Is Sugar Another White Crystal Powder Drug?

NEW YORK, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A New York Times article, titled Is Sugar Toxic by Gary Taubes, explores the question "Is Sugar Another White Crystal Powder Drug?" The article is based on the extensive work of Robert Lustig, a specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and a leading expert on childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.  

Lustig's YouTube.com presentation titled Sugar: The Bitter Truth has been viewed over 1 million times.  In this video he explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fibers (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.  This is another must see.  

According to co-authors of the book, TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust (BSH, 2011), Dian and Tom Griesel, it is very hard to argue with any aspect of his essay and it is worthy of very careful contemplation.  The ultimate question to the reader becomes:  Are we a society so wholly invested in sugary sweets that we will fall, decline and face extinction due to sugar addiction?  Or, will we recognize the deadly impact of this addictive drug in its many forms and reclaim our lives, health and that of our children?  

"The lobby groups for the corn and high fructose corn syrup manufacturers are working very hard to preserve their financial interests by keeping these largely genetically modified, toxic and deadly foods a staple in our diets," say both Dian Griesel, Ph.D. and Tom Griesel.  

Recently, parts of their new book were highlighted in a series of articles, namely one in the Prairie Advocate that recommended avoidance of any foods containing high fructose corn syrup.  The authors were quite surprised when within 24 hours of the article appearing, a two-page defensive letter (dated 12/29/10) from the Corn Refiners Association based in Washington, DC, written by its President Audrae Erikson, arrived in their email box.  

"We certainly learned of the watchful nature of the Corn Refiners Association.  We admit we were quite surprised when we were immediately offered a meeting to discuss the 'safe' nature of this sweetener and wondered, if something is so safe, why get so defensive?" elaborates Tom Griesel.  The letter, which is posted on www.turbocharged.us.com is filled with countless half-truths designed to sway opinion.

The letter does highlight research by The American Medical Association and data from the US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.  However, a thorough read through those articles proves that the excerpts, at best, were taken out of context and extracted to present only the favorable points while notably excluding crucial facts.

Dian Griesel, Ph.D. commented:  "When literally billions of dollars are at stake, the concern of these manufacturers is purely financial preservation.  For certain, we cannot rely on the expensive advertising messages being broadly disseminated by the Corn Refiners' lobbyists that are designed specifically to sway our interests or deter our reasoning. The burden of defining the realities and impact on our health and well-being, and that of our children, falls on us as individuals."

For a full copy of the letter or for more information about the history of sugar, please go to www.turbocharged.us.com.

To purchase a copy of TurboCharged, which explains the integral role sugar plays in the current obesity epidemic, please visit:  www.amazon.com/dp/1936705001.

SOURCE Business School of Happiness