Nothing you don't already know but amazing to hear scientists say it out loud to the public.

[ca.shine.yahoo.com]

"Worldwide, the obese now greatly outnumber the undernourished, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity is a public health problem in most countries. And chronic diseases related to diet such as heart diseases, diabetes and some cancers — for the first time in human history — kill more people than infectious diseases, according to the United Nations."

Yeah..isn't that great! In the book Sugar Blues I read years, and years ago it also stated that if refined white sugar was being introduced now it would get sanctioned as a controlled substance. I don't recall exactly how it was put but that was the gist of it.

Love,
Prism

Not so fast...I saw a Xeroxed article taped to the window of an indie health food store near my town. The government is trying to take individual ingredients and control them. They didn't mention sugar in particular, but I find it highly suspcious that all of a sudden this is going down. The answer to better health is not banning something but providing healthy alternatives that are AFFORDABLE for the masses. I smell a rat. If it's sugar today (gee, how controversial), will it be chlorella tomorrow?

Darn... what do I do with my 2 big boxes of Reese's Peanut Butter cups I bought a few days ago? Every time I eat a few, I feel physically worse for at least a few hours. But I would hate to waste it.

BW while I agree that over-regulating substances is not the final answer I would AT THE VERY LEAST like to see those things STOP being gov't subsidized. I mean, really? Tax dollars support high fructose corn syrup productions but organics get the WholeFoods sh!t end of the stick in terms of support? Pft that's arsed.

Here's another interesting article about how those drinking diet versions end up with no reduction in body fat but an actual increase in dangerous "hidden" fats, skeletal and organ fats. Nice. Pretty sure this crap is subsidized too.

[ca.shine.yahoo.com]

xytor,

Well, if you think of that candy as garbage, which it is, it should be easy to throw it away. And as the Michael Pollan thread shows, it's not like you paid much for that candy, so it's not a financial waste either, more than likely.

If this is your first exposure to Robert Lustig and his view of sugar, you are in for a treat. Sometime when you have 90 minutes to kill... [www.youtube.com]

I have spoken to him with email. He has a definite pov. Not necessarily all invalid. I agree with much (not all) of his message.

also, just to be clear, when he talks about eliminating fructose, he means added fructose, not naturally occuring fructose in fruit.

Paul



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2012 07:32PM by pborst.

I agree with most of the people who have commented here on this. As far as obesity is concerned, trying to pin that health problem on sugar alone is hardly the answer. At this point, it somewhat sounds as if someone is looking for a scapegoat.

Thre researchers also said that "Nature made sugar hard to get; man made it easy", which is very true, but man also adapted his diet entirely by manipulating nature. While i fully support a high raw diet, i somehow don't see manking suddenly reforming its dietary habits overnight, much less reverting to a type of diet that precedes the mass production of sugar and other sweeteners.

This isnt just about convenience foods, it is about the things people can prepare at home. When both sugar and artificial sweeters are toxic, people need viables alternatives to rely on.

Keeping it raw at [rawfoodhealthwatch.com]

I am going to assume that "manking" is a typo there but I have to say, I love it and will use it myself, LOL.

Nature made sugar, salt, fats, and other things rare and hard to get, we made them abundant in our diets to our detriment. There is a natural inclination to eat those things, we just have to curb our tenancies and keep it all in balance IMHO.

And then theres nutrisweet.....

When i think back to how much refined sugar i used to eat growing up it is a wonder i never developed diabetes, which was close. Because i was thin no one would ever really comment on how much crap i used to eat or drink.

I would consume at least 5-7 cans of soda/fizzy drinks a day, coupled with boat loads of crisps, chocolate bars, sweets and other undiserable goodies. In the end it catches up with you though i was ill for about a decade as a result and i feel the above sugary crap played a large role in burning me out.

That is seen as the normal way to eat though, or it is around here. Cans of coke, chocolate bars, crisps, processed often microwaved meals for dinner and another sugary biscuit or treat for supper.

YUCK lol
[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

powerlifer,

I've been watching "Supersize vs Superskinny" on YouTube and it is truly scary what's happened to British food since war rationing was rescinded! Well, here as well, but that can be traced back to the "Better Living Through Chemistry" movement that special interests promoted after war technology development proved so fertile. Which brings me back to the op: High fructose corn syrup, and other synthetic sugars, are not natural and there is no reason to assume they wouldn't cause serious imbalances. Sugar is processed in the liver, people, along with many hormones! It stands to reason that the more ersatz the nutrient, the more adverse an effect it's going to have on metabolic function.

I once again wonder why science must reverse engineer chemical reacions to prove what common sense must already suppose.

Interestingly, there is research[not of the reverse kind] that suggets that endocrine disrupting chemicals are at least as much to blame as synthetic sugars. There was a fascinating review of the more recent literature on David Suzuki's "The Nature of Things" show a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, as an American, I can't access the video; Canadians, it was "Programmed to be Fat," Jan 12. However, here's a summary of some of the sources cited:

[hormones.gr]

Why eat sugar when you can eat fruit? lol!

And if you look up to see how they make fake sugar Aspartame you'll gag..and what's worse is that many products that have regular sugar will sometimes have Aspartame because it takes less to make and package the product.

So anyone that does eat anything with sugar should beware that it may also include Aspartame..which is feces from bacteria that are being fed sugar in order to replicate..what a vicious cycle that is!

Love,
Prism

between fat(oil), sugar and salt, sugar is the most responsible for the recent obesity epidemic. It's what we've been eating the most of. It's insidious in drinks people think are healthy like fruit juice. I don't agree will of Lustig's conclusions. But this much I do agree on, the increase in sugar in our diet (processed sugar, not natural sugars in whole foods) sure looks guilty based on circumstantial evidence. Rise in diabetes, rise in metabolic syndrome,rise in obesity.

Yeah the internet and sendentism are contributing factors. But the between fat salt and sugar, though each has played it's role, it's sugar that is the largest contributor to the obesity epidemic.