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Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, April 24, 2012
Toxic Sugar
Editorial by Robert G. Smith, PhD
(OMNS April 24, 2012) A recent article in the prestigious journal Nature
explains that sugar, especially fructose, widely available in soft
drinks
and other processed foods, is responsible for many serious
non-communicable
diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and liver
failure [1,2]. One of the contributing reasons is that fructose and
other
high-calorie substances such as alcohol cannot be directly utilized by
the
body’s tissues so they must be metabolized by the liver, where they
generate
toxicity and set the body on a path to diabetes [3]. Further, fructose
interferes with the body’s sense of satiety, so that an excess of
calories
tend to be ingested. This overwhelms the liver, which then must convert
the
overdose of sugar into fat, which harms the liver and can lead to
diabetes.
Thus sugar such as fructose, when added to processed foods, has been
compared to alcohol in its toxic effect. Even non-obese people are
susceptible to “metabolic syndrome,” in which fructose induces
hypertension,
cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and damage to biological
molecules such as proteins and lipids [1-3].
Soft drinks that contain mainly sugar, such as sodas and filtered fruit
juices, don’t have enough nutrients to keep the body healthy and free
from
disease. They provide calories without essential nutrients that you
would
find in the whole fruit. These “empty” calories then replace other foods
such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables that are the main source of
essential nutrients. But added sugar is not limited to soft drinks.
Added
fructose, as in high-fructose corn syrup or just plain sugar (sucrose,
which
is 50% glucose and 50% fructose), is found in a wide variety of
processed
foods such as breakfast cereal, juices, jellies and jams, candy, baked
goods, sauces, desserts, and even ready-made dinners and processed meat.
Fructose tastes sweet but does not satisfy hunger as well as more
nutritious
foods.
The high added fructose content of processed foods is addictive in a
similar
way to alcohol, especially for young children. This has caused an
epidemic
of obesity in both children and adults. Further, the metabolism of
fructose
in the liver is similar to alcohol because it tends to perturb glucose
metabolism, generating fat and causing insulin resistance, which leads
to
inflammation and degeneration of the liver and many other problems [4].
Overall, this dietary pattern caused by overloading our bodies with
fructose
is a vicious cycle that leads to widespread deficiencies of nutrients
such
as vitamins and essential minerals, along with damage and inflammation
throughout the body. This vicious cycle of sugar addiction, consistent
with
the “metabolic syndrome,” is in large part responsible for the high
death
rate from the modern diet.
If the modern diet could be adjusted to satisfy hunger without excess
calories and to contain a larger proportion of essential nutrients, the
epidemic of disease from added sugar might be averted. When ingested in
the
form of fruit, fructose is less harmful because it is absorbed slowly by
the
gut and importantly is accompanied by essential nutrients. Supplements
of
essential nutrients can help, but only if knowledge about the adequate
doses
and their benefits is made widely available. Examples are supplements of
vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, omega -3 and -6
essential fats, which in the proper forms and doses can help prevent
dietary
deficiencies that cause heart disease, cancer, and diabetes [5]. Other
lifestyle choices can help, for example, reducing total calories,
increasing
ingested fiber, and more exercise [3]. But the benefits of these healthy
choices have not been convincing to the modern consumer. Ubiquitous high
pressure marketing of soft drinks contributes to the problem.
To correct the problem of sugar overconsumption, it has been suggested
that
sugar be regulated like alcohol and tobacco [1]. The goal would be to
change
habits to reduce consumption. Many schools have already banned the sale
of
sodas, but have replaced them with juices or artificial drinks that
contain
added sugar. According to this suggestion, the sale of sweetened drinks
and
processed foods containing added sugar could be limited in school
vending
machines or elsewhere during school hours. Age limits on the sale of
sugary
foods in stores might also help. A limit or ban on television
commercials
advertising products containing added sugar might also be helpful. A tax
on
sugar, especially high-fructose corn syrup, could be used to fund
research
into essential nutrients and advertise their benefits. The idea behind
such
regulation would be to persuade the public, especially children, to
consume
less sugar and more nutritious foods [1,2]. This could greatly benefit
public health.
It has been argued that similar regulation of alcohol is widely accepted
because it has kept alcohol consumption under control [1]. For example,
in
other areas of our lives, changes in what is perceived as acceptable
behavior have been successful, like bans on smoking in public places,
designated drivers who don’t drink alcohol, and the inclusion of air bags
in
cars. To some, a similar type of governmental regulation of sugar would
seem
justified because at the cost of some loss of personal freedom it could
improve health and cut short the epidemic of non-infectious disease.
On the other hand, many people see regulation of sugar by taxing foods
containing added sugar as abhorrent and draconian. After all, although it
is
addictive [4], sugar doesn’t cause the danger of being drunk on the
highway, and it doesn’t present an imminent danger to health comparable to
smoking.
It’s more insidious than that. And sugar has long been part of dietary
habits of many cultures. Thus, any governmental regulation of food will
have
many critics who explain that regulation would be ineffective, and
further,
we should be able to purchase and eat any food according to our
preference.
The underlying issue in this debate is public access to knowledge about
nutrition. If the harm that added fructose causes to our health could be
widely publicized, along with information about inexpensive and readily
available healthy alternatives, this could lead to better health for
millions of people. It would cause shoppers to consider other choices,
such
as vegetable juice or a glass of water, along with unprocessed
nutritious
foods and vitamin supplements in adequate doses. What is needed is a
campaign that provides practical information about diet: what nutrients
we
need, how to determine the proper doses, and the dangers of a
processed-food
diet. This could include televised advertisements and health programming,
as
well as curricula taught at levels from grade school to medical school.
It might also include more informative labeling about the nutrient content of
food, as well as more healthy and tasty food served at restaurants and
dining rooms. Marketplace pressure might then convince food companies to
sell more healthy food with a minimum of added sugar and an adequate
content of essential nutrients. Orthomolecular medicine, the practice of
treating illness by providing sufficient doses of essential nutrients to prevent
deficiencies, can help to provide this information [5-8]. We can all
become more healthy by forgoing added sugar and other processed foods that lack
essential nutrients. And when this is impossible, we can supplement with
these essential nutrients to prevent the epidemic of obesity, cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, and cancer.
(Dr. Robert G. Smith is Research Associate Professor in the Department
of
Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of many
scientific papers, and an upcoming book, The Vitamin Cure for Eye
Diseases.)
References:
1. Lustig RH, Schmidt LA, Brindis CD (2012) The toxic truth about sugar.
Nature 482:27-29.
2. Jacobson MF (2005) Liquid candy: how soft drinks are harming
Americans’
health. Center for Science in the Public Interest.
http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt.php?c=180&m=257&nl=3&s=deaf2ee23f
7a662831cf83d81b3e9d8c&lid=1822&l=-http–www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/liquid_cand
y_final_w_new_supplement.pdf.
3. Bremer AA, Mietus-Snyder M, Lustig RH. (2012) Toward a Unifying
Hypothesis of Metabolic Syndrome. Pediatrics. 129:557-570
4. Lustig RH. (2010) Fructose: metabolic, hedonic, and societal
parallels
with ethanol. J Am Diet Assoc. 110:1307-1321.
5. Brighthope IE (2012) The Vitamin Cure for Diabetes: Prevent and Treat
Diabetes Using Nutrition and Vitamin Supplementation. Basic Health
Publications. ISBN-13: 978-1591202905.
6. Roberts H, Hickey S (2011) The Vitamin Cure for Heart Disease: How to
Prevent and Treat Heart Disease Using Nutrition and Vitamin
Supplementation.
Basic Health Publications. ISBN-13: 978-1591202646.
7. Hoffer A, Saul AW (2008) Orthomolecular Medicine For Everyone:
Megavitamin Therapeutics for Families and Physicians. Basic Health
Publications. ISBN13: 9781591202264.
8. Hoffer A, Saul AW, Foster HD (2012) Niacin: The Real Story: Learn
about
the Wonderful Healing Properties of Niacin. Basic Health Publications
ISBN-13: 978-1591202752
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Editorial Review Board:
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Ralph K. Campbell, M.D. (USA)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Damien Downing, M.D. (United Kingdom)
Dean Elledge, D.D.S., M.S. (USA)
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