Wendie Trubow, MD, MBA, IFMCPPresident at Five Journeys, Functional Medicine & Wellness Provider, Best Selling Author, Passionate Champion for Health

The Biggest Drivers of Chronic Diseases

7 Feb 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

A short YouTube conversation (hosted by Wendie Trubow, MD, MBA, IFMCP) arguing that overconsumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates is a major driver of mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction and chronic disease. The speakers emphasize how 'invisible' sugar in common products adds up, giving numeric examples: 1 teaspoon = 4 g sugar; kombucha often ~26 g sugar; a can of Coke = 39 g; RDA for sugar cited as 40 g/day; flavored Greek yogurts often 18–24 g. The segment’s purpose is to make these hidden sources and their scale tangible to viewers.

Questions this video answers

4 grams

26 grams

39 grams

40 grams per day

18–24 grams

Chapters

You know, the overconsumption of sugar and carbohydrates, in my view, is one of the biggest drivers of mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic dysfunction, and these chronic diseases.
We need to dive into this for a moment, so think about this. Okay? So if. If we're right, and 1 teaspoon of sugar is 4 grams, if you're drinking a kombucha, which often has 26 grams of sugar, you're putting almost 8 teaspoons into your body. Or if you're drinking a Coke, which is 39 grams of sugar, a can of Coke is 39 grams of sugar. The RDA for sugar is 40 grams, which means one teaspoon every hour, which I would not recommend, but there's so many ways. Or if you're eating your favorite Greek yogurt that is not plain, you're getting like, 18 grams to 24 grams of sugar. So I think what's crazy is this is very invisible to people. And. And so. So every four grams is a teaspoon. If I said to you, oh, have a teaspoon of sugar, you'd be like, you're crazy. I would never do that. But then it's all of these invisible ways. We're getting exposed to sugar, and it's invisible. So it doesn't make you think, like, oh, this is not good.