It's amazing, but true. UCSF scientists have suddenly hit upon news that could really impact the American diet. They have found that the sugar industry has been a villain. It has tried to let off sugar as the cause of heart disease, but has funded research that has banged public health, according to a study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine.
It is only now that the American Heart Association agrees that there is a link between sugar bursts and heart problems. Even as public health advocates are crying out against sweet beverages, it is disclosed that American Beverage Association spent $10 million to defeat attempts to pass soda taxes.
Back in the 1960s, the sugar industry took on the gauntlet of a "major program" to shift the blame on cholesterol and fat as the cause of heart disease, not sugar. The Sugar Research Foundation sponsored research by Harvard scientists. The study got published in prestigious journals that influenced the thinking of scientists as well as the National Institutes of Health.
"It was a very smart thing the sugar industry did, because review papers, especially if you get them published in a very prominent journal, tend to shape the overall scientific discussion," co-author Stanton Glantz said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration permitted sugar consumption, while most people stuck to low-fat diets from the 1970s. Hence, while the per capita sugar consumption shot up to the skies, obesity just grew too.
However, the UCSF researchers explain that the current attempt is not to link sugar with heart disease, but only to point out how a big bucks industry can affect the scientific process.
"I thought I had seen everything but this one floored me," said Marion Nestle of New York University. "It was so blatant. And the 'bribe' was so big."
Every year, about 610,000 people in the US are killed by heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It is clear now that the culprits, obesity as well as diabetes, are both powered by too much sugar.
