Sugar as Dangerous as Alcohol?

This morning on Good Morning America there was a segment on added sugar in the foods we eat. Not surprisingly, the rising rates of obesity and diabetes are cause for this concern. UCSF doctors, Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis argue that sugar should be put into the same category as alcohol and tabacco and have regulations put on its sale and availability. They have published an editorial in the journal Nature. These doctors say the government should put a tax on processed foods containing added sugar.

The average American daily consumes 22 teaspoons of "added sugar". Sweetened cereals, fruit juices and soft drinks, even ketchup, are some of the unsuspecting culprits. 

Read this article http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/sugar-dangerous-alcohol-tobacco-182634411--abc-news.html to see some of the ideas proposed for helping to keep excessive sugar out of the American diet. See if you agree with taxing processed foods. Some argue that things like chairs, cars and TV should be taxed if processed foods should be taxed.  Those things discourage exercise, which is another factor in the obesity and diabetes predicament.

Remember that by eating whole foods, and not processed foods, you won't be getting added sugar.  "The focus should be on the overall nutritional quality of foods, not just one nutrient." says Dr. David Katz, co-founder of the Yale Prevention Center 

Posted by: Michele Deaton

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