Dr Ron's 80/20 Blog

Obesity expert: Sugar is toxic and should be regulated 21 September 2011 by Tiffany O’Callaghan interviews Robert Lustig

It might taste good, but sugar is addictive and fuelling the obesity epidemic, says Robert Lustig

Your lecture on sugar has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube. Why do you think it’s had so much attention? The obesity epidemic just gets worse and people are looking for answers. Diet and exercise don’t work and the idea that obesity is about personal responsibility has come into question. Many people have said sugar is bad, but they didn’t supply the biochemistry. I supplied that.

Do you think fructose – which along with glucose makes table sugar – drives obesity? I don’t think fructose is the cause of obesity, but I do think it is the thing that takes you from obesity to metabolic syndrome, and that’s where the healthcare dollars go – diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.


So the idea that “a calorie is a calorie” is wrong? As far as I’m concerned that’s how we got into this mess. If a calorie is a calorie, the solution is eat less and exercise more. Except it doesn’t work. And the reason is that fructose is toxic beyond its caloric equivalent, so if you consume it instead of glucose you get more of a negative effect even if the calories are the same. It’s important that people recognise that the quality of our diet also dictates the quantity. In addition, “eat less” is a really crappy message that doesn’t work. “Eat less sugar” is a message that people can get their heads around.

Why do we consume so much sugar? One reason is that it’s addictive. The food industry knows that when they add fructose we buy more. That’s why it’s in everything. There are five tastes on your tongue: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Sugar covers up the other four, so you can’t taste the negative aspects of foods. You can make dog poop taste good with enough sugar. In essence, that is what the food industry has done.


You say that sugar is a chronic toxin. Why? We have three levels of toxins: things like cyanide where one part per million will kill you; arsenic and lead where 30 to 50 parts per million kills you; and toxins where high doses of thousands of parts per million can kill you. A lot of the last category are nutrients, for instance vitamin A, vitamin D and iron. Well, fructose falls in that category.


You think fructose should be regulated. Why treat it differently to vitamin D or iron, say? The difference is that for vitamin D and iron there is no abuse potential. With fructose there is. We don’t regulate toxic substances that aren’t abused. We don’t regulate abuse substances that are not toxic, like caffeine. Where we get excited is where we have toxic substances that are also abused like cocaine, ethanol, heroin and nicotine. Well, fructose is a toxic substance that is also abused. By that analogy, we ought to regulate it.


Do you think sugar regulation will happen? Obviously, no one is ready to do that. The question is how much more metabolic syndrome and diabetes do we need to see before we consider changing that policy? That’s a decision for policymakers, but they can’t make the decision without the science. I’m supplying the science.

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Robert Lustig is professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. 
His lecture, “Sugar: The bitter truth”, explores the dangers of sugary food
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

This recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald highlights the huge problem of chronic pain. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/pain-pain-go-away-what-to-do-when-symptoms-persist-20110721-1hp9r.html

I thought it worth making a couple of points because SO often people in chronic pain are told there is no obvious reason or cause. It’s an incredibly frustrating thing to be told that when you are in chronic pain. It would be kinder for the practitioner/doctor/specialist to just say “I don’t know” but then egos are involved and that’s never an easy thing, particularly when health is involved.

But its not “all in your head”. Something simple may have been overlooked. Let me explain.

1. the accepted definition of pain is that;
“it is an unpleasant emotional experience CAUSED by the activation of pain receptors”.
So there are two parts here;
a) emotional &
b) activation of pain receptors.
I my experience the less people know or understand about the pain receptors the more they focus on the emotion, or “all in your head” diagnosis.

2. Pain receptors are activated by temperature ( hot or cold), pressure (twisting, tortion or compression) and chemical (e.g. lactic acid, histamines, inflammatory chemicals )

3. The next important point is that fibrous or soft tissue ( muscles, tendons, ligaments, attachments of muscles to bone, called periosteum and scar tissue, is capable of maintaining an inflammation ( which produces inflammatory chemicals) long after the cause has ceased to exist.

In other words, “soft tissue has memory”. The problem is that no X-ray, MRI or blood test will show this unless it has really reached an extreme. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

So here is the model I have been working with for 25 years.
“chronic pain is caused by soft tissue lesions( which can persist for many years after an “injury, strain, or trauma”). Soft tissue lesions are defined as tear or damage that causes activation of the pain receptors, resulting in chronic pain”.

The aim of the treatment is to reduce those things which activate the pain receptors, which could include reducing pressure and inflammatory chemicals.

My stress model of 5 stresses( see Keynotes & Workshops- “Stress – breaking it down”) provide an excellent framework for understanding and treating chronic pain, and actually achieving wellness.

I’m not going to pretend that I get 100% success. If anyone promises you that about anything, let alone health, don’t believe them. Some problems are very difficult, but some are surprisingly simple to treat.

Before you try to fix something you need to know what the problem is.

A good start is to sleep well, breathe well and eat well (see my other Keynotes).

Be Well:)

Another aspect of sleep quality is airway, meaning, is your body and brain getting enough oxygen?

The tongue is attached to the lower jaw. If the lower jaw drops back at night the airway is blocked and the body doesn’t get enough oxygen. This may happen to varying degrees. In its mildest form you may snore. In its worst form you may stop breathing many times a night for periods which can vary from seconds to minutes, called obstructive sleep apnoea.

The use of facemask, CPAP, is considered the gold standard, but it’s awkward and compliance is poor.

THINGS TO DO TO PREPARE FOR A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP:
o Make a point of going to bed early. Remember 7-8hr/night. Simple but very effective!
o Start to wind down and relax for 30-60 mins before going to bed. Answering emails or watching TV in bed is not the way to prepare for sleep.
o Don’t eat for 2-3 hours before bed.
o Don’t drink too much fluid for an hour before bed; your less likely to get up for the toilet
o Don’t ignore snoring, or sleeping with someone who does. Both lead to a disturbed night’s sleep. An excellent alternative, designed by your dentist, is thin plastic plates worn on the upper and lower teeth that holds the lower jaw forward, maintains the airway throughout the night.

I found this article from SMH that you might be interested in as an example of how the media, industry(…. from Google….”Nutrition Australia is an independent, member organisation that aims to promote the health and well-being of all Australians”). and an “expert spokesperson” reassure us that there is an place for sugar in our diet. The simple truth is that while it is made to some fantastic concoctions to tempt us(….and I do only very occasionally indulge) there is not a place for it if health is the question. It also helps suppress an important hormone that we should all become far more familiar with, LEPTIN, the satiability hormone that tells us when we have had enough to eat.

Also with our 30-year pre-occupation with low-fat dogma the message doesn’t seem to be getting out quick enough that while at any one time 5g of glucose circulates around the body, consuming excessive sugar or carbs( which are quickly converted to sugars) and then stored as fat. Hence epidemic in obesity,diabetes and degenerative diseases.

I always wonder, as a dentist, that if the hardest structures in our bodies, teeth, decay as a result of consuming sugar, what would be happening to the rest of the body? The answer seems fairly logical?

In case you don’t get to scroll down through the whole article it goes on to say…………………………….

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/-1gmum.html

“Can sugar be healthy?

SUGAR is a form of carbohydrate, which our bodies need to function properly. And despite the bad rap sugar gets, there is actually no evidence that it causes either obesity or diabetes.

“There is evidence suggesting a link to tooth decay,” Nutrition Australia spokeswoman Megan Alsford says, “but none linking sugar to obesity or diabetes. So sugar can be included as part of a balanced diet.”

Alsford suggests it is the foods that sugar is added to (think cakes, ice-cream, biscuits, pastries, sweet desserts, chocolate and other confectionaries) combined with a lack of exercise that contribute to increasing levels of obesity in Australia.

Sugar Australia has recently relaunched a low-GI sugar, designed to be absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream, giving energy for longer. The sugar granules are coated with a molasses mixture, which delays the sugar dissolving in the stomach, meaning the pure carbohydrate in the sugar is absorbed more slowly.”……………………

A good example of media, information adding to the confusion.

Snoring occurs when the tongue falls back whilst we are asleep and restricts the airway. The noise comes from the vibration of tissues at the back of the mouth and throat and is often, but not always, related to being overweight. It is interesting that we are now facing an epidemic in obesity and the research, particularly in the last 5 years, around the importance of sleep shows clearly the huge impact a good night’s sleep has on all aspects of our physical and mental wellbeing.

The issue of snoring is much more important than people realise and can be as significant to those that snore as those that share a bed with someone who snores, as they also may suffer a disturbed night’s sleep.

Broadly speaking, there are three requirements for a good night’s sleep:
1. For the vast majority of the population we require 7-8 hours sleep per night
2. Breathing well during sleep to get sufficient oxygen to our body for the important task of rebuilding and regenerating every cell in our body
3. Reaching the deeper level of sleep for sufficient time to allow the body to recover from our day’s activity and prepare for the next day. For example, in those deeper levels of sleep growth hormone is produced which is an important part of that process. Another example is ghrelin, a hormone produced in the stomach when we reach those deeper levels of sleep, important in regulating appetite and hence weight.

Dr.Weston A. Price (1870-1948), a Cleveland dentist, has been called the “Charles Darwin of Nutrition.” In his search for the causes of dental decay and physical degeneration that he observed in his dental practice, he turned from test tubes and microscopes to unstudied evidence among human beings. Dr. Price sought the factors responsible for fine teeth among the people who had them- the isolated “primitives.”

The world became his laboratory. As he traveled, his findings led him to the belief that dental caries and deformed dental arches resulting in crowded, crooked teeth and unattractive appearance were merely a sign of physical degeneration, resulting from what he had suspected-nutritional deficiencies.

Price traveled the world over in order to study isolated human groups, including sequestered villages in Switzerland, Gaelic communities in the Outer Hebrides, Eskimos and Indians of North America, Melanesian and Polynesian South Sea Islanders, African tribes, Australian Aborigines, New Zealand Maori and the Indians of South America. Wherever he went, Dr. Price found that beautiful straight teeth, freedom from decay, stalwart bodies, resistance to disease and fine characters were typical of primitives on their traditional diets, rich in essential food factors.

When Dr. Price analyzed the foods used by isolated primitive peoples he found that they provided at least four times the calcium and other minerals, and at least TEN times the fat-soluble vitamins from animal foods such as butter, fish eggs, shellfish and organ meats.

The importance of good nutrition for mothers during pregnancy has long been recognized, but Dr. Price’s investigation showed that primitives understood and practiced preconception nutritional programs for both parents. Many tribes required a period of premarital nutrition, and children were spaced to permit the mother to maintain her full health and strength, thus assuring subsequent offspring of physical excellence. Special foods were often given to pregnant and lactating women, as well as to the maturing boys and girls in preparation for future parenthood. Dr. Price found these foods to be very rich in fat soluble vitamins A and D.

These primitives with their fine bodies, homogeneous reproduction, emotional stability and freedom from degenerative ills stand forth in sharp contrast to those subsisting on the impoverished foods of civilization-sugar, white flour, pasteurized milk and convenience foods filled with extenders and additives.

The photographs of Dr. Weston Price illustrate the difference in facial structure between those on native diets and those whose parents had adopted the “civilized” diets of devitalized processed foods.

The discoveries and conclusion of Dr. Price are presented in his classic volume “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”. The book contains striking photographs of handsome, healthy primitives and illustrates in an unforgettable way the physical degeneration that occurs when human groups abandon nourishing traditional diets in favor of modern convenience foods.

In addition to his work on nutrition, Dr. Price conducted extensive research into the destructive effects of root canals, detailed in his two-volume work Dental Infections Oral & Systemic and Dental Infections & the Degenerative Diseases. His conclusions, ignored by the orthodox dental establishment for over 50 years, are gaining renewed acceptance as holistic practitioners are discovering that the first step to recovery from degenerative disease often involves removal of all root canals in the patient’s mouth.

The principles of holistic dentistry, based on the research of Weston Price and Francis Pottenger, are as follows:
* Eat nutrient-dense whole foods, properly grown and prepared.
* Avoid root canals. If you have root canals that you suspect are causing disease, have them removed by a knowledgable dentist.
* Avoid mercury (amalgam) fillings. If you have amalgam fillings, have them removed by a holistic dentist who specializes in mercury filling replacement.
* Orthodontics should include measures to widen the palate.
* Extract teeth only when necessary, and then in such a way as to avoid leaving the jaw bone with cavitations, which can be focal points of infection.

A Comparison of the Diets
(Compiled from “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” by Weston A. Price, DDS)

A comparison of primitive groups which have shown a high immunity to dental caries and freedom from degenerative processes with the diets of modernized groups who have forsaken their native diets for the foods of commerce consisting largely of white flour products, sugar, polished rice, jams, canned goods and vegetable fats resulting in loss of this immunity to dental caries and in loss of freedom from degenerative processes.

Percentages of Teeth Attacked By Dental Caries in Primitive and Modernized Groups

Group Primitive Modern
Swiss 4.60 29.8
Gaelics 1.20 30.0
Eskimos 0.09 13.0
Northern Indians 0.16 21.5
Seminole Indians 4.00 40.0
Melanesians 0.38 29.0
Polynesians 0.32 21.9
Source: www.westonaprice.org/nutrition…The Price Pottenger Story