White sugar isn’t good for the human body. Everyone knows that, especially if your mother yelled, “stop eating that junk!” every time you put a piece of candy in your mouth as a kid. But how bad for you is it? Is it bad enough to be considered a toxin? Two credible news outlets explore this question – the first in the NY Times:

Is Sugar Toxic?

If Lustig is right, then our excessive consumption of sugar is the primary reason that the numbers of obese and diabetic Americans have skyrocketed in the past 30 years. But his argument implies more than that. If Lustig is right, it would mean that sugar is also the likely dietary cause of several other chronic ailments widely considered to be diseases of Western lifestyles — heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers among them.

The article makes reference to this video:

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.

NPR is not quite so stark in its conclusion:

Sugar May Be An Empty Nutrient, But Is It Poisonous?

Americans should eat less sugar, but there’s no conclusive evidence that sugar is the root of all our ills.

There are many who feel that sugar is addictive. If you feel that way, here is one way to break the bond:

For more info see:
- What if everything that we are taught about carbs is actually propaganda?
- How Carbohydrates Don’t Work – in fact, carbs are probably causing the obesity epidemic. If you are overweight, it is probably the carbs.

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