Sugar...

There’s really no such thing as a detrimental food, but there is definitely such a thing as detrimental quantities of different food substances.   

Take sugar.  

 In its natural form it can be used to improve the flavour of lots of different things from fruit to cereals, but the use of convenience and highly processed foods means that our consumption of refined sugar has, over the years, rocketed to around 150lb per person per year - in 1830 consumption was only about 11lb a year.

The downside of this is not just higher obesity rates, increased diabetes and possible cancer diagnoses, etc. but the fact that such high rates of sugar consumption knock out other good nutrients – like vitamin B, for example, which is very important for the effective functioning of the nervous system – and our brains!   

So it’s really worth thinking about reducing sugar intake, not just from specific sugar use – substitute sugar on your breakfast muesli with a handful of blueberries to sweeten and ensure one of your five a day, for example – but also from cutting out refined and processed foods. 

"We all weigh 25lbs more than we did 25 years ago," says endocrinologist and paediatrician Robert Lustig, author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease. Sugar, he says, was always meant to be a treat, a reward. "The last time I checked, birthday cake was for birthdays, and birthdays come once a year."

Fat Chance by Robert Lustig

And you should hear what he has to say about that world famous soft drink in the red can…
Sugar: The Bitter Truth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM