Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/78488
wellness vitality condition strengthen fitness & health Can Sugar Make You Sick? nutrition diet stamina KERI LYMAN writer it used to be as simple as "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." Not anymore. Today, most physicians think that a spoonful of sugar is more likely to make you sick. Sugar is a major cause for concern among doctors and nutritionists right now. Some national players such as Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinolo- gist at the University of California, argue that eating a high amount of added sug- ars leads to obesity, diabetes, heart dis- ease, and even cancer, and that sugar is the major dietary crisis in the United States. Local experts hold a variety of opinions on the topic, but one thing is clear: they all think that we need to cut down on our sugar consumption to improve our health. The major problem is that, even though the average American eats approximately 130 pounds of added sugar per year, we often don't realize it. "Added sugar is hidden in food. It's in bread, condiments, and pasta sauces, as well as other processed foods. Therefore, the total amount of sugar we eat is higher than we think," says Dr. Jeanne Steppel-Reznik, an endocrinologist and the Director of Diabetes Care at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. She says one major reason there's so much added sugar in our food is that, during the late 1970s, food companies tried to cut down on 138 WellesleyWeston Magazine | fall 2012 BOUMENJAPET / D REAMSTIME . COM