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Do you remember the new study showing that more available sugar in countries is closely followed by more cases of diabetes?
As I wrote this kind of observational correlation does not really prove causation. But the story is slightly more complicated. Dr Lustig emailed me yesterday: Continue Reading →
Still Believe ‘A Calorie Is a Calorie’? Dr Robert Lustig shares plenty of scientific reasons why that’s simply not correct:
Can sugar cause diabetes? Has the increase in sugar consumption caused the worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes? Ask the sugar industry and the answer is a definite NO. Ask a random scientist in the field and the answer is likely to be “probably”, “possibly”, or “maybe”.
Ask dr Robert Lustig and the answer is emphatically yes. And I think he’s absolutely right.
A new study adds more support. Looking at the available sugar during the last decade in 175 countries the relationship is clear: The more sugar available, the more diabetes. Less sugar, less diabetes.
One extra can of soda per day corresponds to an extra 1.1 percent prevalence of diabetes. If correct this would mean a single extra can of soda per day would cause 3,500,000 more people to suffer from diabetes – just in the US. A relationship that rivals the disease-causing effects of smoking.
This relationship is clear even when correcting for other possible causes like obesity. In other words: Here’s more support for the theory that excess sugar does not just make you fat. Sugar can probably make you sick even before you get fat.
To be fair, this study is just about statistical correlations: it does not prove causality. But it’s another smoking gun for the sugar industry to try to explain away.
The evidence of harmful effects of extra sugar in our diets is piling up. And there’s no need to consume it, there’s nothing nutritionally necessary about pure sugar in excessive amounts. Let’s just get rid of our sugar addiction and stop this disaster.
It’s out. The book “Fat Chance” by professor Robert Lustig, the man who made millions of people watch a 90 minutes long lecture on nutrition (“Sugar, The Bitter Truth”). Lustig has the ability to make a subject exciting and his message could not be more important.
I’m reading the book right now and I’ll return with a more thorough review. But I want to tell you right now. While it’s only January 5th and while I haven’t yet finished the first read-through I’m already certain: This is the book of the year.
Do you want to know:
Here’s the answer (it starts with the letter “i”) in a fascinating read and with a concluding list of scientific references that should make the most inveterate critic give up.
Here’s an advance look at this winter’s upcoming bestseller, Robert Lustig’s “Fat Chance”. He showed the cover during his presentation at AHS yesterday and I took a quick iPhone pic (above), sorry about the quality.
I think this book will make a big difference. It will put the media spotlight on sugar and processed high-carb junk food as the main cause of obesity and western disease (not simply “calories”, as the junk food industry wants you to believe).
While Gary Taubes is arguably at least as smart as Lustig, it’s Lustig who’s the master communicator and media rockstar. It’s hard to argue with 2,7 million views on YouTube for a 90 min lecture and high-profile media appearances all over the place. Furthermore, I had lunch with Lustig yesterday and I can tell you that this guy is just getting started.
Here’s a great interview by a slimmed-down Alec Baldwin (now sugar-and-pasta-free). His guest is none other than dr Robert Lustig, who seems to be everywhere at the moment.
If you lack time for listening to the half hour show you can find the transcript here.
What’s the root of all dietary evil? Two beliefs, according to a new article from dr Robert Lustig: A calorie is a calorie, and You are what you eat:
I tend to agree with most of what he says, but I’m skeptical to the idea that it’s always a bad thing to mix carbs and fat in a meal. It may be true that food in nature is either rich in fat of carbs. But our ancestors have probably eaten more than one kind of food at the same meal for a long time.
As long as you stay away from processed and high-sugar carbs I don’t think it’s a problem for healthy people to mix some unrefined carbs and fat – potatoes and meat for example. Unless of course you’re trying to lose weight or improve your diabetes etc., in which case the potatoes are out.
Here’s the seventh and last part of the great “Skinny on Obesity”-series, featuring dr Robert Lustig.
He makes the case that sugar should be regulated by the government, using taxes and limiting the availability, inspired by the way we already regulate cigarettes or alcohol. I know that government regulation is a controversial subject, especially in the US. But I think dr Lustig’s arguments are strong. The obesity epidemic is already an emergency. Not acting decisively will likely have bad consequences for us all.
Unfortunately this will be a long struggle against the sugar and fast food industry, similar to the one against Big Tobacco. It may be even harder as there’s even more money in food than in cigarettes. But the fight will have to be won. The alternative is just not acceptable.
Is sugar potentially addictive, like alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs? The answer is likely yes.
Here is the fourth part of the UCTV-series “The Skinny on Obesity”. Well worth watching.
Earlier parts:
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