Brian Johnson (Optimize podcast, +1 #685) argues that dietary sugar is a primary driver of metabolic dysfunction and chronic disease. He summarizes and endorses arguments from Gary Taubes (The Case Against Sugar) and Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn (The Telomere Effect), cites Rupert (likely Robert/Rupert) Lustig’s analysis claiming that replacing an extra 150 calories per person per day with a can of soda raised diabetes prevalence sevenfold, and issues a direct call-to-action to reduce or eliminate sugary drinks and processed sweets to protect metabolic health.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Gary Taubes wrote a great book called the Case Against Sugar. Basic idea. If you were a detective in charge of figuring out a series of crimes and you noticed a common pattern of among those crimes, you'd be smart to put the pieces together and see if you could narrow your search down to a single suspect, right? Well, that's what Taubes does in his book the Crimes. All the chronic diseases wreaking havoc on our society, from diabetes and obesity to heart disease and cancer. Short story. All those chronic diseases are associated with metabolic dysfunction. And the fastest way to make your metabolism dysfunctional sugar. Enter the case against it. Remember our Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn? She discovered telomerase, the stuff that replenishes telomeres. Here's how she puts it in her book the Telomere Effect. Check out those notes. When we want to spot the parties responsible for metabolic disease, we point a finger at highly processed, sugary foods and sweetened drinks. We're looking at you packaged cakes, candies, cookies and sodas. She says these are the foods and drinks most associated with compulsive eating. They light up the reward system in your brain. They are almost immediately absorbed into the blood and they trick the brain into thinking we are starving and need more food. While we used to think all nutrients had similar effects on weight and metabolism, a cancer calorie is a calorie. This is wrong. Simply reducing sugars, even if you eat the same number of calories, can lead to metabolic improvements, says a Nobel Prize winner. I continue. Simple carbs wreak more havoc on metabolism and control over appetite than any other types of foods. So Blackburn is at ucsf. She references her colleague Rupert Lustig when when she makes the point above. As we discussed in our last plus one, Lustig is one of the world's leading research endocrinologists. You know what he says about sugar? He tells us that sugar is the Darth Vader of the nutrition world. And this little statistic might be the most powerful one we'll ever read regarding just how dangerous sugar is? I've repeated it a half a dozen times in optimal weight 101. He says, quote, if you had any residual doubt about a calorie is not a calorie, this analysis should remove it. Every additional 150 calories per person per day barely raised diabetes prevalence. But if those 150 calories were instead from a can of soda, increase in Diabetes rose seven fold. Sugar, he says, is more dangerous than its calories. Sugar is a toxin, plain and simple. I'm going to repeat that whole thing. This, I think is the most important thing we can think about when we think about our metabolic health. He says, quote, if you had any residual doubt about a calorie is not a calorie, this analysis should remove it. Every additional 150 calories per person per day barely raised diabetes prevalence. But if those 150 calories were instead from a can of soda, Increase in diabetes rose seven fold. Sugar is more dangerous than its calories. Sugar is a toxin, plain and simple. End quote. That's crazy. 150 additional calories from any source. No big deal. 150 additional calories from a can of soda. Diabetes goes up sevenfold. Know this. Sugar is more dangerous than its calories. Sugar is a toxin, plain and simple. Please tattoo that on your consciousness right after throwing away your sodas. And to be clear, this isn't just about risk for diabetes. It's a metabolic issue, which is all about how every cell in our bodies produce energy. Which means it affects everything. Today's +1. If you feel so inspired, go throw away all the sodas in your house. Seriously, the case against sugar is really solid. If we're serious about optimizing our energy and well being for ourselves and for our kids, reducing, eliminating it should be a top priority. Caseclosed.
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