SugarScience News Archive
October 28, 2019
Sugary Drink Ban Tied to Health Improvements at Medical Center
In recent years, hospitals and medical centers across the country have stopped selling sugar-sweetened beverages in an effort to reduce obesity and diabetes. Now a new study carried out at the University of California, San Francisco, has documented the health impact of a soda sales ban on its employees. Ten months after a sales ban went into effect, U.C.S.F. workers who tended to drink a lot of sugary beverages had cut their daily intake by about half. By the end of the study period, the group had, on average, reduced their waist sizes and belly fat, though they did not see any changes in their body mass index. Those who cut back on sugary beverages also tended to see improvements in insulin resistance, a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes.
January 22, 2019
Communications recommendations for sugar-sweetened beverage-free zones
In the ongoing battle against childhood obesity, institutions are increasingly restricting the sale, and even the consumption, of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on their premises. The campaign, developed by the Healthy Active Arkansas initiative, is being implemented through a unique collaboration. Jenna Davidson, director for the Office of Student Wellness and Development, Alicia Landry, Employee Wellness coordinator and assistant professor, and Lauren Allinson, campus dietitian, collaborated to create this campus action plan.
December 16, 2018
Here’s How A Colorado Dentist Became Big Sugar’s Worst Nightmare
The cardboard box looked unassuming, but as soon as Cristin Kearns opened it, she knew she was onto something juicy. Inside were documents donated to Colorado State University’s library by a corporation that didn’t exist anymore, one whose local beet sugar factories had shut down by the 1980s. Decades after those closures, in 2009, Kearns flipped open the top manila folder. The first sheet of paper was a 1975 tip sheet from a sugar trade group to sugar company executives, marked “CONFIDENTIAL.” It gave instructions on how to talk to the press about a pro-sugar series of scientific studies — research funded by the trade group, a fact that had not been disclosed at the time.
September 24, 2018
UCA Launches Rethink Your Drink Campaign
The University of Central Arkansas is launching the Rethink Your Drink campaign on campus during September to educate students, faculty and staff on the harmful effects of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages and to encourage healthier beverage options. The campaign, developed by the Healthy Active Arkansas initiative, is being implemented through a unique collaboration. Jenna Davidson, director for the Office of Student Wellness and Development, Alicia Landry, Employee Wellness coordinator and assistant professor, and Lauren Allinson, campus dietitian, collaborated to create this campus action plan.
August 3, 2017
Are You a Carboholic? Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough
Eating a little of a tasty dessert or a little pasta or bread fails to satisfy me. Rather it ignites a fierce craving for more, to eat it all and then some. I find it easier to avoid sugar, grains and starches entirely, rather than to try to eat them in moderation. The question is why. To begin to answer that question requires understanding that researchers are generally divided not only on what causes obesity, but also why we have cravings and often fail to stay on diets.
March 30, 2017
Guidelines on reducing sugar in food published for industry
Public Health England (PHE) has published the technical guidelines setting out the approaches the food industry can take to reduce the amount of sugar children consume through the everyday foods that contribute the most to intakes. The guidelines include the recommended sugar limits for 9 food groups including biscuits, breakfast cereals and yogurt. Also published is the 2015 baseline.
December 5, 2016
Sugar content of fizzy drinks alarmingly high
The sugar content in carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages was found to be up to 52.8 grams per 330 mL can, or 12 teaspoons, according to a study by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
November 17, 2016
How Worried Should We Be About Sugar?
Sugar is a major culprit in diseases such as obesity, diabetes and dementia—and because it's in almost everything we consume, Dr. Robert Lustig says it's time to get more proactive.
November 3, 2016
Putting Sugary Soda Out of Reach
Can public health officials force Americans to break their soda habit? The answer may come soon from the University of California, San Francisco, a health sciences center that has more than 24,000 employees on its sprawling campus. Last year, UCSF removed sugar-sweetened beverages from every store, food truck and vending machine on its campus. Even popular fast-food chains on the campus, like Subway and Panda Express, have stopped selling Sprite, Coca-Cola and their sugary brethren at the university’s request.
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September 29, 2016
Are Weak Policies on Added Sugars Putting a Generation of Children at Risk?
It's not exactly breaking news that Americans eat too much sugar. Federal policies are currently falling short in several important ways. And the food industry, which helped to engineer this policy shortfall, is exploiting it with marketing aimed squarely at kids especially children of color.
August 22, 2016
Seven Healthy Foods with High Levels of Sugar
Cakes, chocolates and soft drinks are well known for containing large amounts of sugar, but there is a whole range of other products often seen as healthy that contain equally high levels of the sweet stuff.
KUTV.com August 11, 2016
Ask the Expert: Sugar & Diabetes
With 115 million American adults (around 40%) suffering from either prediabetes or type 2 diabetes chancer are you know someone affected. That's why two artists are taking a road trip to bring awareness to the disease.
March 19, 2015
Audio: The Bitter Battle over Sugar Labeling
A lot of unlikely food products include more sugar than occurs naturally -- including deli meats, bread and trail mix. Now the FDA wants labels to specify how much sugar is added — and that has the food industry up in arms. Why doesn't it want consumers to know?
March 11, 2015
UCSF researchers uncover tainted decades-old studies on tooth decay
Researchers at UC San Francisco recently exposed a conflict of interest between the private sector and federal government on the effect of sugar on teeth. The researchers found documents from the 1960s and '70s that showed a coordinated effort to cover up findings showing how reduced sugar consumption would prevent tooth decay.
November 12, 2014
Website Explores Sugar's Effects on Health
Most people know that too much sugar can be bad for you. But now a dozen scientists at three universities have started a new website called SugarScience.ucsf.edu to educate the public on precisely how too much sugar can make people sick.
The Bigger Picture Project February 5, 2014
Mobilizing Youth to Speak Out on Sugar and Diabetes
The UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations helps combat the rising epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes by empowering youth to change the conversation about the disease and work to change the social and environmental factors that have led to its spread.
February 3, 2014
Sugar not only makes you fat, it may make you sick
In recent years, sugar - more so than fat - has been receiving the bulk of the blame for our deteriorating health. Most of us know we consume more sugar than we should. Let's be honest, it's hard not to.
New York Times February 27, 2013
It's the Sugar, Folks
Rob Lustig, MD, MSL, discusses his work on diabetes. Sugar may not be the only problem with the Standard American Diet, but it’s fast becoming clear that it’s the major one.
Mother Jones December 1, 2012
Big Sugar's Sweet Little Lies
A growing body of research suggests that sugar and its nearly chemically identical cousin, high-fructose corn syrup, may very well cause diseases that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, and that these chronic conditions would be far less prevalent if we significantly dialed back our consumption of added sugars.
CBS - 60 Minutes April 1, 2012
Is Sugar Toxic?
Kimber Stanhope, PhD, RD, a nutrition scientist, shows in her study that it is possible to increase risk factors for cardiovascular disease in healthy young people simply by feeding them a diet heavy in added sugars for two weeks.
CNN April 20, 2010
Sweet Tooth? News That's Hard to Live With
Miriam Vos, MD, MSPH, finds that a no-sugar diet changes cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease in the kids she treats at her medical center.
