Posted on 02/02/2012 7:02:33 AM PST by CharlesThe Hammer
I am a medical sociologist, which means I study the health of whole societies. I've spent more than 20 years studying the best possible ways to address alcohol problems in societies -- what works and what doesn't to protect people from harm.
I work as a professor in the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and at the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. This allows me to connect with other scientists who come from very different backgrounds but who want to work together on big problems -- think of a Manhattan Project, only one focused on protecting health through the collaboration of scientists who study everything from tiny cells to entire societies.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Soon we will see the BATFES (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives and Sugar)
Not all things labeled 'junk science' are junk. In this case, there is NO money in it for researchers or endocrinologists to OPPOSE sugar. The sugar lobby is huge and super powerful, and our chance of eliminating taxpayer subsidies for sugar are almost zero. I understand the comments on this thread are almost 100% against this author, but he/they are basically correct. Sugar IS a mild poison because the fructose that is 50% of every 'table sugar' (sucrose) molecule is toxic in that form. It MUST be detoxified by our livers into other compounds, and human livers can only detoxify a certain amount of fructose per day (roughly 25-30 grams of fructose if you are a full grown adult in good health). Most of the world now eats two or three times that amount or more because sugar is so cheap, and thought to be harmless. Children have smaller livers and can only detoxify even smaller amounts than healthy adults. Over time, the excess fructose damages our livers, leading to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other diseases. Type TWO diabetes used to be called 'adult onset diabetes', but it is now happening to younger and younger sugar addicts, even children. Newt Gingrich took a beating after FL debates for even mentioning the possibility of someday eliminating the sugar subsidy, and that was after Newt's answer that the sugar lobby was too powerful and it would be almost impossible. [and he was right about that] |
Sugar and Salt, white death, I use as little of both as possible.
I agree with you and want the sugar subsidy eliminated, along with all agricultural subsidies, but that is not relevant to regulating sugar. The federal government should put out the information and then let us decide. With lower taxes and less government, we would have more time to make informed decisions and more money to afford healthier foods. My family, including my children, eat only a very small amount of processed sugar. We buy almost nothing with added sugar, and we read labels very carefully when we do buy packaged food. I agree with your point on health. I just believe it is not the government’s place to regulate sugar for us - that is my job as a parent.
Because it's the main source of energy for our cells? Or because you don't understand biology and chemistry?
Because it's the main source of energy for our cells?You don't read too good do you? Glucose is the main source of energy for our cells, not sucrose (which contains 50% fructose and needs to be detox'ed by our livers) Or because you don't understand biology and chemistry?Not only you don't read, you don't understand either subject |
LOL!
I noticed you cited Dr. Lustig, but as I pointed out in a previous post, his criticism of fructose was based on a limited study, with only a pediatric spectrum, for a relatively short time.
Here is a concise set of criticisms against Lustig’s histrionics:
http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/
A loose term applied to monosaccharides and lower oligosaccharides.
What an arrogant putz this “professor” is. Personally, I don’t giver a damn what she thinks. Someone should throw her useless dissertation at her. Leave everyone alone, you food Nazi.
That’s approximately one half of a glass of orange juice per day.
You make a more convincing case than the author does. Of course, you didn’t waste valuable words trying to impress anyone with your resume.
No one gets out alive
I have no problem eliminating the Sugar subsidiy.
However Education is greatly needed. I also have no problem if they required the Glycemic index be posted on processed foods.
Bread, Pasta, Starch are basically reduced to sugar in the body and are just as bad. I see people eat huge amounts of the above having no idea what they are doing to their body.
So Sugar is just part of the problem.
That’s very progressive! Well done.
The science behind America's rate of obesity says that our rate of obesity is caused by the fact that we're consuming more energy than we burn. It can't be blamed on a macronutrient, a micronutrient, some food ingredient, or a chemical. Americans are consuming too much food and beverage while living a sedentary lifestyle.
Sugar makes you fat
Consuming more calories than you burn makes you fat. It's the amount of calories that matters, not the source of those calories.
“Thats very progressive”
I hope that was a complement, liberals have given the word progressive a bad name. :^)
Conservatives believe in giving people information to make their own decisions, Liberals believe in making decisions for people or making them pay dearly.
He also says that fructose is a toxin. It is not. The liver easily converts fructose to glucose. Of course, if you overwhelm the body with anything, bad things can happen.
Anyone with Lustig's background should know better than to promote the silliness he does, but there it is. He has an agenda, but I have no idea what it is. Who cares. If you're going to demonize sugar of any kind, you should probably find a source who knows what he's talking about.
So fruit and honey are toxic? Sure. You do realize, don't you, that just about anything can be toxic in the right quantities? People die from drinking too much water.
Fructose utilizes a different pathway than glucose when metabolized. Even so, your liver easily converts fructose to glucose. You need to stop listening to Lustig.
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