If sugar’s consumption is linked to the rise in chronic diseases that also shorten life should we regulate sugar to protect public health?Researchers have pointed out that sugar causes serious diseases like diabetes and hypertension, and if its effects on the body mimic those of alcohol, therefore sugar should be regulated like a drug.
Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis, all researchers involved in health policy, argue that sugar should be regulated In the Feb. 4, 2012 issue of Nature magazine, they write:
Authorities consider sugar as “empty calories” — but there is nothing empty about these calories. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases. A little is not a problem, but a lot kills — slowly. If international authorities are truly concerned about public health, they must consider limiting fructose — and its main delivery vehicles, the added sugars HCFS (high fructose corn syrup) and sucrose — which pose dangers to individuals and to society as a whole.
Robert Lustig is the researcher at the center of last year’s New York Times Magazine article Is Sugar Toxic? He hasn’t moderated his stance. Among familiar ideas such as taxing added sugars or sodas, limiting sugary products available in schools and reducing the advertising of foods with added sugar, he and his co-authors add the suggestion that the Food and Drug Administration remove sugar from the “Generally Regarded as Safe” list. They propose putting an age limit on those allowed to purchase drinks with added sugar and creating laws to restrict the access of children to convenience stores after school.
“We’re not talking prohibition,” Dr. Schmidt said in a press release. “We’re not advocating a major imposition of the government into people’s lives. We’re talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient, thereby moving people away from the concentrated dose. What we want is to actually increase people’s choices by making foods that aren’t loaded with sugar comparatively easier and cheaper to get.”
Should we, really, regulate sugar? Do we need the government to help parent our children, or should parents to make action by educating and parenting their own kids. What are your thoughts on this matter?
