Earlier this year, a study was published in the Journal of Nutrition that, at first glance, seems to deliver good news: Kids are consuming less sugar, mainly because they’re drinking fewer sugary soft drinks (even as such drinks remain their number one source of sugar).
But as famed nutritionist Marion Nestle pointed out in a recent blog post, the study isn’t exactly innocent. It was funded by The Sugar Association, after all. Two of its authors are employed by that trade group, while the other three have significant industry ties.
The Sugar Association would dearly love to demonstrate that sugar intake has nothing to do with weight gain or its consequences. Its logic: sugar intake is declining while body weights continue to rise. But here’s the key: “Despite these declines, intakes remain above the DGA recommendations.” Yes they are, and we would all do better eating less sugar.
Amen to that – a sentiment we return to regularly here on our own blog owing to sugar’s impact on oral and whole body health alike. So we thought the time was ripe to highlight some of our past posts on sugar, the damage it can do, and – most importantly – how you can reduce the amount of it in your everyday diet.
- Sugar: “It’s Not Nutrition…It’s a Toxin”
- Sugar Lies: The Bitter Truth
- Our Sugar-Saturated Environment (and What You Can Do About It)
- Simple Math: Adding Sugar May Mean Subtracting Minerals & Vitamins
- Sugar Rots Your Teeth but Might Also Take a Bite from Your Life
- To Kick the Sugar Habit
- More Reason to Kick the Sugar Habit (and More Tips on How to Do It)