The industry even launched an aggressive campaign to silence and destroy nutritionists, naturopaths, and anyone else who tried to teach the truth about the benefits of real food and good nutrition.
Presently, in the U.S., only dieticians, controlled by the food giants and big pharma, are allowed to practice in schools, hospitals, etc., and be reimbursed by Medicare. In addition, they mounted a massive decade-long campaign, through state regulatory agencies, to ensure that independent naturopaths and independent nutrition consultants could no longer be licensed to practice.
Dr. Lustig’s data indicate that obesity has increased from 10% to 40% over the past 30 years, due to these changes. There is now an epidemic of obesity even in infants as young as 6 months. Medical costs related to metabolic diseases now account for 75% of global health care expenses. Nonalcoholic fatty Liver disease affects one-third (33%) of Americans consuming the standard junk food diet. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome affects approximately 10%.
And that is not all. Obesity is also associated with economic and functional impacts, such as an additional $274 million spent on jet fuel annually, sinking of boats due to weight, lost productivity of $65 billion, and a 50% rise in absenteeism.
In the United States alone, $147 billion is spent on health care costs due to metabolic syndrome-related diseases. By 2005, at least 9 million young adults (27% of Americans aged 17-24) were considered too overweight to join the military, leading three Surgeon Generals and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to classify obesity as a threat to National Security.
In Dr. Lustig’s 12 April 2012 UCTV Prime series: The Skinny on Obesity [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 23591], he explains how our bodies metabolize sugar and exposes the consequences of the overabundance of sugar in today's processed convenience foods. His research reveals that sugar is metabolized the same as alcohol or other toxins, damaging the liver and other organs. Using the Food and Agriculture Organization database and linking it to the International Diabetes Federation database, country by country, Dr. Lustig’s research found that calories from sugar are the only ones that correlate with the increase in obesity-related diseases. His research also proved that the dogma of ‘a calorie is a calorie’ asserted by dieticians and food manufacturers is all wrong.
Clinical nutritionists have known for decades that all calories are NOT equal. In fact, refined sugar is 50 times more potent than other calories in increasing diabetes rates worldwide. I believe damaged oils also contribute to type 2 diabetes.
LIVER & MITOCHONDRIAL DAMAGE
In nature, fat and carbohydrates/sweets are never found together in the same food. Refined sugar is the only food that is metabolized as both a fat and a carbohydrate. When sugar and other carbohydrates are consumed, 80% of the glucose is metabolized by all the organs in the body, which convert it into glycogen until it is replete. Glycogen provides energy. What is not utilized converts into fat. Only 20% of glucose is metabolized by the liver.
However, fructose can only be metabolized in the liver because only the liver has the transporter for fructose. Thus, all the fructose one consumes in junk food and drinks overloads the liver, where it is then sent to the mitochondria and converted into fat. This is a recipe for mitochondrial meltdown, mitochondrial constipation, and disease, because the mitochondria are the energy engine of a cell.
Commercial fructose (without the fibre) is a chronic dose-dependent liver toxin, just like alcohol. It is metabolized to fat, just like alcohol. Both create more liver fat than the liver can export. Hence, fatty liver disease develops. Hepatic fructose metabolism leads to the manifestations of all metabolic syndrome diseases.
In addition, refined sugar and fructose (HFCS), in particular, cause the liver to become insulin-resistant. This drives the pancreas to produce more insulin, which, in turn, increases weight. The extra insulin produced also drives blood pressure up, which can lead to heart disease.
High insulin also creates mutational cell division, which may lead to cancer and changes in the brain, which can cause dementia. When the pancreas can’t produce any more insulin, it burns out, and you have diabetes. The diseases of alcohol, sugar, and obesity are all the same.
Dr. Lustig’s research clearly reveals that refined sugar is the real toxin in our food, causing damage to the mitochondria, leading to early death.
A study released by the World Economic Forum found chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 36 million a year, account for 63% of deaths in the world, and are projected to cost the global economy $47 trillion in the next 20 years. The socio-economic impact is staggering. In response to this, the United Nations’ Secretary-General announced in September 2011 that chronic NCDs, such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and dementia, now pose a bigger threat to the developing world than acute/infectious diseases.
GREED & CORRUPTION
Food manufacturers have created a very toxic environment in our food supply in order to make food addictive, sell more, and reap larger profits. They don’t care that adding sugar to processed food/drinks destroys the food and eventually kills the consumer. The primary reason that fructose is used commercially in food products and beverages is its low cost, long shelf life, and high sweetness.
People mistakenly think that if something is in our food supply, it is safe. However, this is far from the truth! Government regulatory agencies are heavily influenced by powerful corporate lobbyists, who heavily fund political campaigns and infiltrate these agencies.
Many executive positions in regulatory agencies are filled by implants from corporate food or drug companies. When their mission is accomplished, the government agency executives are then recruited back to the corporation whose product or drug was just approved. It is very much a revolving door scenario. This is how many potentially harmful drugs and substances, including Nutrasweet and fluoride, managed to get approved.
Big Sugar, one of the most powerful lobby groups globally, wields considerable influence in dietary policies, securing product approval, and ensuring that regulatory agencies turn a blind eye to the chronic metabolic diseases their products cause.
Also, the FDA only regulates acute diseases. Thus, they can’t and won’t regulate chronic diseases. This is why nothing has been done to curtail the causes of (chronic) metabolic diseases, which are increasing at an alarming rate.
As if this was not bad enough... Sugar is very addictive and impacts the brain just as much as the waistline!