By Dr. Oz

The sour side of sugar and the sugar lobby

Dec 22, 2017 | 8:37 AM

What weighs in at 66 pounds — a year, every year, per person — in America?

Sugar!

That’s how much you’re taking in from high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar and other sweeteners like dextrose, fructose and malt. There are over 60 names for sweeteners found on food labels. If that surprises you, that’s because much of
the sugar is hidden in 74 percent of packaged/prepared foods you find at the grocery store.

According to Sugar Science: The unsweetened truth, a website developed by researchers at the University of California San Francisco, there’s strong evidence that all that sweetening is souring your health, especially when it comes to
heart disease, diabetes and liver disease.

Studies show that excess fructose (not what you get from eating delicious, good-for-you fresh fruit) is liver toxic.

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Additionally, excess sugar consumption is related to heart woes, according to a 2016 JAMA Internal Medicine study.

And it’s implicated in an increased risk of metabolic syndrome — a condition that’s associated with obesity, heart disease, insulin resistance and diabetes. Those conditions affect between 86 and 125 million American adults or more!
There’s also emerging evidence that excess sugar may play a role in development of Alzheimer’s disease, cellular premature aging and wrinkles!

But all that pales compared with the data that has been suppressed or manipulated by the sugar lobby and food industry for decades in an attempt to make other foods look unhealthier than sugar.

For example:
—In the same 2016 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine that ran the study showing the link between sugar and heart disease, a commentary stated: “Is it really true that food companies deliberately set out to manipulate research in their favor?
Yes, it is, and the practice continues. In 2015, The New York Times obtained emails revealing Coca-Cola’s cozy relationships with sponsored researchers who were conducting studies aimed at minimizing the effects of sugary drinks on obesity. Even more recently, The Associated Press obtained emails showing how a candy trade association funded and influenced studies to show that children who eat sweets have healthier body weights than those who do not.”
—In the 1950s, the sugar industry squashed a study that showed the link between excess sugar and heart disease

— that study has now been published (finally) in PLOS Biology.
—Also in the 1950s, a year after the suppressed sugar-heart disease study, the sugar industry lobbying organization launched a rat study called Project 259, “to measure the nutritional effects of the [bacterial] organisms in the intestinal
tract” when sucrose was consumed, compared with starch. It revealed a link to bladder cancer as well. But shortly before the research was done, the sugar group pulled funding for the project, so the findings were never published. Just think
of the cancer cases that might have been prevented if we’d known decades ago that there were a link!

We’ve been advising for years to eliminate all added sugars and sugar syrups from your diet. But we know it can be difficult to start, and your dopaminereward system craves the sugary treats.

So here’s our plan for ex-ing out sugar, keeping your dopamine system happy and achieving a much younger RealAge:
—Get plenty of lean protein from nuts, legumes and whole grains, white meats and fish.
—Enjoy at least 3 servings of fresh fruit daily. The high-fiber content helps make the natural sugars burn more slowly, so they provide energy but don’t spike your blood sugar.
—Have 12-14 walnut halves daily to fight inflammation caused by excess sugar.
—Enjoy half a glass of dry, red wine 
—For a sweet treat, stick with one to three 22-calorie nuggets of 70 percent cacao dark chocolate a day. They deliver polyphenols that’ll keep your blood pressure in check and reduce your risk for heart attack and stroke.
* * *
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.
© 2017 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc

This column is sponsored by your local choice for healthy lifestyle products -Nutter’s Bulk and Natural Foods
365 36th St. W, Prince Albert, SK
Phone: (306) 922-3835