“Both the Sugar Association and the Corn Refiners Association have gone out of their way in their attempts to exonerate sugar, whatever the source.” –Dr. Robert Lustig, in his book, Fat Chance, in the chapter entitled “The ‘Empire’ Strikes Back: Response of the Food Industry”
“Government cannot be conducted wholly in the dark; business can… That’s especially true of the food industry.” –William Dufty, in his book, Sugar Blues
“I thought only alcoholics get that disease!” That used to be true. Fatty liver disease used to be the disease of alcoholics. But now there is an epidemic in this country of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and it can be traced to one villain: excess sugar in the diet.
For this feature, the N’shei Chabad Newsletter interviewed seven people with intimate first-hand knowledge of the sugar epidemic.
Introducing Dr. Debbie Herbst, a highly respected doctor in Melbourne, Australia, who said: “Here in Australia, I often talk to school groups and start off by asking what most of them eat for breakfast. The most common breakfast is something that comes out of a box that has LOW FAT in bold letters and lots of check marks from the Heart Foundation. Most of these apparently healthy cereals contain large amounts of sugar, and if you’re a growing kid one bowl often isn’t enough.
So the kids bounce off to school full of energy, also known as sugar. By 10 a.m. though, their blood sugar levels drop. They start to crave food, particularly sweet food. They lose focus and often get distracted and misbehave. Schools wonder why kids can’t focus, and maybe the teachers themselves can’t focus after enjoying sugary coffee and pastries, eaten as they rush off to start their day.
Imagine if breakfast was a couple of eggs with vegetables and cheese, or grilled fish with a side of fresh salad and broccoli, or a bowl of steaming hot (real, not pre-chewed) steel-cut oats, with butter and salt and some fresh berries. Imagine if both students and staff partook of truly healthy breakfasts every day. Grades and behavior would definitely shoot up, as would job satisfaction…”
The NCN also interviewed Sara Lejderman, a cancer survivor who dropped all sugar from her diet. Some believe that sugar causes cancer, and helps it grow; that going off sugar will starve the cancer. Others argue against this. But the only ones who publicly state that until there are more conclusive studies, cancer patients should not be advised to get off sugar are those in the sugar industry.
Says Sara Lejderman: “I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2016, at the age of 43. Knowing I had cancer was such a traumatic shock that I changed my life radically and instinctively and immediately. And the life change was to quit sugar. It was a couple of months before I started reading a number of books by very serious and dedicated doctors and medical researchers who all agreed that sugar is poison, sugar is a drug, sugar causes cancer. The main book was Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig…”
Dr. Debbie Herbst describes a woman in her early 60s who was diagnosed with NAFLD. The woman is Zelda Pearl and she weighed 98 pounds upon diagnosis. The N’shei Chabad Newsletter spoke at length with Zelda Pearl, and includes Zelda’s shocking and eye-opening story in this comprehensive feature.
Zelda recalls: “The liver specialist kept assuring me that the biopsy was no big deal and that fatty liver disease is also not a big deal; it can be treated with daily medication. (He didn’t understand that to me, daily medication would be a very big deal.) I asked him, does this have anything to do with diet? And this liver specialist, a top doctor in a top hospital, replied: ‘No. Diet has nothing to do with your fatty liver. It’s totally random.’ I couldn’t bring myself to have the biopsy and possibly sign on for a lifetime of drugs. I also couldn’t believe that diet had nothing to do with it. Diet has something to do with everything. So I called our rofeh yedid and told him everything. He looked at all the numbers and asked one simple question: ‘What are you eating?’” You do NOT want to miss the rest of her true story.
Peri Gutman (nee Zahler) spoke to the N’shei Chabad Newsletter about sugar and the varied ways that it makes people sick, and about how her grandmother founded Zahler’s, which has become the premier source of kosher vitamins and supplements in the world today.
Linda Gutleizer of Apple Drugs and Health Food Center on Kingston Avenue spoke to the N’shei on this topic, concluding, and “… we need to learn to carefully read labels. Food manufacturers can easily throw words like ‘all natural’ on the label, or ‘low sugar’ or ‘low fat,’ and people think it’s good for them. Very often, it’s not. Read labels. We’re all better off cooking our own simple, healthy, real food, rather than buying highly processed manufactured products with misleading labels. Fat-free packaged foods are usually high in sugar, and sugar-free packaged foods are usually high in unhealthy fats or unhealthy artificial sweeteners. There’s no easy way out; we have to learn to prepare healthful meals for our family.”
Rivkah Krinsky, health coach, emphasizes that rather than weighing and measuring our food to find out when to stop eating, we can tune in to our bodies and know. She told the N’shei that “we have forgotten what normal food portions look like. Often a plate for a single person looks more like a serving platter. Eat to the point of feeling satiated, not until you feel overly full. There’s no need to weigh and measure your food. Learn to tune into your body’s own signals for when you’re full. Learn to eat in a way that nourishes and energizes you and you will maintain these habits for life.”
Rishe Deitsch, Senior Editor of the N’shei Chabad Newsletter, told COLLIVE, “For this comprehensive feature we have to thank our generous sponsors, Linda and Shloimy Gutleizer and Apple Drugs and Health Food Center; Peri Gutman and Zahler’s Advanced Nutrition; and Rivkah Krinsky, health coach.”
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Musia Gurevitch, social media director for the N’shei, says, “Follow us on Instagram and Facebook and enjoy sneak peeks, exclusive content, and sales. Social media has opened a brand new channel of communication between our staff and our readers. For example, we are featuring a sugar-free recipe that was shared via Facebook by Shana (@saladtherapy)….”
people don’t only eat because they are hungry.
a steak might make you feel full but it also might make you feel like you have no energy. so then you eat for energy and often the tendency is to have sugar.
it’s good to see my views that doctors can’t be trusted get clear confirmation
doctors tend to have little to no knowledge about nutrition
it isn’t taught in medical school
EDUCATE YOURSELF, DOC
are you kidding me? there is way too much information on why sugar is poison YES -poison for most people. There are many who can drink alcohol in small amounts without suffering addiction . BUT for many many others it destroys you. Same with sugar. READ INFORM LEARN and EDUCATE yourself. and BTW – lets not confuse the newfound emphasis on cuisine (which i personally don’t think is so terrible ) to focusing on HEALTH by informing us all that sugar is indeed extremely harmful to mostly everyone. FAYGIE FELLIG
with #17 . there is No need for sugar. Sugar is an addiction! if u stop eating sugar u won’t crave all the unhealthy foods. [and become obese, which causes all types of sicknesses!] . So . ; NO sugar!! especially for kids!!!!
I stopped eating sugar for two weeks and I feel amazing! Read the book: Eat Dirt. It explains why sugar is so bad for u and tells u how to cut the habit and what to eat in place of it. I don’t even crave sugar anymore, I never thought it would happen so fast.
if you eat too much sugar, you’ll gain fat and get sick. if you eat too much steak, you’ll gain fat and get sick. Only difference is that the steak will make you feel full for longer so you might end up eating less.
The answer is none. It serves no purpose, unless you’re starving to death.
It is very easy to mislead and scare jewish mothers who are busy caring about their children and family. It is also very irresponsible. Phrases like “sugar is poison” “sugar causes cancer” are extremely generic and an insult to the intelligence of the readers. There is much more to it than these short sentences.
The health fads that anash is lately being lured into are a big chilul hashem.
This is a ridiculous article. Sugar is not the enemy. Moderation in all things esp food. Since we left NY and moved to a state where being healthy and fit is the norm we both have lost weight, look great and never diet. It’s the NY culture to over eat. Blame yourself not the food.
“But the only ones who publicly state that until there are more conclusive studies, cancer patients should not be advised to get off sugar are those in the sugar industry. ” This is just not true. I am an oncologist and we do not tell patients to get off sugar. We want patients to eat healthy. And that can include sugar, in moderation. Please look at the website for the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), which says: “A myth says: “Sugar feeds cancer.” But the truth us that sugar doesn’t make cancer grow faster. All cells, including cancer cells, depend on… Read more »
why assume there will be no science?
give it a try…
CAN’T WAIT TO READ THE ARTICLE-MY NEWSLETTER HASN’T COME YET, BUT I CUT OUT SUGAR OVER 6 MONTHS AGO AND MY M.S. SYMPTOMS ARE MUCH BETTER NOW BARUCH HASHEM!
Best $25 I spent this year was subscribing to a year of Nshei
Eat fruits to satisfy your sugar cravings and keep you healthy.
Food is an addiction and a way to cope with life’s stress and pain. Food businesses will keep making high fat sugar products in enticing ways to keep people hooked so they can profit from it.
When writing these articles it would be nice to have some real data and not just anecdotes.
that the body reacts to artificial sweeteners the exact same way it reacts to real sugar. I was actually told better to put one teaspoon of real sugar in your coffee than 3 teaspoons of “Equal” or whatever other brand.
America is hands down the worst for this. Most foreigners who come to this country gain weight quickly and steadily often without realizing why. Virtually everything in this country is sweetened. Even things that should be savory, like bread.
healthy alternative?
Maybe Labels of grams of sugar should be in front of Packages instead of the back…
when baking, i substitute molasses or honey, i think they might be much healthier alternatives…and i try to avoid store bought baked goods…
Thank you Nshei Chabad Newsletter!