What if you heard that your food was contaminated with a toxin? It?s lurking in many things you eat every day; foods that are in your kitchen right now. It?s so insidious, that not only do you often fail to notice the substance, but when you do notice it, you actively enjoy it. Indeed, there is a high chance that, without knowing it, you?ve become addicted to this poison. And slowly, over time, it?s killing you.According to a handful of nutritionists, that terrible image is, in fact, a reality. The toxic substance in question? Sugar.
The most vocal of the new anti- sugar nutritionists is Robert Lustig, a leading expert in childhood obesity and a specialist in hormone disorders at the University of California. Back in 2009, Lustig posted a video called Sugar: The Bitter Truth on YouTube, in which he outlines his hypothesis - backed up, he says, by a number of studies - that sugar is at the root of a wide range of chronic and often fatal health conditions associated with western lifestyles: obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and various cancers. The video has now racked up 3.8 million views: pretty big numbers for a 90-minute lecture by a university academic.
Driven by Lustig and others of the same mind, the anti-sugar movement is now pushing into the mainstream. And it could mean the end of our 250-year-old love affair with sugar.
The comparison that scares food industry executives is one being made increasingly often: with tobacco. Food companies that sell heavily sugared products, runs the argument, are knowingly selling a product that causes the death of its users - just like the tobacco companies. Don Barrett, the lawyer who took on the big US tobacco companies and forced a $200 billion (Dh734.6bn) settlement out of them, is now targeting Big Food. Barrett says the food companies must start clearly labelling their products for sugar content and not hide behind vague, confusing euphemisms for sugar, such as the commonly used "evaporated cane juice".
Now, the food companies are paying attention. Just two examples, from two food companies in the firing line: in 2012 PepsiCo launched Pepsi Next, which has 60 per cent less sugar than standard Pepsi. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola introduced a smaller can in the UK. This comes after studies that show that drinking sodas can change the way our muscles metabolise energy and raise our risk of diabetes.
So is this really the end for sugar? Don?t hold the farewell party: Coca-Cola still sells 1.7 billion servings of its product every day and the New York mayor Michael Bloomberg recently failed in an attempt to ban the sale of supersized sodas in the city. But there?s little doubt that our unthinking love affair with sugar is coming to an end; to be replaced with a more considered, and quite possibly a more regulated, relationship. Prepare for a less sugared future. Or stock up on chocolate now. Just don?t be surprised if, one day soon, you find yourself huddled in a corner at the office with other candy eaters, hiding your habit from the disapproving glare of colleagues and friends.
? David Mattin is the lead strategist at trendwatching.com
artslife
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
