#68 - Bittersweet

"Industries can't poison people en masse forever."
Dr Robert Lustig, Guardian 24-8-14

100g of sugar & 1L of blackcurrant juice

Last year one of the catalysts for me changing my diet was a conversation with my friend and massage therapist extraordinaire Kristina Mendez Matejova. It got me to start looking at food as energy, "...meat is dead energy" she said. I suppose this is pretty obvious but for some reason something clicked. I immediately stopped eating meat altogether. 

I would NOT recommend this.

If you are considering moving to a plant-based diet I'd recommend checking out the Vegetarian Society's website where they advise you on gradually making changes (ie cutting out red meat to start with and then later chicken) and ensuring that you are taking the right supplements to ensure your body is getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs. 

Kristina also mentioned Dr Robert Lustig's book Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar and suggested I check out his YT video. I did and I was both shocked and disgusted. If you are interested in nutrition, health and/or obesity I'd recommend checking it out. 

YouTube Link

At the start of the talk Dr Lustig says that he intends to debunk the past 30 years of nutrition information in America. He argues that high-fructose corn syrup shares 8 of the 12 characteristics found in poison and a diet high in fructose is the key to the obesity epidemic sweeping the globe. He also speaks about how low-fat usually means high in carbohydrates, or high in HFCS. I began looking at the labels of some of the things in my fridge and my cupboards. I was shocked to see how much sugar was contained in some of these products but the icing on the cake was when I looked at the label of this carton of blackcurrant juice. 

Here's the proof in case you think I was exaggerating with the first picture. 

Carbohydrates (of which sugars) = 10g sugar per 100 ml 

= 100g sugar per 1 Litre

The chances are that the sugar in this is high fructose corn syrup so it's not even as good for you as the brown sugar in the picture above. I'd already stopped drinking sugared-sweetened soft drinks for the most part (apart from very occasionally) but now I understood why I'd made the right decision. When I look at the drink and the food being sold to consumers today, particularly the products targeted at children I find it mind-boggling. At the same time if we don't take responsibility for our own health we should not be surprised if our ignorance is exploited. 

Thanks Kristina. 

"Read the label."
Gza, Labels

Further Reading & Info (click)

Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar by Dr Robert Lustig

Pure White and Deadly by John Yudkin
Guardian article: Robert Lustig; the man who believes sugar is poison
Food Inc - Film

Dr Robert Lustig MD is an internationally renowned pediatric endocrinologist who has spent 16 years treating childhood obesity and studying the effects of sugar on the central nervous system, metabolism and disease.