Bitter truth about sugar
Sugar is now being blamed for driving the obesity epidemic, fuelling diabetes and even causing heart disease.
THERE is a pure, white substance that countless people are addicted to.
It’s not heroin or cocaine. It’s sugar. It’s lethal. And it’s in every home, supermarket and kedai runcit.
Far more deadly than previously believed, sugar is now being blamed for driving the obesity epidemic, fuelling diabetes and even causing heart disease. And, of course, giving dentists an income by ruining billions of teeth.
Sugar is public health enemy number one. It strains health systems.
The fight is not against fat now. Cholesterol, salt and red meat are not seen as villainous as sugar.
More than 40 years after John Yudkin first published Pure, White And Deadly, a pioneering book that sounded the alarm on sugar, the world is grudgingly coming round to the bitter truth about sugar.
Three recent films highlighting the issue include Sugar Film from Australia; Sugar Coated from Canada; and Sugar Rush, in which popular British chef Jamie Oliver argues for a sugar tax.
A new study published this week has grim news about sugar and the heart. Just drinking one or two cans of fizzy sweet drinks a day can raise the risk of a heart attack by 35%. It can also raise the risk of developing diabetes ( type 2) by 26% and the risk of a stroke by 16%.
The study, by the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, is the most comprehensive review of the effects of sugary drinks.
Regularly drinking sweet drinks can lead to weight gain, warned the study’s lead investigator Frank Hu. “The liquid calories are not filling, and so people don’t reduce their food intake at subsequent meals,” he said in an article in Forbes. com.
He said the study showed the urgent need for measures to cut consumption of these drinks, calling for changes in policies in schools.
Just one can of the average fizzy drink contains at least seven teaspoons of sugar – about the new recommended sugar intake level in Britain.
In Sugar Film, we see someone eating 40 teaspoons of sugar a day – about what the average Australian man eats a day. Disturbingly though, he consumes this in so- called “healthy” foods, such as juices and granola bars. In one scene in an airport, he drinks a smoothie, “Jamba Juice”, containing 139g of sugar – or about 34 teaspoons.
If that sounds disgusting, think of how easily Malaysians consume sugar in their diets. A teh tarik, a kuih and a piece of cake and you’re well over the recommended sugar intake. Even our curries and roti canai often have added sugar.
Children’s parties are one of the worst offenders in this sugar mania – the glut of sweets, ice cream, chocolates and the inescapable cake are typical in this sickly sweet sugarfest.
In 2012, Malaysians consumed 51.8kg of sugar per capita, according to the Sugar Year Book. That works out to a kilo a week, or 200 teaspoons of sugar weekly – per person. Urgh.
Consumption is much higher than our neighbours such as Indonesia ( but lower than sugar nations such as the United States). Worse, consumption is rising steadily – alongside a skyrocketing diabetes prevalence.
Yudkin, in his classic book, argues that we can meet all our nutritional needs without “a single spoon of sugar.” The problem with sugar is not just that it’s “empty calories”. It’s “toxic calories” – in the words of the renowned campaigner and author Dr Robert Lustig, professor of paediatric endocrinology at University of California, San Francisco. Lustig, whose YouTube video Sugar: The Bitter Truth has had well over three million views, argues that “not all calories are equal”. Sugar is far more potent – up to 11 times in some studies – in causing type 2 diabetes than other foods, such as flour.
The most insidious part of sugar is the fructose in it. When metabolised by the liver, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol may be released, which can lead to fatty liver disease and insulin resistance.
One study published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association found that people who ate the largest amounts of added sugar had the highest blood triglyceride levels.
But giving up sugar will be difficult. First, sugar is big bucks for the food industry. Quite simply, sugar sells. It also helps creates textures, flavour ( browning and caramelising) and is a preservative ( as in jams).
Plus, sugar is addictive, with the same binge, “high” and withdrawal cycles as other addictive substances.
But we have to wean ourselves off. It’s possible. Look at cigarettes.
Just 200 years ago, sugar was a luxury, and came in boxes with a lock and key. Today, we need a lock and key to keep us away from it.
Mangai Balasegaram writes mostly on health, but also delves into anything on being human. She has worked with international public health bodies and has a Masters in public health.