Sugar Sugar Sugar Sugar!

Looks like the wheels are in motion to start reduction of sugar in US, UK and Canada to overcome the increasing obesity crisis. News article just came out today in The Independent newspaper. You can find the article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/sugar-is-the-new-tobacco-cuts-to-amounts-hidden-in-food-could-halt-obesity-epidemic-claim-doctors-9047785.html

Title: 'Sugar is the new tobacco': Cuts to amounts hidden in food could halt obesity epidemic, claim doctors

Article:

The growing obesity epidemic could be “halted or reversed” in less than five years if the food industry makes cuts the amount of “hidden sugar” in our food, leading doctors have said.

Sugar is a major cause of obesity and also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Leading experts today launched a new campaign group, Action on Sugar, to alert the public to the high levels of sugar in their food and lobby the government and the food industry to reduce its use of “unnecessary” sugar.

The group, which brings together doctors from the UK, the US and Canada, aims to emulate the reduction in salt levels in our diet. Intake of salt dropped by 15 per cent between 2001 and 2011, leading to a minimum of 6,000 fewer strokes and heart attack deaths per year, saving £1.5bn.

Experts said that if major manufacturers reduced the amount of sugar in their products, adding up to a 20 to 30 per cent decrease in sugar content in three to five years, the obesity epidemic could be stopped in its tracks. Graham McGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine and chairman of the new group, said that the Government’s “Responsibility Deals” with the food industry had failed and a new approach was needed.

“This is a simple plan which gives a level playing field to the food industry, and must be adopted by the Department of Health to reduce the completely unnecessary and very large amounts of sugar the food and soft drink industry is currently adding to our foods,” he said.

Children were particularly at risk from high sugar foods and soft drinks, said Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool. “Sugar is the new tobacco,” he said. “Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.”

The obesity epidemic is costing the UK over £5bn a year, he said, estimating that costs could rise to £50bn by 2050. Nearly two thirds of adults and more than a quarter of children in England are overweight.

A Department of Health spokesperson said it wanted to sign up more company to its Responsibility Deals, which have seen 38 food and drink companies volunteer to improve people’s diets.

Looks like the wheels are in motion to start reduction of sugar in US, UK and Canada to overcome the increasing obesity crisis. News article just came out today in The Independent newspaper. You can find the article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/sugar-is-the-new-tobacco-cuts-to-amounts-hidden-in-food-could-halt-obesity-epidemic-claim-doctors-9047785.html

Title: 'Sugar is the new tobacco': Cuts to amounts hidden in food could halt obesity epidemic, claim doctors

Article:

The growing obesity epidemic could be “halted or reversed” in less than five years if the food industry makes cuts the amount of “hidden sugar” in our food, leading doctors have said.

Sugar is a major cause of obesity and also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Leading experts today launched a new campaign group, Action on Sugar, to alert the public to the high levels of sugar in their food and lobby the government and the food industry to reduce its use of “unnecessary” sugar.

The group, which brings together doctors from the UK, the US and Canada, aims to emulate the reduction in salt levels in our diet. Intake of salt dropped by 15 per cent between 2001 and 2011, leading to a minimum of 6,000 fewer strokes and heart attack deaths per year, saving £1.5bn.

Experts said that if major manufacturers reduced the amount of sugar in their products, adding up to a 20 to 30 per cent decrease in sugar content in three to five years, the obesity epidemic could be stopped in its tracks. Graham McGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine and chairman of the new group, said that the Government’s “Responsibility Deals” with the food industry had failed and a new approach was needed.

“This is a simple plan which gives a level playing field to the food industry, and must be adopted by the Department of Health to reduce the completely unnecessary and very large amounts of sugar the food and soft drink industry is currently adding to our foods,” he said.

Children were particularly at risk from high sugar foods and soft drinks, said Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool. “Sugar is the new tobacco,” he said. “Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.”

The obesity epidemic is costing the UK over £5bn a year, he said, estimating that costs could rise to £50bn by 2050. Nearly two thirds of adults and more than a quarter of children in England are overweight.

A Department of Health spokesperson said it wanted to sign up more company to its Responsibility Deals, which have seen 38 food and drink companies volunteer to improve people’s diets.

Sounds like an ambitious plan. However, I predict that people will still find a way to over eat themselves into obesity. We evolved to pack on the lbs in time of plenty in preparation for lean times. But now a days those lean times never come.

Children were particularly at risk from high sugar foods and soft drinks, said Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool. “Sugar is the new tobacco,” he said. “Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.”

Sugar is the new tobacco.

Read that again.

Sugar is the new tobacco.

The absurdity of that statement should shock you, but if it fits in with your preexisting conclusion narrative of sugar as evil, then it actually bolsters your opinion instead of shaking you from it in its colossal public health double-speak insanity.

I hope that my point isn't lost under the weight of all this junk.

Children were particularly at risk from high sugar foods and soft drinks, said Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool. “Sugar is the new tobacco,” he said. “Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.”

Sugar is the new tobacco.

Read that again.

Sugar is the new tobacco.

The absurdity of that statement should shock you, but if it fits in with your preexisting conclusion narrative of sugar as evil, then it actually bolsters your opinion instead of shaking you from it in its colossal public health double-speak insanity.

I hope that my point isn't lost under the weight of all this junk.

In. Sugar is going kill us all. :laugh:

Hhhhmmmm...think I will have a cup of sugar. :drinker:

IKR? Every time I read these threads I start craving sugar cubes.

Excessive amounts of almost anything can have negative effects. Hell, you can drown yourself if you drink excessive amounts of water in a short period of time. So is water bad now, too?

How can anyone argue with some dude in an Amish hat with an angry face, and another dude whose avatar is just a picture of his junk?

^this

sigh, this again.

You people can't even agree on which sugar is bad for you. For some fructose is toxic, yet evidence suggests that aside for with people with medical issues, people have been consuming fruit from since they came down from the trees so clearly that 'toxicity' seems a new thing. For others it's sucrose except that that's also been consumed for a long period of time (before there was sugar cane, we had sugar beets) and has clearly not killed of the human race.

People are fat because they eat too much ... no really ... no secret involved. If you google the twinkie diet you will find that there is no magical sugar fairy that makes people gain weight if they only look at a piece of cake. It's the fact that that piece contains 900 calories and is eaten in addition to 3 meals a day is why people gain weight.

doot doot dooo doooooooo

Is there some new game going around where we post a list of studies and expect other people to develop our arguments for us? WTF?

Yes, you win when you post evidence supporing your claim. So far you and the others "arguing" against the overwhelming evidence of the link between sugar and obesity have failed to cite a single scrap of proof to support their claims (name calling, dissecting legitimate studies with assumptions, semantic slanting, and posting jokes and GIFs don't cut it).

What was your claim again?

Just once I would like to click on a supposedly anti-sugar study and actually have the conclusion say what the poster claims it says.

But, without fail, the conclusion is always 'excess calories and poor lifestyle lead to weight gain' or 'consuming your body mass in aspartame every day is not the best idea'. Then I'm all

everything in moderation is fine. (except meth...meth is pretty bad in any amount. an bath salts...that **** will make you eat your friends!)
unless you have a medical reason to avoid sugar you really dont have to.
it makes life a little........sweeter.

This had me laughing out loud and not Internet LOL but full laughing. NOTED meth & bath salts are bad!

balanced diet and moderation

live your life :-)

Interesting that you bring up that article. I have it laying in my spot at the kitchen table. I've been meaning to read it.

stumbled on this little tidbit on the scientific american blog:

"In a small but intriguing study, 17 adults in South Africa ate primarily fruit—about 20 servings with approximately 200 grams of total fructose each day—for 24 weeks and did not gain weight, develop high blood pressure or imbalance their insulin and lipid levels."

granted, the study is 40-something years old....

but isn't 200gr quite a bit?
personally, i shoot for ~40gr/day

here's all the sciency stuff that's over my head: http://archive.samj.org.za/1971 VOL XLV Jan-Jun/Articles/03 March/1.3 SOME BIOCHEMICAL EFFECTS OF A MAINLY FRUIT DIET IN MAN, B.J.Meyer, .E.J.F. de Bruin, D.G. du .pdf

I'm on that, its great, losing weight, eating **** load of fruit, better performance in sport, always happy, loads of energy etc..
theres a few of these studies if you snoop around

Lustig probably rationalizes this difference as fructose from fruit is magical...er, I mean, is somehow *different* than fructose from all other sources. I know he claims they are different, probably so studies like this one don't confound his conclusion.