Source - http://news.yahoo.com/
By - Rachel Pomerance
Category - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita
By - Rachel Pomerance
Category - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita
 |
| Hotels In Northern California |
Ask most people how they feel about grocery shopping, and they may
talk about the supermarket they'll never set foot into, where it smells
bad and the produce looks pitiful, or the sunny one with nice cuts of
meat and good prices on children's cereal.
But to Robert Lustig, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, the
supermarket is something else entirely. It's ground zero in the fight
for your life, where decisions between plain or flavored Greek yogurt, oranges or orange juice, and red kidney beans or Bush's Grillin' Beans mean the difference between sickness and health.
The last 30 years have seen an onslaught of sugar and dwindling of
fiber in the food environment, a deadly combination for consumers who
have been duped by the food industry, Lustig argues. He sounded this
battle cry in his 2009 lecture, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth,"
which became a viral hit with nearly 4 million views on YouTube, and in
his 2012 book, "Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed
Food, Obesity and Disease."
Now, he's putting his message in more practical terms, offering
consumers a handbook for the supermarket with "Sugar Has 56 Names: A
Shopper's Guide." An e-book that's meant to travel with shoppers on
their smartphones or tablets, the guide, released this month, provides
consumers with a new nutrition label for hundreds of processed foods
that puts the spotlight on where it should be, he argues: sugar. From
soy milk to sausage, and Sara Lee to supermarket brands, the data
delineates the quality and quantity of sugar in products. Why the
distinction? Because, as the book's title indicates, sugar goes by
varied names - from fructose to fruit juice, and these derivatives
differ greatly in how they're processed by the body.
"By paying attention to the sugar portion of the label people can do
better in terms of making their own decisions," Lustig says. The
current nutrition label falls far short of that, he says, noting that
the label lacks a percent daily value for sugar, which makes it
difficult for people to calculate how much is too much.
Meanwhile, added sugar has crept into the food supply in everything
from bread to barbecue sauce, and often the ingredients are cloaked in
curious names and orders. For example, products list ingredients
according to quantity, but a product might include various forms of
sugar as its fifth through ninth ingredients, which, when added
together, render sugar worthy of the first listing. But by reading a
nutrition label, you can't distinguish between a food's inherent and
added sugar, the behemoth between you and good health.
At stake, Lustig argues, is less the issue of obesity than the risk
of metabolic diseases, which includes diabetes, heart disease, fatty
liver disease, cancer and dementia. And sugar, he says, is a big part of
the problem.
More details about the interaction of food substances on our
physiology are provided in the book - he also has a low-sugar,
high-fiber cookbook slated for release next year - but he leaves readers
with some overarching directives, like these six tips: don't go to the
supermarket hungry; shop along the perimeter of the supermarket where
fresh, whole foods abound; if it comes with a logo you've heard of, it's
been processed; avoid anything "partially hydrogenated" ("it will
outlive you," he writes); just because it says "whole grain" doesn't
mean it is, but if it doesn't say whole grain it isn't; if sugar is
listed among the first three ingredients, it's dessert.
What else? Start your supper with a salad free of sugary dressing to
fill up on fiber-rich food. Skip the cereal and granola bars and make a
fast, healthy breakfast by scrambling eggs or frying some bacon the
night before. Let your kids pack their (dessert-free) lunch with items
they choose so they're more likely to eat it.
For his part, there's "no such thing as a sugared beverage" in his
home. "We have milk, we have water and occasionally we have some
alcoholic drinks when we have friends over," he says. "There is no
reason to drink your calories." To ensure sufficient fiber, the Lustigs
have salad with every meal, which typically consists of a protein and
green vegetables and whole-grain bread instead of white rice, pasta and
potatoes. For dessert, it's whole fruit, except for weekends, when they
treat their daughters, ages 8 and 14, to something "a little more
elaborate," he says.
"We have to get back to dessert being once a week, not once a meal,"
Lustig says. As he writes, "Sugar is reward. Sugar is fun, but if every
meal is fun, then no meal is fun. And I promise, you won't be having
fun taking your insulin shots while you're on dialysis."
To change the food culture, and the food supply, he encourages
consumers to vote with their mouths and wallets. "We, as a society, have
to reduce availability, and we cannot do that right now without the food industry helping us do it," he says. "If you won't buy it, they won't sell it."
