Sugar Is Addictive Controlled Substance That Should Be Regulated, Researchers Say

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Sugar has been taking some lumps in the media lately, and now some people are even going so far as to suggest that it be regarded as controlled substance and be subject to governmental regulations similar to those of alcohol and tobacco!

The food industry has long advised us that a calorie is a calorie, but in an opinion piece published Wednesday titled, “The Toxic Truth About Sugar” in the journal Nature, Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt, and Claire Brindis dispute this notion. Lustig, a professor of pediatrics and director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Heath (WATCH) Program, argues that, “There are good calories and bad calories, just as there are good fats and bad fats, good amino acids and bad amino acids, good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates. But sugar is toxic beyond its calories."

These “empty calories,” as they are broadly believed to be, can make you fat, cause changes in metabolism, raise blood pressure, cause significant damage to the liver, and can critically alter the signaling of hormones. These are unsavory symptoms that sound much like the results of too much alcohol consumption, which makes sense as alcohol is, essentially, just the distillation of sugar.

Research is now suggesting that sugar’s chemical effect may, in fact, have the ability to trump our own personal temperance. As Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, tells TIME, "[research] helps confirm what people tell you anecdotally, that they crave sugar and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating it."

When faced with the specter of more governmental regulations, most New Yorkers are probably inclined to jump to the defense of our sweet, sweet civil liberties. But considering that "some 50 million people in the U.S., including 35 percent of adults, now suffer from metabolic syndrome, and the annual medical costs for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes alone have soared to $400 billion," one wonders if sugar regulation may actually be something lawmakers will dare to try. We already know of at least one person who is on board, and another who probably should be.

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By Carrie Dennis in Food on February 2, 2012 5:09 PM

Comments [rss]

Micha Blackrain

Just another way to TAX us....to pay for socialized healthcare....so these doctors get paid. It's not about your health, your choice...just another way to squeeze a dime outta your wallet and into theirs.

onceler

Um, no, it's not "controlled". That would mean it had been scheduled by the FDA. It has not. Why the erroneous and inflammatory headline? This place is a joke.

Midnight Fapper

Why does the rest of the world have no issues with sugar? Why only americants?

mmheidelberger

Because Americans have a tendency to over consume things. We can't just enjoy a little sugar, we have to drink a 2 liter bottle of soda. Same thing goes for just about every other dietary nemesis we overindulge in.

Ragingsemi

Why? Are people snorting it to get high?

unretrofiedforu

You haven't downed a nice ice-cold 8 oz bottle of coke in a glass bottle then. :)

zombiebob

it does sort of follow with a minor rush, doesn't it? Whereas coke in a plastic bottle, not so much (though maybe because it's more difficult to guzzle).

Politburo

Note that this is just 3 researchers making the argument that sugar should be controlled like alcohol. No one has seriously proposed it.

PicoPhreako69

They will get my chocolate mousse and bottle of whisky only when they pry them from my old, cold, dead hands. >:3

saris1

Bah at government, an idea. Are most people taking in too much sugar? Yes (Not me, but that's because I'm into bodybuilding), but should it be a controlled substance. Jesus Christ, get real.

government should fuck off, seriously. Before you start dictating shit to us, you fat fucks, how about you start worrying about important shit, like Tariff's on trade from China.

And I have nothing against fat people, if you're enjoying your life good stuff. But these government fuckers who are overweight and have no muscle shouldn't be dictating fuck all to anyone.

Hey government, exercise. How are you going to tell others how to live when you're all a bunch of fat and skinny fat old men. Muscle? What muscle, fucking pricks.

unretrofiedforu

They DO worry about important shit like tariffs on trade in China. That's why you can talk about it objectively like it doesn't affect the prices of other commodities besides sugar.

Sugar IS addicting and it IS harmful in large quantities. But everyone seems to be missing the point; this isn't a health issue it's an economic one.

davee44

Science has shown the USA government has caused the Obesity problem NOT SUGAR
The reason people cannot lose weight is due to food chemicals. The Government’s FDA has destroyed the health of the people by approved chemicals in the Beef,Poultry and Dairy. The food today is a chemical factory that has made Billionaires out of the Drug makers. The lawsuits would break the Government so we blame McDonald’sThe lesson of thin people was shown here on Midland News Click here http://www.ourmidland.com/voic...

Roger_the_Shrubber

These nanny state assholes will not stop until they have complete and absolute control of everybody and everything.

SPsGhost

enjoy your twinkies with a side of insulin, lipitor and metformin, and thanks for making my health insurance premiums skyrocket, you fat cupcake eating bastard.

DrSysz

Enjoy your dull long yuppie life Sir....

/off to eat some fatty food, have some wild sex, take some awesome drugs, have dangerous fun outdoors, and hang out with other fun people who understand the meaning of life has nothing to do with actuarial tables and fear....

Midnight Fapper

That was cool when we were 20, thanks for sharing.

da_phonz

I ask this with sincerity, what is cool for people to do in their thirties?

Midnight Fapper

Doesn't waking up feeling like shit with your dick on fire get old? How's being lethargic from gluttonous «adventures» fun?

I live dangerously too: ride my Ducati like a lunatic, skydive, love rock climbing, etc.

Just don't get the whole unhealthy part… hasn't it caught up to you by now?

Oh, and I used to be a garbage can addict, everything except meth/shooting up.

Tiferet

so am I supposed to pay for your healthcare when you fall off a rock or your parachute fails? Everyone takes risks.

da_phonz

I'm still in my 20's, so to say. I'm guessing my unhealthy habits will catch up with me in my 30s. Fire dick is one I've never thought of, I'll have to watch out for that one.
Sounds like your health pendulum swung further in both directions than mine.