Rich and poor to clash over sugar in WHO's healthy diet plan

In my view, the WHO report, although well-meaning may be just another
amoung other important reports which are usually ignored by the consumer.

I agree that simple carbohydrate consumption is a major public health
issue, and has profound implications relative to disease or health
outcome. However, the question is whether people will refrain from eating
it. The recommendation that individuals eat no more that 10% of their
daily total caloric intake from simple sugars has little meaning to the
average individual. This recommendation is also by no means a new
revelation. The other authors have made extremely good arguments and I
applaud them. There is no doubt that refined carbohydrate comsumption is a
health hazard in many respects.

It may be prudent however to introduce some new policies and change some
attitudes if we are to make an impact upon childhood obesity and all the
associated health problems. The implications of an international study
with it's associated recommendations may be too far removed from the
realities that this issue presents. Namely, our children have direct
access to sugar at school,hockey arenas,libraries,public areas,
hospitals,fitness facilities just to name a few. Sugar is cheap,pleasing
to the palate, addictive and stabilizes food. Thusly ,it is contained in
our food chain in a manner which one could describe as insidious. The
attraction to sugar begins in early childhood when our precious little
ones are introduced to concentrated fructose in baby foods or in the
juices they are fed. I don't need to remind the reader of the direct link
between fructose and obesity? At any rate, our children develop an
tollerance for sugar at a very early age. I have seen children eat a
measure of sugar which would make me sick, but they are simply not
satisfied even with this dose. The behavioral changes which occur if they
are forbidden to eat sugar is striking!

Since people usually do not calculate the percentage of calories they
consume from any source, these recommendations have little practical
value. It makes more sense to try to get children to change the way they
eat and subsequently their parents may also have to finally start to set a
proper example. A few changes directed toward child-directed market
advertising, vending permit location, educational initiatives,and physical
education programming would be helpful. Ulimately,our children stand
little chance of altering what they become unless we collectively change
our attitudes and cooresponding behavior in a realistic and appropriate
manner. Do not assume the food industry will take a leadership role in
this issue. Parents, the schools and the media have the most profound
influence upon our children. Lets us act in accordance with the best
intentions to influence the most important investment we have persuant to
a brighter future, our children.

Competing interests:
None declared

When are we going to cease tolerating processed simple sugar
consumption?

In the last 100 years, consuming sugar has increased from slightly a
modest 20 lbs to somewhere between 120-150 lbs processed simple sugar each
year. W.B. Grant's summarized review implicated this annual increase of
dietary processed sugar with ischemic and cardiovascular heart disease
rate reported in sedentary human consumers:

"The mechanism linking sugar to heart disease seems primarily to be
the production of triglycerides. Excess sugar, in the form of fructose
directly or from sucrose, metabolizes to triglycerides, leading to large
increases in serum triglycerides and is incorporated predominantly into
very low density lipoprotein (VLDL)cholesterol. Both elevated
triglycerides and VLDLs are risk factors for CHD. Simple sugars also cause
a host of other problems, such as hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, hypoxia,
and impaired immune system response, all of which can lead to
cardiovascular problems. Simple sugars also replace foods rich in vitamins
and minerals, and sugar metabolism involves several B vitamins. A
deficiency in three B vitamins is linked to elevated plasma Homocysteine
levels. Sucrose, in particular the fructose moiety of the sucrose
molecule, as well as fructose itself, may induce oxidative damage through
increased glycation of proteins (associated with complications of
diabetes) and cross-linking of tissue proteins [1]."

At the rate of 120 lbs processed simple sugar annually calculates to
eating 149 grams (5.2 ounces) or 600 calories sugar each day. What is the
impact of 149 grams processed sugar once it traverses the gut and imposes
a presence on blood glucose profile?

A single gram of sugar raises blood sugar significantly.

Blood Glucose Rises @ Constant Rate Per Gram Sugar (Norms = 65-110
mg/dL)

Weight 100 lbs/45 kg: 1 gram carbohydrate raises blood glucose 5
points

Weight 150 lbs/68 kg: 1 gram carbohydrate raises blood glucose 4
points

Weight 200 lbs/91 kg: 1 gram carbohydrate raises blood glucose 3
points

In my opinion, responsible health care should direct their patients
toward consuming natural food fibers, healthy Omega-3/Omega-6 fatty acids,
to accompany any form of simple sugar in order to reduce blood glucose
levels from peaking excessively high. Both dietary fat and fiber reduce
simple sugar absorption rate. The sweet-tooth, comfort-food craving
resolution should be to substitute whole fiber-rich, calorie-sparse
natural fruit in place of calorie-dense processed sugar. That a food
processor or professional dietetic organizations would promote or permit
sugar as an additive for enhancing taste pleasures is akin to promulgating
cigarette smoking in children and adults. No? Armstrong et al., (2)
associated sugar consumption's Correlation Coefficients (CCr) related to
Ischemic Heart Disease and mortality in 30 countries as 0.76 for men and
0.69 for women, while the condemned cigarette's CCr was a mere 0.41 for
men and 0.55 for women.

We need to run from the siren's craving sugar moiety, as did "Ulysses
writhe, in hemp fast bound..."

References

[1] Milk and Other Dietary Influences on Coronary Heart Disease by
William B. Grant, Ph.D. In Alternative Medicine Review - Volume 3, Number
4, August 1998. free full text @:
http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/milk3-4.html

[2] Armstrong BK, Mann JI, Adelstein AM, Eskin F. Commodity
consumption and ischemic heart disease mortality, with special reference
to dietary practices. J Chron Dis 1975;28:455-469.

Competing interests:
None declared