There’s mounting evidence that sugar is toxic… no matter how much you consume.
Sugar suppresses the immune system. It can lead to diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.
Not only that. Sugar is a major ingredient in processed foods. It’s in the juice you drink… The bread you eat… The ketchup you pour on your food… Even pretzels.
It’s making Americans fatter and sicker. Yet the Food and Drug Administration claims sugar is benign. In 1986, it reviewed sugar consumption and concluded, “Other than the contribution to dental [decay], there is no conclusive evidence on sugar that demonstrates a hazard to the general public when sugars are consumed at the levels that are now current and in the manner now practiced.”
That was 25 years ago. And the agency still hasn’t changed its position.
But it’s a lie. Plenty of evidence shows that sugar is toxic. The FDA just doesn’t want you to know about it. That because the agency is cozy with the food industry, which pours tons of sugar into the processed foods you eat every day.
In fact, the average American consumes 141 pounds of sugar per year. That’s almost the weight of the average female adult. And it’s making food manufacturers rich at the expense of your health.
Dr. Robert Lustig is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. He’s considered a leading authority in the field of neuroendocrinology. His specialty is the regulation of energy by the central nervous system.
In 2009, he gave a lecture titled “Sugar: the Bitter Truth.” It was posted on YouTube and went viral, with over 1,000,000 views.
Lustig says sugar is a poison. He says the public has been misinformed for the past 30 years. The focus has been on reducing fat in the diet, not sugar. As a result, “The fats are going down, the sugar is going up and we’re all getting sick,” says Lustig. “It’s a disaster.”
So how can something that tastes so good be so bad for you?
First, let’s define sugar. It is a carbohydrate that comes in many forms: lactose, glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Lactose is the sugar in milk. Glucose is the sugar made when your body breaks down starches like potatoes. Fructose is found naturally in fruits. And sucrose is refined table sugar. It’s extracted from sugar cane and sugar beets.
All sugars are empty calories. They’re void of proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
Surprisingly, sugar consumption has also been linked to cancer. At least 10 studies have made the connection.
One study was conducted by the Harvard Medical School. Scientists found that women who ate foods with a high glycemic load had higher rates of colorectal cancer.
Another Harvard study looked at 50,000 middle-aged men with high blood sugar levels. Those who ate more sugary foods had a 32% chance of getting colorectal cancer over a 20-year period.
Studies have also linked sugar to breast, endometrial, prostate, and pancreatic cancers. In fact, cancer cells have a sweet tooth of their own. They thrive when it’s around.
Jeffrey Rathmell is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. In 2008, he led a team of researchers who looked at why cancer cells love sugar. It was presented at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in San Diego.
The team found that cancerous cells use glucose to resist apoptosis or “programmed cell death.” They do it by activating the AKT protein, which promotes glucose metabolism.
Some of the research is new. But the controversy isn’t. Health officials have known about the risks associated with sugar for decades. They’ve just refused to act.
Dr. John Yudkin was a renowned British nutritionist. He was a professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of London from 1954 to 1971. In the 1960s, he did some experiments with sugar and starch. He found that when subjects (animal and human) consumed sugar, triglycerides (fat) increased in the blood.
Yudkin wrote a groundbreaking book, Pure, White, and Deadly: The Problem of Sug