The FastDay Forum

Dr Moseley has mentioned it in his TV appearance on Good Mornig America, and here is an article which presents the same argument:
Sugar, not fat, exposed as deadly villain in obesity epidemic

Note the advice about fruit juices and biscuits...

Very interesting! Starting this journey on the 52 diet has made me realize that I need to take care of my daughter's diet also, be more cautious about what I buy for her, for the family...

And who would have thought that about juices

If you're interested in Robert Lustig's work - here is a 30 minute radio interview with him from Australia's ABC Radio National Health Report from back in 2007. You can d/l the audio or read the transcript. Still v. relevant today. It goes deeper into some of the science - which is where my main interest lies.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro ... ic/3240406

I saw the series last year 'the men who made us fat' which was when I began my project for ditching commercial food. I was appalled at the way things were hushed up way back due to the power of the food industry. I have been working towards self sufficiency for the last three years. It is a lot of work making our bread, biscuits, cakes, jams etc but worth the effort I feel. I have now started sourcing our meat from local farmers whom I know. My next challenge is to get a regular supply of unadulterated milk from my nearest neighbour who is a dairy farmer. I am working towards a monthly shop and weaning myself off factory goods.
The other change I am making is to get back to three meals a day with nothing in between.

Bobshouse this was the way I was fed as a child. I'd love to get back to it.
I'm afraid my baking comes in spurts. I find home baking so hard to resist and I could eat a homemade loaf at one sitting. They are my biggest trigger foods.
Now my 4 children have left home, and there is only the two of us I just don't do it so often.
Last Saturday, a non fast day, I made scotch pancakes using 8oz of flour and we scoffed the lot straight off the girdle with butter and jam.
I have bananas in the freezer, and my husband just asked when I was actually going to bake with them.
I believe if we ate 3 good meals a day, and not be worried about dieting as such we wouldn't be hungry between meals, and none of us would have a weight problem!

Robert Lustig 'Still Believe 'A Calorie Is a Calorie'?'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lu ... 59564.html

Thought this might also be of interest to those calorie counting.

Robert Lustig 'Still Believe 'A Calorie Is a Calorie'?'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lu ... 59564.html
Thought this might also be of interest to those calorie counting.

Very interesting article, thank you. I have downloaded Robert Lusting's book after reading these articles.

I had no idea that:

Of the 600,000 food items in the American grocery store, 80 percent have been spiked with added sugar; and the industry uses 56 other names for sugar on the label.

Quite a striking figure

I suspect the UK consumes no more sugar per person now than it did in say 1980, so I'm not sure if the epidemiology supports the theory that "sugar is the bad guy".

Off the top of my head I would say we eat 2.5m tonnes of sugar divided by 50m = 50 kg per year per person, or 20% less per person if there's 60m of us. We don't really do HFCS in the UK.

Off the top of my head...

That doesn't mean you dreamed it up I presume

Some BBC info from 20 Jan 2013 here, note the comment (by Sugar Nutrition UK, a research body which is funded by the sugar manufacturers, so not exactly unbiased but still presumably true):

'Sugar consumption in the UK has declined whilst obesity and diabetes rates have increased. Data from the government's national dietary surveys show that intakes of sugars have declined over the last decade, whilst rates of obesity and diabetes have been increasing.'

It isn't just sugar that is the problem though. Starch contributes to blood glucose levels as much as sugar does and it is often consumed as a healthy staple as in wholemeal bread or as brown rice or jacket potato. Just because something is laelled as healthy doesn't mean it can be consumed in large quantities. Sugar, however does seem to find its way into all sorts of savory sauces so I would be a bit skeptical when the sugar industry spokesman says that sugar consumption has declined. It may have declined in one form or another but increased in a different form or use.

With EU sugar quotas and finite production facilities we can only make and sell about 2.3m tonnes in the UK, though we can import sugar or goods with sugar in on top of that. We also export same, so it does get a bit complicated.

Retail sugar declined a lot over the last 30 years, mirrored by increased industrial use - switch from home baking to purchased products.

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/gr ... /index.htm shows 2.3m t per year consumed in the 90s

In http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/file ... 130104.pdf on p61 the decline in % of calories from sugar is clear to see. "The downward trend in percentage of energy from "added sugars other than milk" continued in 2010 to a new low of 13.9%. This is 6% lower
than in 2001-02 "

PhilT I suggest you read/listen to more of what Lustig has to say. There's a 90 min - quite technical - lecture on why sugar is so bad, Sugar The Bitter Truth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Sugar finds it way into oh so many processed foods (many low fat foods), even things you wouldn't expect - savory snacks & bread... You're probably eating a whole lot more of it than you think. Ditch the fruit juice (eat the whole fruit) & the fizzy drinks as a good start.

I'm aware of his work, and others before him like Judkins in the 70s.

There is a marked divergence between sugar consumption (total per annum from all sources) in the UK and obesity trend lines which would suggest you can't rationalise sugar as the sole or even primary driver of obesity in the UK.

I doubt my sugar consumption reaches 50g per day from all sources, personally.

I doubt my sugar consumption reaches 50g per day from all sources, personally.

Sugar consumption is commonly underestimated. Have a look at every scrap of food you eat, particularly labels on processed stuff & look for anything remotely resembling sugar. e.g. in low fat yoghurt, baked beans... Prof. Google can help with decoding any obfuscated additives.

Sugar consumption is commonly underestimated. Have a look at every scrap of food you eat, particularly labels on processed stuff & look for anything remotely resembling sugar. e.g. in low fat yoghurt, baked beans...

There's some in the dark chocolate, I don't do low fat anything, processed foods (apart from sausage / bacon) or flavoured yoghurts, might be a bit in the sausages, some inherent sugars in the raspberries & blueberries etc etc.

I'm pretty sure my intake is low, but I am unrepresentative.