The Problem With Recent Call by Scientists to Regulate Soda

The recent public declaration from over 51 public health agencies asking the Food and Drug Administration to use it's a regulatory power  to impose restrictions on the maker of sugary beverages is a major step in the right direction for America’s Plague: The Obesity Epidemic. 

America's growing public health crisis with obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease is no joke.   It is not only going to result in a tremendous human toll in terms of premature sickness and death, but it is also going to cripple us financially in terms of direct medical care and the indirect cost of lost productivity.  Yet while this declaration is an excellent start I believe the major contributor to America’s upcoming plague of lifestyle related illness is not even addressed in it:  The poisonous foods that serve as the foundation of the American Diet. 

As I've written about in the past there really is no major difference between carbohydrates in terms of how your body processes them: a carb is a carb is a carb.  The difference between a healthy carbohydrate and a poisonous one is not so much the carbohydrate itself but rather the packaging the carbohydrate comes in.

High fructose corn syrup is so devastating because it has been highly processed. The carbohydrates have been taken out of their natural casing and made available for extremely rapid digestion by the human body.   With all the natural casing and fiber (which slows digestion and therefore keeps blood sugar and insulin levels low) gone, the end result is that your body can easily digest the carbohydrates in high fructose corn syrup and your blood sugar spikes quickly. 

Your pancreas then releases a hormone called insulin that helps break down the sugar and turn it into fat. The combination of high blood sugar and corresponding high blood insulin leads to a widespread consequences throughout the body.  Organ systems impacted include the brain, the kidneys, the liver and also increased fat storage.   Most importantly, it appears that both high blood sugar and high insulin spikes scar the inside walls of blood vessels leading to the development of scabs (called plaques) in the arteries.  This is what causes cardiovascular disease.  

What the declaration fails to address is that any carbohydrate that is easily metabolized by the body will cause a similar spike in blood sugar and insulin and ultimately cause obesity and heart disease. Most of the foods that form the cornerstone of the American diet fall into that category.  It does not have to be high fructose corn syrup or sugar. Any carbohydrate that has been processed so that the natural casing and fiber has been disrupted will lead to a spike in sugar/insulin and is in effect the same as consuming sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

America has a love affair with these foods.  Bread, Rice (all rice white or brown that is taken out of the natural husk is in fact a culprit), Juices, Pasta, Baked Goods, Cereals and many, many more.  These foods are pretty much the equivalent of eating table sugar or corn syrup in terms of how they impact your body once absorbed.

Further adding to the problem is that many foods marketed as health foods are actually foods that spike blood sugar and insulin and are basically poisonous to human beings. Some examples of this are many commercially available “wheat breads” that are the same as bleached wheat flour, many cereals, like Special K or Rice Krispies, marketed as healthy choices but actually are in effect like eating table sugar, Brown Rice that has been removed from it’s husk and is as unhealthy as traditional white rice and many, many others.

The only way you can learn which carbs are actually healthy is to look up their measurement on a scale called “The Glycemic Load” which objectively measures how much different foods raise blood sugar.  My favorite website to do this on is self.com n(google nutrition data at self.com)

America’s problem with diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease is directly related to it’s addiction (and yes it is an addiction just like any drug) to all refined and processed carbohydrates.  Most of our diets are not based on soda!  For most of us our diet is pretty much based on refined carbohydrate and it is pretty much impossible to entirely avoid them even when we try.  Even the USDA food pyramid, which advises 9 servings of whole grains a week does little to distinguish between low (healthy) and high (unhealthy) glycemic carbs. 

 

If you remember one thing from this blog it should be this:  Carbohydrates that have been highly processed and refined are poisonous to human beings no matter where they come from (even if they are "organic!).  Going after sugary beverages is a start, but the real cornerstone of the American Diet are the “High Glycemic” junk carbohydrate food sources like Bread, Bagels, Pizza Dough, Cakes, Cookies, Pastas, Rice, Cereals, Muffins, Baked Goods and many, many more that are in effect very similar to eating sugar or high fructose corn syrup.