Sugar Prohibition?

"Don't dig your grave with your knife and fork."--English Proverb

Health professionals have long lectured patients and the public on the negative effects of excessive sugar consumption.    In July of 2009, Dr. Robert H. Lustig, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology released this YouTube video:



The recent media controversy, is asking "should sugar be regulated?" In a recent issue of Nature, Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis discuss the effects of sugar.


Dr. David Katz, MD, director of Yale's Prevention Research Center who stated: "If we regulate sugar, what about trans fat? What about sodium? What about calories?" There is also the fact that sugar is present in fruit, in fruit juice, and processed foods sweetened with concentrated fruit juices. Where, exactly, does the regulation start, and end?"

The core problem around the sugar controversy lies in the issues it is trying to resolve which is centered around the obesity epidemic.

Do big government regulations belong in the food industry regulating how much sugar can be present in food?


Sources:

• Fiore, By Kristina. "Medical News: Docs Urge Feds to Regulate 'Toxic' Sugar." Medpage Today. 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/30972>.
• Taubes, Gary. "Is Sugar Toxic?" New York Times. 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all>.