Dr. Robert Lustig goes main stream – Is Sugar Toxic?

Filed under: In The News — @ April 13, 2011

The New York Times has covered Dr. Robert Lustig’s popular video on the possible toxicity of fructose. Dr. Lustig’s “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” video has been viewed over 800,000 times since its posting in 2009. Not a small feat for a very academic lecture on biochemistry.

While being against fructose and popular in our community, Dr. Lustig isn’t a fan of low-carb diets. According to Lustig, the type of carbohydrate is what’s important.

Refined sugar (that is, sucrose) is made up of a molecule of the carbohydrate glucose, bonded to a molecule of the carbohydrate fructose — a 50-50 mixture of the two. The fructose, which is almost twice as sweet as glucose, is what distinguishes sugar from other carbohydrate-rich foods like bread or potatoes that break down upon digestion to glucose alone. The more fructose in a substance, the sweeter it will be.