The Toxic Truth About Sugar

                                                   


                              



     “Public Health: The Toxic Truth about Sugar”, an article by Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt, and Claire

Brindis tackles the controversy surrounding what exactly causes non-communicable diseases. Non-

communicable diseases include heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Usually people believe that obesity 

causes these diseases, but this is not true. The top three factors that cause non-communicable diseases are 

tobacco, alcohol, and diet. With diet comes much responsibility pertaining to the foods that are consumed,

including the type and amount. The new idea introduced in this article is that sugar is a concern regarding

diet making it a main reason that people develop non-communicable diseases. If you take the scientific 

route this could be correct but when taking a look at a person’s lifestyle as a whole, this is wrong. When

people take a holistic view on their health it will keep them from developing diseases; knowing how much

a person has exercised, how they were raised, and under what standard of living they were raised is 

important when considering non-communicable diseases.

     Exercise should be a very important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. When people exercise at a constant

rate they are more likely to be healthy individuals. When considering the main topics surrounding the non-

communicable disease causes it is important to know how often a person exercises. It is recommended by

the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that “children and adolescents should do 60

minutes or more of physical activity each day”. This includes aerobic activity, muscle strengthening, and

bone strengthening. The CDC also states that adults need at least “150 minutes of moderate-intensity

aerobic activity on 2 or more days a week.” Adults over the age of 65 years old need the same amount of

exercise as regular adults if they do not have any limiting health conditions. Even if an individual

consumes some sugary substances, a constant exercise regime will make that person an overall healthy

individual.

     Almost every individual obtained their dietary habits while being raised by their parents. Children are 

very observant of their parent’s actions so parents have a significant influence over how their children act 

as independent individuals. It has been proven that the mother’s are more responsible than father’s for the 

dietary intake habits of their children. Therefore, if while growing up a child observed his or her mother 

always consuming sugary substances, they would be more prone to consume those sugary substances. If a 

child grew up in a household where a healthy diet was practiced along with a constant exercise regime, it 

would not be surprising to see that child grow up to be healthy and active. Being a health conscious 

individual needs to start off at a young age because this allows the habit to be engrained in the mind. The 

picture above illustrates little children exercising. If we as a community can get children to carry out 

healthy habits, they will be better off when they get older. Although sugar impacts an individual’s diet in a 

negative way, it is important to evaluate why that person began eating these sugary substances. Many 

reasons why would be because they were raised that way.

     When taking a look at the diet of an individual, the standard of living is an important contributor. One 

would think that an area of low socioeconomic status would promote under nourishment but this is not the 

case. It has been proven that lower socioeconomic status can actually help with a higher energy intake. A

major reason for the higher intake of low socioeconomic citizen’s is that food with a large amount of 

sugar is made readily available to the public. A lot of the sugary foods out there have a low cost whereas 

organic foods are more expensive. A low-income family will be more apt to buy the least expensive foods 

because they can buy them in higher quantities and make them last longer; whereas if they were to buy 

organic foods for a higher price it would seem like a rip off. Since many individuals around the world are

letting their standard of living affect their diet it is impossible to only turn our attention to ‘added sugar’. 

The public as a whole needs to understand why it is that these people/families are allowing their standard 

of living to affect their unhealthy diets. 

     As more people take on a holistic view they will begin to understand that health is not a crystal clear 

subject. We can’t just say that the main causes of non-communicable diseases are tobacco, alcohol and 

diet. As a public we need to sit back and evaluate what causes these main issues. Taking the scientific 

route does not explain all the stated reasons in “Public Health: The Toxic Truth about Sugar” behind non-

communicable disease. When taking a holistic view one is able to fully understand why people make the 

choices they do; there will always be a reason behind how and why an individual’s diet is affected.

Works Cited

Zaki, Moushira, Sanaa Mohamed, and Manal EL-Salam. "Risk Factors for Obesity among Egyptian 

Children." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. 1 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. 

<http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4>.

     "How Much Physical Activity Do Older Adults Need?" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/olderadults.html>.

     Lustig, Robert, Laura Schmidt, and Claire Brindis. "“Public Health: The Toxic Truth about Sugar”." Nature.com. 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v482/n7383/full/482027a.html>.

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