Lunch at the Labs

Sugar (and salt)

Some links related to dietary consumption of sugar and salt.

• Sugar, explained

  Sugar is the dietary villain of our day. But the science is complicated.

  1. We're so hooked on sweetness, it's now in three-quarters of our packaged food
  2. There's no argument about sugar's link to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, and heart disease
  3. But researchers don't agree about whether we can blame sugar alone for the rise in obesity
  4. There are at least 60 euphemisms for added sugar
  5. There's one big reason researchers think cutting sugar from your diet is the best way to lose weight. And it's contentious.
  6. Fructose is metabolized differently than other sugars, but it's not clear whether that matters for obesity
  7. The sugar industry has shaped science
  8. A big backlash against sugar is underway
  9. You'll soon be able to tell how much sugar is hidden in your food
  10. Artificial sweeteners may trigger the body's responses to real sugar
  11. To cut back, make sure your breakfast isn't dessert and stop drinking sugary drinks
• Sugar Industry Long Downplayed Potential Harms

  The sugar industry funded animal research in the 1960s that looked into the effects of sugar consumption on cardiovascular health - and then buried the data when it suggested that sugar could be harmful, according to newly released historical documents.

  Details at, Sugar industry sponsorship of germ-free rodent studies linking sucrose to hyperlipidemia and cancer: An historical analysis of internal documents.

• Higher brain glucose levels may mean more severe Alzheimer's

  NIH study shows connections between glucose metabolism, Alzheimer's pathology, symptoms

  For the first time, scientists have found a connection between abnormalities in how the brain breaks down glucose and the severity of the signature amyloid plaques and tangles in the brain, as well as the onset of eventual outward symptoms, of Alzheimer's disease.

• Clearing Up the Confusion About Salt

  So why, you may wonder, is there any controversy? Shabby science, resulting in claims that is it unsafe to reduce sodium intake below 1,500 milligrams a day, is one reason, according to Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.

  "Very few people consume so little sodium, and most of those who do are sick to begin with, so they eat less and consume less sodium," she explained. "It's a phony issue."

  But when a study is published that runs counter to prevailing beliefs, it tends to get undue media coverage. "The media like 'man bites dog' stories, and studies with surprising results make headlines," Ms. Liebman said.