Written By: Shona Taunton
Sugar is very much in the headlines these days, in documentaries and in films, so if you’re curious to know the reasons, read on to find out more…
The Research
A number of the highest quality forms of research (meta-analysis and systemic reviews, randomised controlled trials and cohort studies) have brought to light the following findings:
- Saturated fat doesn’t cause heart disease. It is sugar which increases your risk of heart disease
- Sugar causes ageing and wrinkles
- Sugar increases your risk of cancer, with pancreatic cancer shown to use sugar as a fuel
- Sugar increases your risk of diabetes
- Sugar is linked with obesity
Recent research by investigative science journalist Gary Taubes has not only demonstrated the strength of the case against sugar, but has also highlighted the level of deception used by the sugar industry and even governments to hide the truth of its effects on public health.
A Drug with a Notorious History
You may not be used to thinking of sugar as a drug, but it has been shown in MRI scans to produce effects on the brain similar to cocaine, lighting up its reward centre and causing dopamine secretions. In his book ‘The Case against Sugar’ Gary Taubes notes the many links between the sugar industry and other lucrative drugs industries.
The cultivation of sugar is an extremely hard task, and the industry was built on slave labour. People wanted sugar so much and loved the money it made that they were happy to enslave millions without caring. On Jamaica from 1829 to 1832 the average mortality rate for slaves on sugar plantations was 35.1 deaths per 1000 enslaved.
‘In a sense, our governments themselves got addicted to the money that could be made by allowing sugar to flow into the nation.’ Gary Taubes