Monday, August 06, 2012
Here is what I came away with watching this 14 minute segment of 60 Minutes:
After a 5 year study where a controlled group was monitored with diet and effects on body it was concluded that drinking a sweetened drink was just as bad for your heart as consuming a fatty cheeseburger.
In the 1970's we were told to lower our fat consumption to reduce the risk of heart disease, so lower fat intake we did. However, the food industry replaced the fat with sugar and the result was that heart disease, metabolic syndrome and Tpye II diabetes has skyrocketed because sugar increases the small dense LDL.
Cancer research has concluded that if you decrease sugar consumption you can decrease your cancer risk. Stidies are showing that insulin has adverse effects on tissues and there are some types of tumors that have insulin receptors that hijack the glucose and feed and fuel tumor growth. The best advice to reduce cancer risk: DON'T EAT SUGAR
Studies showing the effects of sugar on the brain show that when sugar is consumed it activates the reward center and dopemaine [sp?] is released in the same manner as when one consumes drugs (such as cocaine) and alcohol. The more you consume the more you build up a tolerance to it and then need more to get that same I feel good feeling.
Best of all is the interview with Jim Simon from the sugar industry. When asked about how he felt about sugar since the scientists that have done these studies have started to eliminate sugar from their diets, he responds with "Science isn't clear" and our approach needs to be to have a balanced diet. He feels that to eliminate is to wrongly villify one food and that takes away from the need to eliminate calories and to exercise more.
Dr. Lustig, who has a video Sugar, the Bitter Truth, agrees that we need to have a balanced diet, especially when it comes to sugar consumption. Dr. Lustig's recommendations are to limit added sugars to 150 caloried for men and 100 calories for women; which, according to this video is less than what is in a can of soda.