I came across this video doing a diet search; this guy claims, and I think convinces me he knows the science behind it, that in this frantic move to eliminate fat from our diets, that we are systematically poisoning ourselves: he shows in this ~1hour video, complete with detailed cellular biology (gets pretty deep), that sugar (in particular, high fructose corn syrup, that is in just about everything now) is a poison. He shows how our bodies process these sugars, and 8 of the 12 harmful aspects of how we process ethanol (alcohol, a toxin of course) are experienced when processing these sugars in exactly the same way. All resulting in obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.

Dr. Robert Lustig, MD

Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology
University of California
San Francisco

Sugar is poison, says UCSF neuroendocrinologist Robert Lustig, MD

"Sugar: The Bitter Truth", UCSF Neuroendocrinologist Robert Lustig MD (or search Youtube for “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”)

Charts from "Sugar: The BitterTruth" youtube video

Another link to an article on Lustig

One of his “bottom line charts” since he works mainly (I believe) with childhood obesity, is boiled down pretty simply, in terms of diet and exercise (for children):

Four Simple Guidelines

Lustig prescribes four simple guidelines for parents coping with kids who are too heavy:

· Get rid of every sugared liquid in the house. Kids should drink only water and milk.

· Provide carbohydrates associated with fiber.

· Wait 20 minutes before serving second portions.

· Have kids buy their “screen time” minute-for-minute with physical activity.

Lustig's Advice for Adults

1. Eat only real food, that comes from the ground. 

2.  No processed food, because that usually has sugar added to it--and the fiber removed--the 2 things that are driving the obesity & chronic metabolic disease epidemic.

3.  Shop the perimeter of the supermarket--not the aisles.  If it's in a box--it's often processed for shelf life--sugar-added, fiber-removed.

4.  Eat only whole-grain bread--that's not the same as whole wheat bread--the fiber is in the whole grain--and the starch stays in the husk in the kernel, which slows the sugar & glucose absorption, so your insulin stys low.

5.  A calorie is not a calorie--and fructose is NOT glucose.

6.  Fructose is a chronic hepatoxin--It's alcohol without the "buzz".

In conjunction with this, Phil and Sammie amazon’ed me "The Paleo diet", which makes total sense to me as I’ve begun to read (I love natural/physical solutions to problems, ie ingenious solutions found in nature, to problems). This book also suggests removing all sugars (maybe honey in moderation), as does Lustig, but more from the perspective of what humans have eaten over thousands of years, and how the modern comercialzation of food is getting us all ill.

Now I’m not planning any radical diet changes, without consulting my oncology doctors of course (they are saying eat a normal healthy diet, and maintain your weight), during my upcoming treatments, but perhaps soon afterwards. I’d already been trying to cut back on sugar, but not to the degree that might be necessary.

Randy.