Interventions to Reduce Sugar Consumption

Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, in the Division of Endocrinology at UC San Francisco, explores how and why to reduce sugar consumption. Series: "UCSF Center for Obesity, Assessment, Study and Treatment" [7/2011] [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 21693]

[alphacause]

Dr. Lustig is right that sugar is a primary culprit in obesity (but certainly not the only factor). But we are going down a bad road when we have the government prohibit things which have been long enjoyed. However, if we change how we subsidize food, and switch from subsidizing sugar, corn, and soy - the three things necessary to produce junk food - and subsidize naturally raised meats, vegetables, and dairy, we can change dietary habits without having to resort to big brother tactics.

[ronskyster]

@mikefarinha
Regarding education about fat vs sugar, I think the difference is that fat is not addictive but sugar is, and Lustig's point about education is that it does not work for addictive substances.

[AveryMilieu]

Hear Hear!!! I have long been an advocate of age limits for sugar purchases - especially the tasty, colored, easy to consume varieties. I was a pre teen sugar junkie and the habit (while no longer actively indulged) still craves...

[AveryMilieu]

@mackraceing I went through major withdrawl from coffee. Massive headaches that we not helped by tea or drugs intended for that purpose - I think that sounds like an addiction. Cannabis is also addictive - the body gets accustomed to it, stops producing cannabinoids internally when it is used regularly and it takes a while to re-start the process. Call it a withdrawl period, given that the cannabinoids regulate a number of functions including pain perception...

[ECHutchinson]

But the Government is already intervening by giving corn subsidies so HFCS is cheap. Applying a tax to reclaim some of that subsidy is simply common sense. We all have to pay for the consequences of obesity. We should try to prevent it where ever possible and raising to prices of sodas and junk food by restoring the proper price of the raw ingredients, either by removing the subsidy or reclaiming it from the end product will be in the states/publics best interests.

[RowansAHare]

News flash: none of you need soda. Having to pay more, and then buy less, and having it less available, won't kill you. But having it widely available, as cheaply as it is, just might.

[brianlieberth]

I agree with Dr. Lustig about the toxicity of sugar.  The problem with the interventions using the government is that it isn't as easy as taxing alcohol or cigarettes.  You can card someone to buy cigs or booze but just carding someone for soda is one intervention.  Do you add candy bars?  OK what about bagels.  Most commercial bagels contain just as much sugar.  How about granola bars?  Just as much as a candy bar in many cases.  How about juice?  Just as much sugar as soda.  Behavior will change as you do these things.  The buyer will change to purchase what won't get him taxed or carded.  The net result is behavior will change but just as much sugar will be consumed if not more as production will also change to focus on the 'safe' products that aren't regulated and taxed.  The food industry will produce what will make them money in the easiest way.  That doesn't make them evil, just business people.

[JeffandKmusic]

At ~ 9:53 it is incorrectly mentioned that banana browning is caused by the Maillard Reaction. Banana peel browning is caused by enzymatic browning Not the Maillard reaction, which is a non-enzymatic browning involving amino acids and a reducing sugar.

[JackoWacko]

We couldn't find a single graphic design major to design a better-looking powerpoint in all of UC San Francisco?

[AveryMilieu]

@mackraceing Actually, tobacco was easier to give up than coffee or sugar. Or pot.

[Philogaia]

How about if we quit calling it an obesity epidemic for starters? He said it himself, "obesity has been with us forever" and "it is just a marker for the metabolic syndrome which is the real issue." Being obese in and of itself isn't the problem It lumps all 60 diagnoses for obesity in with the one that is the problem and neglects naturally thin people who also have the problem. Can we quit judging people purely on their size?

[cmkalm]

I couldn't post it all in one shot. He had me until minute 24. Government can reward the healthy choices and penalize the unhealthy choices because it costs all of us for the bad food consumption going on in the United States. Look how fat & unhealthy the majority is...limited government is best. I pay $9 for a gallon of raw milk - why not reward that dairy farmer that feeds his cow grass naturally & takes care of his animals with no chemicals or hormones? Reward him NOT Monsanto or Con-Agra.

[robin]

He lost me at about 27.30 when he starts talking about substituting diet soda. Not only has diet soda been linked to increased rates of obesity, but it contains aspartame which has been shown (and I have seen this personally) to worsen neurological problems and epilepsy as well as contribute to the incidence of cancer. We cannot solve one problem by replacing it with another. I absolutely agree we need regulation on the food industry, but government intervention is not likely to work. Our "democracy" is all about lobbyists and the government will look the other way given enough money. I mean Monsanto holds a position within our current government and so do members of the meat industry and others. We need independent organizations with a change mindset to monitor the food industry in order to really make change. Government intervention rarely works. 

[ronskyster]

Quite a lot of sentiment to keep government out of the problem! Those who feel that way, which of these things are acceptable roles for government?
1. cocaine use
2. pot use
3. tobacco
4. defense against foreign threats
5. safety on roads
6. pollution
Just a start on the discussion to figure out where the line is. After we decide what kind of problems the government should deal with, then we must decide what kind of problem sugar is and how bad it is.

[iwasborntobefly]

@mikefarinha why is government the problem and not monsanto or con agra or tyson foods? they are the ones lobbying the government to produce "food" using whatever ingredients and processes they want. the government is not manufacturing food.

[MysticJabulon]

@vainamoinen17 I don't think 'force' is the right term. He actually addresses the rationale for inducing desired behavior in the talk --- if someone's choices affect the rest of society, so it seems reasonable to provide a corrective to any undesirable effects. It happens with alcohol and nicotine, why not apply a similar logic to fructose?

[isaacbenarroch]

Is brown sugar as harmful as the white one? What about honey?

[vainamoinen]

I like Lusitg's theories on weight loss that he laid out in "the bitter truth" and touched upon in this video. However, it is a shame that he is trying to use the government to force people to live the way he thinks they should live.

[Jauhl]

First, cells need glucose to work and the body manufacture it from protein or fat, if carbs aren't enough. Second Lustig's point is that glucose isn't fructose.
Your body doesn't require the consumption of one molecule of fructose.

[WithBACON]

Nice 1st response to the Sugar Nazi at "Richard Feinman Responds To Robert Lustig's Call For Government Intervention On Sugar".