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Is Sugar as Bad as Tobacco?

The first time I heard the idea that sugar is toxic was when I saw someone saying exactly that on TV, and at that time, to be honest, I just rolled my eyes. Doesn’t it seem like everything’s toxic and bad for you these days?

Personally, I don’t consume a lot of sugar. Sure, I have some in my coffee, I have the occasional donut, and I figure “it’s okay, because I exercise.” So I wondered, how bad can sugar really be?

To find some answers, I went to meet one of the world’s most vocal critics of sugar: Robert Lustig, M.D., the man I had seen railing against sugar on TV. Professor Lustig is a sought-after speaker across the world for his potent anti-sugar message. He has become a YouTube sensation for his straight talk about the dangers of sugar in our diets, but he also has serious health credentials as professor of pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, and director of the University’s Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program.

Of sugar, he says, “We are being poisoned by this stuff. It’s been added surreptitiously to all of our processed food.”

The question is, Why? How did this happen?

Dr. Lustig says: “There are three things that sugar does that other types of food don’t: it creates liver fat, contributes to cell aging, and interferes with your brain’s functioning to regulate how much to eat. That,” he says, “is what makes it toxic.”

Sugar, toxic? Isn’t that a bit much? After all, water will kill you if you overdo it.

But Dr. Lustig goes even further. He compares sugar with one of the most toxic substances out there: tobacco. It’s not the nicotine that’s toxic, he said; it’s the tars that are toxic. All cigarettes are toxic.

So, I asked him point blank: “Dr. Lustig, are you saying that the standard of evidence for the toxicity of sugar and the disease-causing effects of sugar are the same as for tobacco?” His response? “Absolutely.”