Posts Tagged ‘sugar’

The mythology of sweeteners seems impervious to facts. Once more, a systematic review of the available evidence — this one just published in the International Journal of Obesity — concludes that: The balance of evidence indicates that use of low energy sweeteners in place of sugar, in children and adults, leads to reduced energy intake and […]

The number one most emailed story from the New York Times this weekend is one that fell just short of name calling against three different scientists. The narrative behind this story is that funding for research and dialog about the health effects of physical activity is a key ploy by Coca Cola to persuade people […]

After two decades of fighting obesity, policymakers are still guessing about what will work. The polarized debate about taxing sugar provides a vivid example in the BMJ this week. A debate continues because evidence about the real world effects of such a tax is inadequate. But for people with obesity, such debates are, at best, a […]

Food addiction is a very real concern for a significant population of people who find that certain foods have addictive properties for them. Yet careful scientists who study addiction are sharply divided on this subject. Some argued vigorously for the inclusion of food addiction in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders […]

Not all of the people who are selling us wellness are accountable for the truth of what they’re offering. The folks at the Glycemic Index Foundation have put together a solid analysis of the gaps between truth and reality in print and online from people who are selling us wellness in the form of freedom from […]

A new commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) celebrates recommendations for new dietary guidelines lifting the lid on fat and bringing the hammer down on sugar: The limit on total fat presents an obstacle to sensible change, promoting harmful low-fat foods, undermining attempts to limit intakes of refined starch and added sugar, […]

A new analysis in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates the potential cost effectiveness of preventing childhood obesity by taxing sugar-sweetened beverages, by taxing junk food advertising to kids, by policy changes for early childhood education, and by active physical education. It’s an interesting exercise in modeling what could happen and what it would […]

A pretty solid consensus seems to exist around the notion of reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Consumers are cutting back on drinking them. Even beverage makers are finding ways to formulate, package, and promote their products to reduce the amount of sugar people are drinking. But no such consensus seems to exist on the ultimate […]

Soda taxes offer a dilemma for progressive politicians. On one hand, as a social policy to relieve the impact of a disease that discriminates against poor and minority communities, it has an inherent appeal to people with a progressive social bent. On the other hand, some groups that are typically allies of progressive politicians — […]

Easter is a bit of a candy festival, surpassed only by Halloween. We’ll be spending $2.2 billion on Easter candy this year, just a hare less than the $2.5 billion Americans spent at Halloween. But it hasn’t always been like this. Before the late nineteenth century, eggs, bunnies, and maybe a few chicks were at the center of […]