Sugar should be regulated like alcohol, tobacco, commentary says

slimvictor

slimvictor

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"Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness.
Should the government regulate sugar, just like it regulates alcohol and tobacco?

A new commentary published online in the Feb. 1 issue of Nature says sugar is just as "toxic" for people as the other two, so the government should step in to curb its consumption.

The United Nations announced in September that chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes contribute to 35 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the commentary. The U.N. pegged tobacco, alcohol, and diet as big risk factors that contributed to this death rate.

Two of those are regulated by governments, "leaving one of the primary culprits behind this worldwide health crisis unchecked," the authors, Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis, argued.

They said that over the past 50 years, sugar consumption has tripled worldwide. That's also helped contribute to the obesity epidemic - so much so that there are 30 percent more obese people in this world than there are malnourished people.

But how does sugar compare to alcohol?

Sugar meets the same criteria for regulation as alcohol, the authors wrote, because it's unavoidable, there's potential for abuse, it's toxic, and it negatively impacts society. They write that sugar is added to so many processed foods that it's everywhere, and people eat up to 500 calories per day in added sugar alone. Sugar acts on the same areas of the brain as alcohol and tobacco to encourage subsequent intake, they wrote, and it's toxic because research shows that sugar increases disease risk from factors other than added calories, such as when it disrupts metabolism.

"Many people think that obesity is the root cause of these diseases," they wrote. But 40 percent of normal-weight people are developing diseases like diabetes, hypertension, lipid problems, heart and liver disease. "Obesity is not the cause; rather, it is a marker."

That's why it's time that the government steps in and regulates sugar in ways similar to tobacco and alcohol, the authors wrote. That includes taxes, age restrictions and other policies to control the distribution of sugar.

cont at
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_...gulated-like-alcohol-tobacco-commentary-says/
 
This is interesting, to say the least, and hopefully it will prompt people to realize that "drug" isn't as well-defined a set as they would think or like it to be.
 
UCSF scientists declare war on sugar in food

Like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales, says a team of UCSF scientists.

In a paper published in Nature on Wednesday, they argue that increased global consumption of sugar is primarily responsible for a whole range of chronic diseases that are reaching epidemic levels around the world.
Click to expand...



cont: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/01/BA891N1PQS.DTL#ixzz1lCU6Ok2h
 
Does that mean we'd have to ID trick-or-treaters to make sure they're over 21? Maybe fruit could be for 18 and over since it has sugar and legitimate nutritional value.

Could I be arrested for the the unlicensed growing of sugar cane then (I do grow some, it's just so dry here and underwatered it's not worth consuming)?
 
What it means is what Aether wrote.

Combat the evil with their own logic. The majority and the ruling class would never allow this shit to happen when you make it a substantial threat to their superificiality.
 
It seems like the media just caught up to common culture on the sugar front. I have heard people refer to a "sugar high" since I can remember. As a teacher, I heard the phrase every day, often from a kid who would bounce into my classroom, after lunch was just the worst, and announce "Hi Mrs S, I'm on a sugar high!" =D

I'd look back at the kid and say, "Oh then you are going to be THRILLED with Shakespeare's Sonnets." :|

I would much rather, under ANY circumstances, have a classroom full of heads straight in from the parking lot, than a classroom full of vibrating teens THRILLED with their sugar high.

Heads can think about a poem. The sound of a word in the mouth and the ears of a head interests the head. Heads nod and go, "Yea."

Sugartard babies can't hold one strand of a concept in their skulls for 30 seconds. Sugartard babies can't talk about anything but television.

I never needed a doctor to tell me that sugar appears to need regulation. I could name a dozen teachers that told me when I started out that even though no principal or admin would admit to it, everyone in education secretly would rather have high school kids high on pot than high on sugar.

I'm not bullshitting.
 
i can kinda see that slim. the body reacts more dynamically over a longer period of time than it does from cannabis use. for example there are long term effects of cannabis consumption but look at the number of effects that sugar intake over a long period of time has on the body. then add to that the mental effects, short doration effects, and etc.
 
Hi Zeke, it's the wee hours in Virginia. Are you a night person?

I'm a night person. I love the cool, the quiet, and the dark.

enough with the greeting, I'd like to ask you something.

It seems to me that people enjoy the flavors of the very worst things,
and don't like the flavors of the very best things.

Does it seem that way to you?

I love well done bacon. I have it occasionally, but not typically because it isn't good for me.
I love brown sugar. I don't bake as often as I used to, so once in a while I just take a spoonful of brown sugar from the box, then close my eyes and let it melt in my mouth. The flavor is deeply satisfying.

Clearly, I am not the only person who likes these killer foods.

It seems like we should have evolved to dislike poisons. Apparently we LOVE poison, LIVE for poison. We tear nutritious food apart, and love the left over poison.

My question is WTF is wrong with us?
 
ugly said:
My question is WTF is wrong with us?
Click to expand...

Nothing, it's just that our dietary needs weren't guaranteed when these mechanisms evolved into the brain. When hunger is always a spectre on the horizon, consuming higher calorie and fat foods is a very good thing (sugary=fruit, fatty=meat, other carbs=whole grains, until very recently)! Now that seemingly everything we eat contains processed carbs/sugars, it's very easy to overdo it. Look up the effects it has on insulin in your body and stuff, very interesting.

So there's nothing wrong with us, it's just the diet our culture has developed that's problematic. Over time it may well be corrected to a large extent (hopefully, and leaving some room who folks who absolutely want to be unhealthy, it just needs to be disincentivized).
 
Thank you NKB.

I did a bit of research at your suggestion. The way our body changes food into energy and saves some for emergencies is incredible. I only took required Science. I majored in Linguistics. There have been so many discoveries and developments that I feel like I may as well not have taken Science at all!

I enjoy fresh health research. It seems weird because I didn't like Health, P.E. or Science as a kid but once the aging process begins in earnest, nothing is quite as interesting as taking care of the dust that is me.
 
ugly said:
Really? That's a powerful statement.
Would you care to elaborate? I would be interested.
Click to expand...

I stopped using cane sugar around a decade ago, and felt terrible for 3 or 4 days. I had headaches and felt tired, like quitting coffee abruptly. But most of all, I lusted for sugar. It took all of my willpower not to break my sugar fast every time I saw sweets - though I have never been a person who was especially attracted to sweets, and I certainly never experienced cravings before.
Long story short, I stopped cane sugar (but used stevia, and a little honey) for more than a year, then allowed myself to eat it one time. Wow. I got such a rush, I talked more than I ever had in class, my legs were bouncing, as I sat there... The next day, the cravings returned.
Bad.
Ate a little sugar. High. Cravings. Repeat.
So after about 3 days of this, I stopped again. For about 5 years.
Afterward, every time I eat sugar, I notice that my throat feels a tinge of pain, like I may be coming down with a cold. At first, I thought it was probably psychological, but observed the same feeling multiple times when I did not know I was eating sugar, believing that the sweet contained honey, etc. So I now think it is physical, though I can't really be sure.
I also feel that it affects my mood greatly, and that I was simply not aware of it before, when I routinely ate sugar, because that was what I thought life was like. But now, I am much more stable and balanced, and I attribute part of that difference to quitting sugar!
 
Never Knows Best said:
Nothing, it's just that our dietary needs weren't guaranteed when these mechanisms evolved into the brain. When hunger is always a spectre on the horizon, consuming higher calorie and fat foods is a very good thing (sugary=fruit, fatty=meat, other carbs=whole grains, until very recently)! Now that seemingly everything we eat contains processed carbs/sugars, it's very easy to overdo it. Look up the effects it has on insulin in your body and stuff, very interesting.

So there's nothing wrong with us, it's just the diet our culture has developed that's problematic. Over time it may well be corrected to a large extent (hopefully, and leaving some room who folks who absolutely want to be unhealthy, it just needs to be disincentivized).
Click to expand...

Thanks for a great answer!
We appreciate your visits here.
 
Sugar effects the brain the same way as alcohol and tobacco?

Well dang :( Now I gotta go rail some lines of sugar, owwie!









































(of course I am kidding)
 
Wait, so let me get this strait....
Putting molecules which are generally percieved as existing outside one's body, into it, affects the process of body chemistry?
MIND BLOWN.
 
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