SUGAR .. 2 books & 1 documentary

Firstly, I must confess that I used to be partial to a dessert after a meal out or a bar of organic chocolate, but thankfully, this is now no longer the case.

Partly because as I've aged I am no longer able to get away with what I once did; the drowsiness that I used to experience after a sugar crash, the inability to concentrate & weight gain but mainly because of what I do, advocate & the knowledge that I have gained over the years as to how damaging sugar can be.

This article goes beyond a slice of cake & a chocolate bar & instead touches a little on how the money making machine designed to keep us in the dark came about & the scale of its impact upon us.

The Sources

The options that could be available in compiling this article are limitless, but I have chosen to focus on a documentary I saw recently & a couple of books that I have had for some time.

The books were written by Professor John Yudkin, a British physiologist & nutritionist, a dentist Dr Weston A. Price & the documentary which was the work of actor/director Damon Gameau.

John Yudkin's book perhaps coincides with American scientists Ancel Key's The Seven Countries Study conducted in the mid 1950s.

The research from Dr Keys essentially looked into the levels of dietary fat eaten by the populations of 7 countries; the former Yugoslavia, Greece, The Netherlands, Finland, U.S.A. Italy & Japan where it was concluded following their data analysis that fat intake was a causative factor for heart disease.

One of the main & obvious queries raised following the release of these findings related to the non inclusion of other countries that may or may not have strengthened this relationship.

Is it as simple as a high fat diet correlating to a high risk of heart disease?

According to the work carried out by Dr Weston Price this theory is questionable; the diets of the Eskimo & Kenyan Maasai tribe for example is dense in animal fats yet no such relationship was reported in these people.

Nevertheless, this research (financially backed by the U.S Government) was presented to the American public highlighting the dangers of high fat foods whilst suggesting a preference for lower fat alternatives. This was seized upon by food manufacturers who then marketed these products to supermarket outlets as healthier options that were subsequently extremely popular to its consumers.

The one drawback being that they were heavy in sugar content.

John Yudkin saw this & challenged it.

It may be far to assume that the heavyweights among the sugar industry may have had a motive to disapprove of anything or anyone that could jeopardise their product so in response to this threat in revealing the damaging effects of sugar the authenticity of Professor Yudkin's work was rebuked by fellow nutritionists, with some even labelling it, science fiction.

Fast forward to present day & the World Health Organisation (WHO) website revealed that Worldwide obesity has now tripled since 1973, three years after Pure, White & Deadly was first published.

Dr Francesco Branca, director of the WHO's department of Nutrition for Health & Development reported that in addition to tooth decay reducing the intake of free sugars to less than 10% also decreases the risk of being overweight &/or obese (1).

An independent report by Public Health England in 2015 went one better in highlighting an increased risk of diabetes development & suggesting a 5% sugar daily intake (currently between 11-15%) & that high levels have depressingly resulted in weight gain & an increased BMI in children (2).

This, in my view, is anything but science fiction & a walk into any supermarket today will clearly reveal a sugar fest in the form of golden syrup & chocolate & strawberry flavoured breakfast cereal products, which astonishingly, are marketed towards children.

Weston A Price

The book Nutrition & Physical Degeneration is an account of Dr Prices' investigation into the effects of food on dentition & tooth decay.

He travelled the world & assessed indigenous people such as the Peruvian Indians, The Aborigine, Maori, Pacific Islanders, the Gaelic people of the outer hebrides & as mentioned previously the eskimo & Maasai.

The 3 major take from points regarding the conclusion of his work written within this book are that diets that suit & are thrived upon by one culture may be completely different to that of another.

Secondly, the foods eaten by these populations were grown & cultivated from within their specific region as there was no shipping of overseas goods & lastly, when they were given the processed foods eaten by westerners such as jams & canned & refined foods all of the groups involved not only experienced clear deterioration of previously good teeth but they also suffered similar decreases in health & a rise in chronic conditions.

A strong argument here supports the concept of not only eating foods to which we are genetically accustomed but it is questionable if these foods either refined or high in sugar are suitable to maintain health yet they form a significant part of our diet today.

The Documentary

If every shelf in mainstream supermarkets were stripped of all items that contained added sugar then they'd only be 20% remaining.

Just one of the many eye watering revelations in Damon Gameau's brilliant documentary That Sugar Film.

Here he embarks upon a 60 day self experiment to demonstrate the effects of a diet largely based upon foods marketed & branded as HEALTHY & how the taste is manipulated by food scientists to leave you wanting more.

Without giving too much away, what you see may astound you.

What the film highlights for me is the need for us all to look into how & where we shop, especially for parents with young families.

Just one example from many I could choose from is a glass of fruit juice which could well be perceived as one of your 5 a day, or is it juice extracted from a fruit that is now void of its natural fibre? Furthermore, in order to drink a 200ml glass of apple juice it would require 3-4 medium sized apples which ordinarily is not eaten in one sitting.

This film, will urge you to ask simple but profound questions as to how we view food & is in my opinion a must watch for anyone with even a remote interest.

In summary

It’s logical to assume that meat, vegetables, grains & fruit in the rawest state are what make up the 20% untouched by added sugars.

These are the foods in the way that nature provided & the fact that 80% isn't for me highlights the scale of the problem & the more we see it the more we deem it normal.

The late Tony Benn, ex politician eluded to it perfectly when intimating that those who are educated are more difficult to control.

Certain food outlets are not natural health care advisors or health advocates, they are product sellers with the aim of enhancing their product business & not a more so a repeat of the rhetoric of consumer's personal choice when questioned on their sweetened carbonated drinks will always be used in order to protect their interest.

Thankfully the efforts of the now passed John Yudkin have now been taken up by others including Professor Robert Lustig & healthier food choices are now growing in popularity, but the task of reversing the effects of ill health through is still a sizable one.

References

1. World Health Organisation 2015. (WHO) calls countries to reduce sugars intake amongst adults & children. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/04-03-2015-who-calls-on-countries-to-reduce-sugars-intake-among-adults-and-children.

2. Public Health England. National diet and nutrition survey results from years 7 & 8 (combined) of the rolling programme (2914/2015 to 2015/2016). London, UK: Public Health England 2018.