neither would I try to. You are free to make your own choices. It isn't fear if it's accurate. Hydrogenated fats are unhealthy. In the US we have an epidemic of colon cancer in people under the age of 50. Cancer in general, other diseases such as obesity, run rampant. These cancers are specifically traced to the burden we put on our bodies in terms of what we eat and expose ourselves to. Colon cancer is directly attributable to the foods we eat. I don't want you to be afraid. I want you and everyone else to be as healthy as you can be. A Twinkie is not a healthy item to eat. If you make a cake at home it's not going to be health food, no one is suggesting that to be the case. But if you really want something sweet, the cake you make in your own home from ingredients that are as good as you can get, is going to be better for you than the one you make from a box mix. It will be less of a burden to your body in terms of additives, artificial colors, artificial flavors, hydrogenated fats, and several other additives that have been shown to be detrimental to our health.
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@aeircrown7994 Please take this elsewhere. You're on some kind of crusade and I'm not interested in it. nowhere did I say that the word artificial was a stand-in for everything bad. I referred specifically to artificial colors, artificial flavors, hydrogenated fats. This is the last time I will respond to you because I think you are being disingenuous. Spend your energy more effectively by educating yourself using reliable sources. That means don't read or believe something is sponsored by any entity seeking to make money. Use your brain, and also try to avoid attacking people when you know what they are saying is correct. I'm not sure what you get out of this, I'd hazard a guess that you don't get much but you must have some reason for it. You are going to be muted henceforth. Best wishes. One additional point. The FDA's imprimatur means very little. Do your own independent research. Attack others less. Take care of yourself. Be less susceptible to the voice of authority unless you are certain that voice is correct.
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