Genius Foods

starring roles. The most concentrated source of
carbohydrates is refined sugar, which is now added to
everything—from seemingly innocuous juices, crackers,
and condiments to more blatant offenders like soft drinks.
Even when we try our best to avoid these simple sources of
carbohydrates, they can be hidden most inconspicuously.
Anti-obesity researcher and crusader Robert Lustig has
identified fifty-six unique terms food manufacturers use to
disguise sugar—making it difficult, if not altogether
impossible, to spot added sugar on ingredient lists unless
you are the most diligent of sleuths. Here are just a few of
the many names for sugar: cane juice, fructose, malt,
dextrose, honey, maple syrup, molasses, sucrose, coconut
sugar, brown rice syrup, fruit juice, lactose, date sugar,
glucose solids, agave syrup, barley malt, maltodextrin, and
corn syrup.
But it’s not just overt forms of sugar that have achieved
prominence in the modern diet. Grains like wheat, corn, and
rice, tubers like potatoes, and modern sweet fruits are all
cultivated for maximum yield of starch and sugar. Though
these starches don’t look or taste like sugar, they are simply
chains of glucose, stored in energy-dense tissue in the seeds
of plants. (At this point you may be wondering if this book
is going to banish these forms of food from your life
forever, and the answer is no. In later chapters, we’ll
demonstrate how to consume starchy foods with higher-
energy density in a way that benefits you as opposed to
making you fat and sick.)
Scientists believe that in the preagricultural past, we were
consuming close to 150 grams of fiber a day. Today, we’re