Climate & Climate Politics
- Why I Got Arrested at the White House to Stop the Tar Sands Pipeline | NationofChange
- Climate Change is a real Economic Risk – World Bank President | Use Celsias.com – reduce global °Celsius
- There is no such thing as climate change denial (by John Cook)
Health Fitness & Diet
- Smoking and Sugar Can Lead To Death | EvolvingHealthConcepts
It took mainstream America decades to recognize that cigarettes could kill. The same may be said of sugar. There is a growing body of research that points to sugar as the proverbial smoking gun as it relates to modern disease. Although it may be common knowledge that eating sugar makes you fat and causes tooth decay, little do most folks know that it’s also correlated with cardio vascular disease (CVD), hypertension, diabetes II, and even some cancers.
This month in the New York Times Magazine, Gary Taubes summarizes this relationship. The article touches on the “cause of heart disease” historic battle between two rival points of view: “The Ansel Keys – It’s caused by dietary fat” vs. “John Yudkin – It’s caused by sugar”. Mr. Taubes also explains the process in which the liver converts sugar, specifically fructose, into fat which over time leads to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Last, he describes the process in which excess insulin levels, caused by insulin resistance, promote and even accelerate the growth of certain cancer cells, such as breast and colon cancers. Read the article in full here:
Is Sugar Toxic?
Early this week, NPR followed the Mr. Taubes article with a short post on their health blog:
Sugar May Be An Empty Nutrient, But Is It Poisonous?
The heart of the issue involves biochemistry. Calories may be the same, but the way they’re metabolized by the body is not. Robert Lustig MD, a nationally recognized expert in childhood obesity, provides an in-depth understanding of how our bodies process different types of sugar – glucose by our cells, fructose by our liver. In his lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” (below), it’s easy to get lost in his numerous and lengthy biochemical discussions, but it’s worth your time to hear his startling conclusions. Fructose, especially high-fructose corn syrup, when converted to fat by the liver, leads to obesity, diabetes, CVD, and hypertension.
- Sugar: The Bitter Truth – YouTube—
- Is Sugar Toxic? – NYTimes.com
- More from Dr. Lustig: The Skinny on Obesity – YouTube
I just ordered Dr. Robert H. Lustig’s book: Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease
Politics
Economics & The Economny
Still more on the Krugman – Chait – Scarborogh kerfuffle. Can’t wait to hear what Scarborogh slips in to his show tomorrow.
- Joe Scarborough Flunks Economics – Matthew O’Brien – The Atlantic
- The Deficit Hawk Delusion: What the Krugman-Scarborough Slugfest Is Really About – Derek Thompson – The Atlantic