Stop eating so much sugar, American Heart Assn. says [Updated]

You may have read about the looming sugar shortage. Apparently, because a lot more corn is being shunted toward ethanol production, corn syrup for sweetening processed food and beverages has gotten pricier. Meanwhile, there are strict quotas on how much cane and beet sugar (the sugar we buy in white bags) the country can import.

Faced with this frightening, imminent crisis, several food and beverage companies and trade groups wrote a wake-up-call letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary on Aug. 5 in which it warned that if USDA forecasts are correct, "the United States will end the next fiscal year with less than 13 days' worth of sugar on hand, unless imports are increased…our nation will virtually run out of sugar." And Lord knows that would be terrible, because we don't get nearly enough of it.

As coincidence would have it, today the American Heart Assn. came out with a scientific statement saying we're eating way too much sugar and it's doing a number on our health. The statement, which was published in the journal Circulation, notes that we're eating, on average, 22.2 teaspoons of added sugars daily and that there's evidence that this habit makes us fatter and raises our risk for heart disease and diabetes. It recommends a "prudent upper limit" of added sugar intake of about 100 calories a day for a woman and 150 calories a day for a man. Definitely no more than half the discretionary calories we may have at our disposal each day.

(I just exceeded my daily upper limit in a moment of madness involving two strawberry, iced Pop Tarts--which I usually don't eat, but I did today, and there you go. They contained 34 grams of added sugar –at 4 calories per gram, that's 136 calories right there.)

For a take on the AHA's announcement, go to New York University professor Marion Nestle's Food Politics blog. Among other things, she writes: "This is the first time the AHA has seriously weighed in on sugar.  I find this especially interesting because the AHA has a long history of endorsing sugary cereals (as I discuss in Food Politics and also in What to Eat)."

Above Nestle's comment is an image of a package of Kellogg's Smart Start cereal with an American Heart Assn. heart-check mark in the lower left corner. "This product has sugars of one kind or another listed 9 times in the ingredient list," Nestle continues. "The AHA gets paid for such endorsements.  Let's hope the new recommendation encourages the AHA to stop doing this."

(Smart Start has 14 grams of sugar a cup = 56 calories of sugar, so it's a heck of a lot better than the above-mentioned toaster pastry, but -- point taken.)

An earlier post by Nestle provides a primer on sugar quotas. If that's not enough, you can watch her explaining the sugar shortage on "The Colbert Report."

[Updated 4:10 p.m.] And here's what Michael Jacobson, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, had to say about the AHA's pronouncement: "I hope that the AHA's new report on sugars ends the debate over whether high-fructose corn syrup is especially evil. The AHA strongly recommends, as the federal government did several years ago, that Americans eat much less HFCS and regular sugar." 

Finally, is the country really going to run out of sugar? According to an L.A. Times article by Jerry Hirsch, "analysts say fears of empty supermarket shelves are overblown and that the gloomy outlook of big food companies is really part of a larger effort to pressure the government into dismantling sugar trade barriers."

-- Rosie Mestel

Photo: Less sugar? Maybe it wouldn't be so calamitous.

Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Get a Clue]

First of all there is no corn shortage. The United States over-produces corn every year. Last year there was three times more corn in storage (unused) than was used to make ethanol. More corn goes into the production of corn chips than is used to produce ethanol in this country. So you would be more correct blaming the apparent sugar shortage on nachos than ethanol. But you would still be incorrect. The reason there is less corn this year is because farmers planted less, because even with all the government subsidies there simply isn't that much money in corn right now.

[Frank Cook]

Sugar Blues, published in 1975, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Blues: this is very old news.

[Joe Cool]

Americans are eating too much, period.

[Micah Carter]

Health problems from sugar are rampant. Diabetes is a huge problem....it is sad that they are barely coming up with this stuff now.

Look at the rate of obesity literally at 70%...what else you think could be causing that?

Everyone eats sugar in most of their foods...we need to limit the junk being sold...everything has become a disguise created by the food companies made to lure our taste buds but ultimately leading us into the hospital.

health problems from sugar

[Don't believe it]

CORN SHORTAGE?? Isn't corn like the "penny" of the agriculture crop? We have huge amounts laying around that nobody wants. Watch the documentary King Corn, heck most of the corn produced in the USA is not for human consumption...let's see... last year it was oil and lemon juice concentrate, now it's going to be sugar and corn. Someone out there has it in for lemonade and Fritos.

Well...I think we are due for a coffee bean, wheat, and shark attack "crisis" next year. Aren't these topics are due to come around in the yearly "crisis" cycle?

Let's hear what you guys think the next (cough, cough) "crisis" will be....

[Bjorn]

How about the food companies stop cramming HFCS into every last little product they sell? Why is there corn syrup in crackers, yogurt, bread, ketchup, etc., etc.?! It seems like it's in everything. I'm starting to buy a lot more "organic" foods simply to avoid the corn syrup.

If there really is a shortage of fake sugar, which seems really hard to believe with the subsidies, then get rid of the dumb tariffs.

[Dirk Poppen]

Current corn prices are around $3.25, below the cost of production. This year's corn crop will be very large, due to good weather conditions. It's time to quit following the herd & put some independent thought into the incorrect notion that ethanol is responsible for raising the costs of all food products made from corn. Do you realize that the government subsidizes corn prices when they fall below the cost of production? Is it okay for farmers to have a market for their product and make a reasonable amount of money for their efforts?

[Louise]

You wrote 100 calories of sugar is the limit, and I thought, "fine, I stay at that level" until I realized I consume 100 GRAMS of sugar a day! But subtract out the small banana, medium peach, 20 raisins, a medium tomato and 2 cups of frozen berries, what does that leave? That adds up to only about 50 g of sugar - 25 g over, so at least it's only twice as much as the limit. Something to shoot for . . .

[Eduardo]

I agree with the previous poster. There are two elephants in the middle of the room, and they're absolutely not ethanol, tortilla chips, or anything of the sort. They are HFCS and industrial feeds for feedlot cattle.

Re: HFCS it's far and away the main thing driving up the price of human- grade corn and diverting it away from traditional and generally healthy foods, such as tortilla chips, corn on the cob, corn bread, corn flakes, etc.

Instead of those, HFCS is primarily used to produce borderline-poisonous empty calorie foods - hostess twinkies, sugary sodas, oversweet breakfast cereals and the like. Few if any of these have real value as food: consider the contrast between corn on the cob versus hyper-sweet, artificially flavored, caffeine-loaded, obesity-causing, plastic-bottled soda pop. This stuff is a constant assault on our health and wellbeing - and it's outcome in terms of medical costs, dead/crippled Americans, etc. are plain to see.

The other elephant is the astounding amount of corn that it takes to make industrial food for feedlot cattle. The ratio is over 30 to 1; that is, it takes 12,000 calories of corn to make one smallish 300-calorie steak. And even then, it's not an even remotely-good steak: by and large feedlot cattle beef is extremely watery as a result of antibiotic and growth hormone usage, in addition to lacking in taste and texture.

Those are the real issues here - compared to them, ethanol and tortilla chips are nothing more than a canard. Unfortunately - I wish that indeed ethanol, and tortilla chip production were crowding HFCS and feedlot cattle out of our food supply, but regretably that's just not the case.

Unfortunately there is no basis for the

[Robert NO longer in LA]

LOTS of interesting material on HYPOGLYCEMIC issues (how the ol body USES the crap) and some people's bizarre behavior. One dietician changed her 'problem kid's' diet from sugar/HFCS and dairy, to more healthy fare; 180 degree change, in behavior, grades, etc. MANY people don't realize their 'problems' can stem from sugar/HFCS, to dairy (lactose), to wheat, bread, flour (gluten).....each of us IS different, in so many ways. IF, you can get checked out, by an authority, rather than a profiteer, you may be surprised how EASY it can be to modify some behaviors, that truly HARM you...without you KNOWING! Bon Appetite.

[dave]

While reading the article I was laughing. I barely eat anything with sugar since I don't have sweet tooth. I sure feel lucky.

[Dave Gillie]

IF the USA didn't have such harsh laws against sugar imports, this would not be a problem.

Imported sugar is not only cheaper, it's produced much more enviormentally friendly. Besides, Americans deserve the freedom to buy sugar from whomever they choose, this is NOT the USSR!!

[RM - ProActive News Room]

If anything this article shares the knowledge that to0 much sugar is not good for your health. Everything in moderation is the key and since we tend to "super size" everything, it makes sense that we are eating too much off everything.

Thanks for the article!

RM

[Ian Gilbert]

Hurray for Marion Nestle! The Heart Association should stop selling its credibility to food processors. The Association's website has a complete list of products in its "food certification" program -- including the sugar-added juices that the recent statement says are no-nos.

Washington dC

[Joe Marciano]

How is it possible that this report could have been researched and the level of comment be made with no one mentioning the problem with mercury contamination of high fructose corn syrup? That is the reason it appears that many manufacturers have started switching back to sugar. Certainly you may want to ask Snapple or even Ocean Spray who was ahead of the report that identified the problem. Or is there some reason you do not want to mention mercury? Perhaps this is a test for the moderator? If not, feel free to leave this and the previous sentence out.

[kjackson]

I saw a blog about nutrition and obesity in the US recently that was really interesting: http://iconsinmedicine.wordpress.com/ The organization behind it (www.iconsinmed.org) seems to be working to provide consultations for specialty care in areas that don't have the doctors they need - seems like it really could help fix the problem.

[Victor]

How idiotic can this be. One can no longer find mayonaise without sugar, mustard without sugar, hot dogs without sugar, even water is now being bottled with sugar...that is high fructose corn syrup and they are telling people to stop using sugar. Please explain how I can accomplish this

[Jere Krischel]

Forget just sugar -> let's talk about the evils of carbohydrates and the obesity causing low-fat diets the AHA has endorsed for years.

A quick primer:

1) Only one thing makes our fat cells store fat -> insulin.
2) Only one thing rises insulin levels -> high blood sugar.
3) Only one thing rises blood sugar levels -> carbohydrates.

The entire obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic disease epidemics over the past 30 years can be laid at the feet of the AHA, who convinced us all to eat less fat and more carbs. A pox on their house!

[David]

Going cold turkey can kill a Goliath of a sweet tooth. I adopted a low sugar, low starch diet proposed by Laurent Bannock (nutritionist in Santa Fe, laurentbannock.com). It took about nine months to lose all interest in sweetness. Now, sweetness is undesirable; for example, I make carrot juice, but I wish it weren't so sweet. Being vegetarian and avoiding sweets means food courts have nothing to offer, and their emanations are as unappealing, to me, as those of a tire shop. Prepared/processed foods usually have sugar added and are off my list. I am General Mills' worst nightmare. Pure cranberry juice is the only fruit juice for me. If I want a spritzer, then I mix it with sparkling water. (I used to consume a 1/2 gallon of OJ -- and mix another batch.)

The middle-age battle of the bulge is won. If I can do it, then you can do it. I don't have to flagellate myself because hunger is under wraps; I don't even get hungry when I exercise.

Recent studies indicate that out-of-line blood lipids' damage extends to some pathology underlying dementia, and I don't want to go there. My fasting triglycerides went from high, a familial trait, to minuscule. Blood vessels: heal thyselves. The AHA/AMA have perennially failed their duty when it comes to diet.

[Robert NO longer in LA]

Should AHA now stand for American Hookers Association -PAID for 'services' like a Spitzer's girl? ALL of America has become corrupted before our great god, the DOLLAR. Could be why we never give $$$ to American Red Cross, United Way, etc. NO ONE TO TRUST. (Go ahead, and google 'trust.')

[Natalie]

'They Say' America is running out of sugar? No wonder. I think they use it in nearly Every Single food on the shelf.

I am of the opinion that food standards in the USA need to be re-evaluated.