Bittersweet story of a scientist
How sounding the alarm about ‘ toxic’ sugar ended John Yudkin’s career
A couple of years ago, an out- of- print book published in 1972 by a long- dead British professor suddenly became a collector’s item. Pure, White and Deadly by John Yudkin, a book widely derided at the time of publication, was listed as one of the most coveted out-of-print works in the world.
How exactly did a long- forgotten book suddenly become so prized? The cause was a groundbreaking lecture called Sugar: The Bitter Truth by Robert Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, in which Lustig hailed Yudkin’s work as “prophetic.”
“Every single thing ( Yudkin) said has come to pass,” says Lustig.
Posted on YouTube in 2009, Lustig’s 90- minute talk has received 4.1 million hits and is credited with kick- starting the anti- sugar movement, a campaign that calls for sugar to be treated as a toxin, like alcohol and tobacco, and for sugar- laden foods to be taxed, labelled with health warnings and banned for anyone under 18.
Lustig is one of a growing number of scientists who don’t just believe sugar makes you fat and rots teeth. They’re convinced it’s also the cause of chronic and common illnesses including heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. It’s also addictive, since it creates an irresistible urge to eat.
This year, Lustig’s message has gone mainstream with many current diet books focused not on fat or carbs, but on cutting out sugar and the everyday foods ( soups, fruit juices, bread) that contain high levels of sucrose. The anti- sugar camp is not celebrating yet, however. They know what happened to Yudkin and what a ruthless adversary the sugar industry proved to be.
The tale begins in the ’ 60s. That decade, nutritionists in university laboratories all over the U. S. and Western Europe were scrabbling to explain an alarming rise in heart disease levels. A consensus emerged: The culprit was the high level of fat in our diets.
Instead of treating the finding as a threat, the food industry spied an opportunity. By the start of the ’ 70s, supermarket shelves were awash with low- fat yogurts, spreads, and even desserts and cookies.
But instead of laying the blame at the door of fat, Yudkin — founder of the nutrition department at the University of London’s Queen Elizabeth College — claimed there was a much clearer correlation between the rise in heart disease and a rise in the consumption of sugar.
Sugar also raised insulin levels, linking it directly to Type 2 diabetes. After all, he reasoned, we had been eating fatty products like butter for centuries, while sugar had been a rare treat until the 1850s.
This was not what the food industry wanted to hear.
The new “healthy” foods were lowfat but had sugar by the spoonfuls, and Yudkin’s finding threatened profits. As a result, says Lustig, there was a concerted campaign by the food industry and even some scientists to discredit Yudkin’s work.
“Three or four of the hormones that would explain his theories had not been discovered,” says David Gillespie, author of the bestselling Sweet Poison.
From the ’ 80s onward, several discoveries gave new credence to Yudkin’s theories.
Thanks to the rehabilitation of Yudkin’s work, Penguin republished Pure, White and Deadly six months ago in Canada. The World Health Organization is set to recommend a cut in the amount of sugar in our diets from 22 teaspoons per day to almost half that.
Its director- general, Margaret Chan, has warned, however, that the sugar industry remains determined to safeguard its market position.