SUGAR: The Great White Satan of Health and Nutrition

The title of this story sounds extreme, but it is becoming clear that sugar, and specifically fructose, a component of almost any sugar or sugar mixture that has a sweet taste (sucrose, HFCS, Agave, honey, apple juice, etc.) is lilely one of the driving factors in the current health epidemic today encompassing obesity, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, liver disease in general, and potentially cancer, amongst other maladies.

In my last article on this topic, I proposed that Pepsi and Coca Cola Corporations will be viewed by history as the Phillip Morris of our age. In that article I review some of the chemistry and physiology in regard to sugar. I suggest you read this article.

One of the issues that stands out about sugar, and is best viewed through the tobacco situation, is that a few people (basically high level executives and investors) are using the legal protection of corporate law and big governent to poison the general population with their products. Eventually, as happened in the tobacco world, some corporations did get eliminated or damaged, the workers laid off, but the executives and investors enriched themselves greatly while being largely shielded from any liability. Tobacco companies find it harder to operate in the US, but have expanded internationally. Corporations were created with the intention that they would offer some benefit to society by pooling resources to accomplish things that would be very difficult to accomplish by individuals or a few people- such as building commercial transport aircraft, mass produced automobiles, etc. In return, they are granted some relief from liability. The power of corporations has gotten so high that they are able to manipulate our society up to the highest levels, including the Supreme Court (i.e., Citizens United). I am not anti-corporation, and in my opinion at least, they have offered many benefits to modern society, but at some point a nation/society needs to restore some balance to the relationship (corporations provide complex and useful goods, jobs, etc., society grants some relief from liability to allow them to operate).

Government is another player that has blocked progress on the sugar issue. By allowing GRAS (“Genrally Regarded As Safe”) status to sucrose, the FDA has basically shielded any corporation that wants to sell sugary substances from liability. There is a lot of activity to have this decision reviewed.

If companies such as Pepsi and Coca Cola Corporations want to survive, and not gain the characterization of “The Phillip Morris of the early 21st Century” they need to act immediately to educate everyone about the dangers of sugary beverages; stop supplying such beverages to schools; start working with governments to regulate sugary products, especially for children, etc. Many of us consume alcoholic beverages. We know it can be bad for our health, but we do so with that knowledge, and we do not allow children to consume them (at least in the USA). Today, schools serve all kinds of sugary drinks and food with no eduaction or regulation- sodas, fruit juices (which are NOT healthy- please see Dr. Robert Lustig, Sugar: The Bitter Truth on Youtube), chocolate milk (milk is good, add sugar and it is unhealthy), etc. 

Science and law are powerful fields of study and action, but can be abused for many purposes. In the case of sugar and tobacco, science was distorted/ignored, and law was used to block action and protect those getting wealthy at the expense of the public’s health. For a case study in how science and government funding can distort reality, the documentary THE PRINCIPLE exposes how Big cosmology still hides very powerful evidence that the earth is at or near the center of the universe. Lawrence Krauss, Michio Kaku, Max Tegmark. George FR Ellis and others reveal amazing facts. So amazing in fact that Lawrence Krauss, narrator Kate Mulgrew (Capt. Janeway of Star Trek), and a few other particiapnts freaked out when they realized how much they had in fact revealed and tried ot back out of their participation in the film!