Should sugar be taxed to reduce health problems like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes?

Should sugar be taxed to reduce health problems like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes? BBC News reports today that "Sugar is as damaging and addictive as alcohol or tobacco and should be regulated, claim US health experts. According to a University of California team, new policies such as taxes are needed to control soaring consumption of sugar and sweeteners. Prof Robert Lustig argues in the journal Nature for major shifts in public policy." And this is countered by the Industry body the Food and Drink Federation saying that "demonising" any particular foods is unhelpful. - Well that's true inasmuch as it's unhelpful to the Food and Drink Federation and its profits!

The Food and Drink Federation like to sell addictive food and drink to their customers. Addicts return to buy again the products to which they are addicted - to buy them over and over and over again. - I heard the subject of whether sugar should be taxed - because its heavy consumption is causing widespread damage to people's health - being discussed in the last minutes of Radio 4's PM programme today. I think the interviewer was Eddie Mair.

There was Prof Robert Lustig on the phone from America, supplying the voice of reason, and suggesting a heavy tax on sugar stuffs in order to produce a really significant reduction in consumption. And there was a guy from the Food and Drink Federation spouting his ritual rhetoric about sugar not being the baddie - many factors are associated with non-infectious diseases, not just sugar. Think of insufficient exercise, sedentary life-styles, etc. - We need a balanced diet, more exercise, etc etc. - There's no evidence that sugar causes disease... Burble Burble. Burble Burble.

Actually I wondered whether this robotic guy was deaf? - Prof Lustig (Eddie Mair kept calling him Dr Lustig) was explaining that there is actually a great deal of evidence that sugar is definitely being consumed in too high quantities, that it is addictive, that it is actually toxic in that it causes serious metabolic changes to the body - fatty liver, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, etc. - Prof Lustig knows his sugary science (listen to his lecture The Bitter Truth) and he knows his sugary statistics, but his unheeding interlocutor continued burbling about no evidence to support the taxation of sugar, and repeating that it's a matter of a balanced diet, no new evidence, burble, burble, burble. - I think I can hazard his idea of a balanced diet - the sort of balanced diet the Food Industry might find profitable to supply the products for: a Sugar-crammed, intensely sweet cereal breakfast with additive-laden fruit drink, balanced by a salt-laden sandwich for lunch and an over-salted processed ready meal for tea, with snacks throughout the day of biscuits (high in sugar and salt), crisps and maybe a token apple (high in pesticides) added to impress the 'healthy food' brigade.

Obesity is the 'main cause of cancer in non-smokers'. - Readers of my website will have known this for years...

Obesity 'main cause of cancer in non-smokers'

Extracts from the report in the Telegraph:

"Obesity has become the main cause of cancer in non-smokers, a global conference will hear next week.

The World Cancer Research Fund has spent five years collecting information about the effect bodyweight, diet and physical activity has on the risk of developing cancer and will present its findings on Thursday.

Smoking is still the single biggest cause of cancers, accounting for one third of the 300,000 cases in the UK each year.

But only one quarter of people smoke and research has found that for non-smokers being overweight or obese is the most important avoidable cause of cancer. In the UK, 12,000 people a year could avoid cancer if they maintained a healthy weight, according to Cancer Research UK.

Obesity is known to cause between nine and 15 per cent of breast cancers – more than defective genes.

A recent study found women who have gone through the menopause and are obese increase their risk of developing breast cancer by a third."

"Obesity is also known to increase the risk of bowel cancer, and accounts for between 11 per cent and 14 per cent of cases annually. Men who are obese have a 60 per cent increased risk of developing the disease.

Studies have also estimated that a quarter of kidney cancers, a third of oesophageal cancers and four in 10 womb cancers are caused by obesity.

There is evidence that obesity is linked to nine other rarer cancers.

Prof Tim Key, an epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK who is presenting at the conference in London next week, said: "Already the majority of people don't smoke and for them obesity maybe the most important identified cause of cancer."

He said eating a balanced diet was important to remain a healthy weight but there was little credible evidence that so-called superfoods such as garlic, broccoli, or berries actually prevented cancer."

My lip tends to curl when people advocate 'a balanced diet'. - Meaningless verbiage, in my opinion. - To avoid or to reduce obesity, the paramount advice should be to avoid eating salt and salty food, avoid dieting, eat good meals with plenty of fruit and fresh vegetables, AND ABOVE ALL, AVOID PRESCRIBED MEDICATION UNLESS IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU TAKE IT. - SO MANY PRESCRIPTION DRUGS CAUSE FLUID RETENTION AND THEREFORE CAUSE OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY.

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

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