“In 1980, roughly 1 in 7 Americans were obese, and almost six million were diabetic, and the obesity rates, at least, hadn’t changed significantly in the 20 years previously. By the early 2000s, when sugar consumption peaked, 1 in every 3 Americans are obese, and 14 million were diabetic.”
~ Gary Taubes, NY Times
In today’s society it is common knowledge that Americans are facing a health epidemic. A boom in obesity and diabetes. On May 26th, 2009 a professor, Robert Lustig, gave a lecture called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth.” This sparked a huge viewing and a lot more research into sugar. One journalist from NY Times, Gary Taubes, wrote a very intriguing article in which all the italicized paragraphs are quoted from in this article.
In our practice we are constantly reminding people that sugar is bad for them, it is hard on organs such as pancreas, liver, kidneys and the brain. This goes for all people across races, ethnic, genders, etc. These organs are vital in detoxification, metabolism, and SO MUCH MORE!! For people who have diabetes there is a multitude of interactions that must be corrected in order to regain a person’s health.
In Gary Taubes article he talks about how Diabetes Mellitus type II and insulin resistance is due to a dysfunction of the pancreas not being able to release enough insulin. This theory is not completely true.
One of my mentors discussed with me one of his research findings that in a cadaver study while looking at Type II Diabetics, some of the cadavers in the study had normal pancreatic insulin function. This means that the pancreas was able to release normal levels of insulin but the patient was still diagnosed with diabetes. This means that when addressing issues of high blood sugar we must look at both pancreas function and insulin receptor sites.
Sugar is not just an empty calorie, Lustig says; its effect on us is much more insidious. “It’s not about the calories,” he says. “It has nothing to do with the calories. It’s a poison by itself.”
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.
I believed this article to be very valuable. Doctors such as myself love gloating to the everyone and telling them to “do this” and “do that” but yet modern medicine (in the past) has refused to believe what we (Holistic providers) say is true. Finally the research is here proving it. Dr. DeJarnette and Dr. Rees to worldly renowned doctors dedicated a few decades of their life to research and helping people feel better. So much research like this article are finally getting out and opening eyes and ears.
Closing Thought
A key point in the article, the writer states “... because he’s willing to insist publicly and unambiguously, when most researchers are not, that sugar is a toxic substance that people abuse. In Lustig’s view, sugar should be thought of, like cigarettes and alcohol, as something that’s killing us.”
I hope you all take GREAT care of your bodies! Remember, you only have one!
