This has been a major topic over the past year and has been brought up quite often in the news and in the health industry. I was watching this special about how there is new research pointing that sugar does great harm to the human body and should be eliminated from our food. There was some guy by the name Dr. Lustig who was saying that sugar is toxic and should be taken out of all foods. He believes that sugar is the reason in the rise of obesity, type II diabetes (the preventable disease) and heart disease. To him any type of sugar is bad whether it’s high fructose corn syrup (manmade) or the natural sugar that’s found in fruits. Another scientist backed him by stating that all calories are not created equal and that sugar increases LDL(bad cholesterol) which can lead to clogged arteries. Who knew the stuff that tastes so good and sweet, yet can be so damaging! Here’s the kicker, the government back in the 70’s mandated for the fat in food to be lowered. And guess what happened? Death and other health issues went through the roof! And do you know why? Well, to maintain the taste for all those tasty foods everyone likes, they took out the fat but replaced them with sugar. They just did nothing about it because they felt that without it any processed food would taste like cardboard.

In continuation, another interesting aspect is that sugar acts very similar in the brain as cocaine, who knew?! The more sugar you take in, the more you will need the next time around to reach that same satisfaction. I think these food organization are afraid of what could potentially happen to their product which is why they are not fully behind the research. Dr. Lustig did state that he believes sugar is toxic. I personally do not believe sugar is toxic, but let me tell you why. One reason is the role sugar plays in the body. After you consume food that has some form of sugar your body metabolizes and either uses the sugar right away or stores it in your muscle or liver to be used later. Now, if something was toxic, do you think your body would store it for another day? Yeah, I don’t think so. Shoot, many things can be harmful to the body. If you drink enough water in a short period of time it will kill you. All you really should do is watch your sugar consumption and maintain a health exercise regime. It doesn’t take a doctor to figure that out.

-Phil