HFCS as harmful as tobacco, alcohol, experts say

[Glass]

I had to correct the title of this article because it's a misdirector. Basically claims that sugar is one and the same as HFCS.

But of course the solution is to increase the price of the sugar with taxes. This will stamp out disease and obesity!


Sugar is so harmful that it should be controlled in the same way as tobacco and alcohol, according to a team of leading public health experts.

Three US scientists from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) maintain sugar is more than just "empty calories" that makes people fat.

They argue that high calorie, sweetened food is indirectly responsible for 35 million annual deaths worldwide due to lifestyle-related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Professors Robert Lustig (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig), Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis call for restrictions and controls on sugar that mirror those on tobacco and alcohol.

The three set out their views in the science journal Nature.

They point out that, at the levels consumed in the West, sugar altered metabolism, raised blood pressure, disrupted hormone signalling and caused significant damage to the liver that was still not fully understood.

The health hazards were similar to the effects of drinking too much alcohol — which was, in any event, manufactured from the distillation of sugar.

Speaking about the comment article, Professor Lustig, from the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, said: "As long as the public thinks that sugar is just 'empty calories', we have no chance in solving this.

"There are good calories and bad calories, just as there are good fats and bad fats, good amino acids and bad amino acids, good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates. But sugar is toxic beyond its calories."

Worldwide consumption of sugar has tripled in the last 50 years, fuelling a global obesity epidemic.

The main culprit is said to be fructose, a sugar molecule that is commonly added to processed food in sweetening agents such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). There is increasing evidence that excess fructose has harmful effects on the body.

In their commentary, the experts propose adding taxes to processed foods that contain any form of added sugar.
Full article @ the Age (http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/sugar-as-harmful-as-tobacco-alcohol-experts-say-20120202-1quat.html)


Robert H. Lustig
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig), the free encyclopedia
Robert H. Lustig, MD is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pediatrics), at the University of California, San Francisco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_San_Francisco) (UCSF).[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-UCSF-0) He is nationally recognized in the field of neuroendocrinology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroendocrinology), with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-Benioff-1) He has a special interest in childhood obesity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_obesity).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-Benioff-1) He has become publicly notable through his efforts to draw attention to the effects that the natural sugar fructose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose) can have on human and especially children's health if consumed in large amounts.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-Taubes-2) On May 26, 2009, Lustig gave a lecture called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” which was posted on YouTube (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube) the following July and has become a viral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_video) success with over a million viewings.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-Taubes-2) In this lecture, Lustig notably calls fructose a "poison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison)" and compares its metabolic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic) effects with those of ethanol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol). Lustig is particularly critical of the widespread use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Fructose_Corn_Syrup) in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States).

Career
Lustig grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Stuyvesant High School (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuyvesant_High_School) in Manhattan.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-CWell-3) He obtained his bachelors degree from MIT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT) in 1976, and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University_Medical_College) in 1980.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-CAMASC-4) From there, he spent six years as a research associate in neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_University).[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-CAMASC-4) He performed his pediatric residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Children%27s_Hospital), and his clinical fellowship at UCSF which he joined in 1984.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-UCSF-0)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-Benioff-1)
He has authored over 85 research articles and 45 chapters. He is the former Chairman of the Obesity Task Force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the Obesity Task force of The Endocrine Society (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Endocrine_Society), and on the Steering Committee of the International Endocrine Alliance to Combat Obesity.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-UCSF-0)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Lustig#cite_note-CAMASC-4)
Debunking 30 years of Nutirional indoctrination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Haven't sussed this guy out yet. Video is hour and a half.

He has a strange (to me) point of view regarding what obesity is. Apparently it's not from food over consumption.

[Hatha Sunahara]

I watched this video several years ago, and I did some research into the evils of sugar. One Book I read about it was very interesting and inspiring. It is called The Sugar Blues by William Dufty written in 1975. Dufty claims that medieval witches told people to avoid sugar, and that is one of the reasons they were burned at the stake.

Lustig examines how your body metabolizes sugar to show how it affects your health. Dufty makes it pretty clear what the real danger of sugar is. It's the fact that it has all the nutrition removed from it and when you eat it, all you get is calories. If you eat nothing but sugar, you will die of malnutrition. Your body needs more than calories to sustain life. The evil of sugar is that if you eat it, you aren't eating something else that has far more nutritional benefits, so you are robbing your body of healthier foods.

Another book I have been looking for is one written by John Yudkin named Pure, White, and Deadly. I haven't been successful in locating a copy. I understand that it made a powerful persuasive argument against using refined sugar.


Hatha

[Glass]

I didn't get back to the video today. i think I was about 20 mins in. Its hard not to be jaded. The man believes his subject matter. No doubt. My conclusions so far. He is right as to the cause but mistakes its flow through to manifest as obesity. I think you response drives right to the heart of the matter. It's 100% on point and you make it well. It's the loss of nutrition as a result of our current eating behaviour. Empty calories can occur in two ways. 1) You have no food therefore no nutrition. 2) You eat stuff that contains no nutrition therefore same out come.

Obesity results from mal-nutrition. This is usually the label assigned to 3rd world countries. You point the finger at others and you become mentally blind to yourself.

[Hatha Sunahara]

I found Yudkin's Pure, White and Deadly. You can read it here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61094773/John-Yudkin-Pure-White-and-Deadly-The-New-Facts-About-the-Sugar-You-Eat-as-a-Cause-of-Heart-Disease-Diabetes-and-Other-Killers.

Hatha

[Son-of-Liberty]

I watched this video several years ago, and I did some research into the evils of sugar. One Book I read about it was very interesting and inspiring. It is called The Sugar Blues by William Dufty written in 1975. Dufty claims that medieval witches told people to avoid sugar, and that is one of the reasons they were burned at the stake.

Lustig examines how your body metabolizes sugar to show how it affects your health. Dufty makes it pretty clear what the real danger of sugar is. It's the fact that it has all the nutrition removed from it and when you eat it, all you get is calories. If you eat nothing but sugar, you will die of malnutrition. Your body needs more than calories to sustain life. The evil of sugar is that if you eat it, you aren't eating something else that has far more nutritional benefits, so you are robbing your body of healthier foods.

Another book I have been looking for is one written by John Yudkin named Pure, White, and Deadly. I haven't been successful in locating a copy. I understand that it made a powerful persuasive argument against using refined sugar.


Hatha

Yeah I agree. I consider it an anti-nutrient. It uses up vitamins, minerals, and enzymes when your body metabolizes it but provides none of these so is a net drain on the body. White flour and other highly processed foods would also be in this category.