Sugar Is Going to Give You Cancer and a Heart Attack
Max Read
Sugar Is Going to Give You Cancer and a Heart Attack As you know, everything you eat is bad for you, unless you are eating leafy green vegetables. But, we learn this weekend from The New York Times Magazine's Gary Taubes, sugar is extra-bad for you. Like, cigarettes-level bad for you.
Not just high-fructose corn syrup, either: All refined sugar, many doctors are beginning to think, is equally bad. "Toxic," even. It's not a universally-accepted argument, but the idea (as put forward by Dr. Robert Lustig in the video above) is that sugar is uniquely bad for the body, increasing levels of liver fat more quickly than any other substance and causing a condition called "insulin resistance" that Tabues calls "the fundamental problem in obesity." Moreover, insulin resistance is linked to cancer, insofar as the result of the condition—increased production of insulin—"actually promotes tumor growth."
So! Sugar is (maybe) going to give you diabetes, and cancer, and then a heart attack. And the thing is, Americans consume more sugar, both in refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup, than they ever have before—upwards of 90 pounds per person per year. (Gross.) And probably we will never stop, because sugar tastes great and makes certain people very rich. But if you think you can stop drinking all those Fantas, maybe you should. Just in case!
Sugar: The Bitter Truth
Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 16717]
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