Sugar has no nutritional value and no role in a balanced diet.
Dr Aseem Malhotra is an interventional cardiologist and the founding member and science director of Action On Sugar, a group of specialists concerned with sugar and its effects on health. Action on Sugar has been campaigning to reduce population consumption of sugar by 40% over the next few years to reverse the obesity epidemic. Dr Malhotra, one of the most vocal campaigners against sugar industry and Big Food, tells Rema Nagarajan why sugar is the new tobacco.
Is it true that sugar kills more than tobacco?
Non-communicable diseases contribute to 35 million deaths worldwide for which poor diet is a major contributor. According to the Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease report, poor diet is responsible for more diseases than physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined. Combating this poses greatest challenge to health worldwide.
Why do you say Big Sugar is the new Big Tobacco and that it’s worse?
Both are financially and politically very powerful and as we are learning, the sugar industry is using tactics similar to the tobacco industry in resisting any control or regulation to reduce consumption. We must not forget that it took 50 years from when the first studies linking smoking and lung cancer were made public before any effective regulation was introduced, because of Big Tobacco’s corporate strategy of planting denial and doubt, confusing the public and even buying the loyalty of scientists. But tobacco was avoidable and they didn’t target children unlike the food industry that spends billions on marketing, targeting the most vulnerable members of the society. The government should ban junk food advertising to children. For every £1 the World Health Organisation spends in preventing diseases caused by unhealthy eating, the food industry spends £500 in marketing junk food. Many people and organizations that give nutritional advice have been coopted by the industry. Last week, Channel 4 journalists uncovered that several members of the UK’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition are on the payroll of the food industry.
The sugar industry says sugar is not harmful when part of a varied diet and that what you eat is your choice. You can choose to eat in moderation and exercise more to prevent obesity. How true is that?
Sugar has no nutritional value and no role in a balanced diet. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional treat. I have a sweet tooth too and enjoy chocolate and ice cream but consume it very seldom now, as a treat. Independent scientific evidence reveals that over the past 30 years as obesity rates skyrocketed in the western world, exercise levels haven’t changed very much and may have actually increased placing the blame directly on calories consumed. The food industry has promoted this belief in exercise to deflect culpability for the obesity epidemic onto the individual. I was very disturbed to hear a respected Indian doctor on a TV channel giving out a message that it’s OK for kids to consume junk food as long as you exercise. This is not only ignorant but gives out a very harmful message contrary to the scientific evidence.
When you say sugar do you mean regular sugar or things like dextrose, glucose, sucrose, fructose and high-fructose corn syrup etc which are added to processed food?
Fructose is what needs to be regulated. Even regular sugar is made up of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Fructose is toxic to the liver, and gets converted to liver fat that causes insulin resistance which drives type-2 diabetes and inflammation in the body which increases the risk of a heart attack and stroke. It also interferes with hormones that control appetite, stopping us from feeling full, and as a result we eat more and get fat. As a Cardiologist treating patients with type 2 diabetes, I am extremely concerned about its rocketing prevalence, especially in India which has the second highest incidence of type 2 diabetes in the world.
What is a reasonable amount of sugar to have in a day? How much in excess are we having?
Scientists recently advised the WHO to suggest a limit to a maximum of 6 teaspoons per day for the average adult female and 8 for the average male or 5% of total energy. It’s important to note that this is a maximum LIMIT. You do not need any added sugar in your diet. US dietary guidelines suggest a daily limit of 3 teaspoons of added sugar for a 4 to 8 year old child. A typical chocolate bar or a sugary drink can contain up to 9 teaspoons of added sugar!
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