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Danger: Sugar More Toxic Than Thought

By Marcella Glenn

Sugar is toxic according to an incendiary article that sparked concern and debate from experts to the average home.

It's a glucose-fructose combination that add extra calories to our diet, Gary Taubes in the New York Times Magazine article "Is Sugar Toxic?" but its consumption is an independent risk factor for heart disease, high blood pressure and many common cancers.

The liver, as Taubes explained, is where sugar's damage begins. "In animals, or at least in laboratory rats and mice, it's clear that if the fructose hits the liver in sufficient quantity and with sufficient speed, the liver will convert much of it to fat. This apparently induces a condition known as insulin resistance, which is now considered the fundamental problem in obesity, and the underlying defect in heart disease and in the type of diabetes, type 2, that is common to obese and overweight individuals. It might also be the underlying defect in many cancers."

The recommended daily allowance of sugar is about six-to-nine teaspoons of sugar a day, for an average person, CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton . It's estimated that the average American is consuming about 90 pounds of sugar a year.

The high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, fructose, in theory, does the same amount of damage to body cells.

Sugar stimulates our pancreas to release insulin which stimulates the liver. If it's not used as fuel for the body, it turns into fat. Years of consuming sugar can lead to the pancreas being worn out and diabetes.

Marcella Glenn is a freelance writer, blogger, novelist, and former business editor. She looks forward to hearing from you. Scribble a note to her through NewsBlaze, or her blog at critiqueandwrite.blogspot.com