MENSHEALTH.CO.UK MEN’S HEALTH 77evidence to support his claim[s]”. Despite
writing Pure, White and Deadly – a 1972
bestseller that claimed over-consumption
of sugar was killing humans – Yudkin
found himself dropped from scientific
conferences. He died In 1995, his
contributions largely forgotten.
Between 1975 and 1980 the Sugar
Research Foundation spent more
than $2m in today’s money on real
propaganda that was designed, as its
internal memos explain, “to maintain
research as a main prop of the industry’s
defence”. Incredibly, representatives
from companies such as Coca-Cola
would vet any proposed study before it
was conducted. Big Sugar’s influence
continued when, in the ’70s, the Sugar
Association established the Food &
Nutrition Advisory Council. Its most
influential member was Frederick Stare –
founder and chairman of the department
of nutrition at the Harvard School of
Public Health – who recommended
putting sugar in your coffee “three or
four times a day” and called Coca-Cola
“a healthy between-meals snack”. By
the early ’70s Stare was testifying before
Congress that sugar was healthy, while
accepting funding from Coca-Cola,
Kellogg’s, Nestlé, General Foods and
the Sugar Association itself. A brief
awareness of tooth decay aside, on
both sides of the Atlantic sugar was let
off the nutritional hook and the finger
pointed at other culprits. Milk, meat
and egg farmers suffered, but producers
of the confectionery bars whose sales
subsequently exploded enjoyed a bonanza.REFINED TASTES
Today, perceptions of sugar are changing,
but glacially so. Until last year, the UK
government’s Eatwell Guide included
a red can of cola, suggesting sugary fizzy
drinks could form part of a healthy diet.
“There is so much wrong with this I hardly
know where to start,” says Zoe Harcombe,
who has a PhD in public health nutrition
and has spent 20 years examining the
causes of obesity. “The government says
68% of our calories should come from
starchy foods – the things that make us
fat. And junk food, they say, should make
up almost 10% of daily calories. I’d argue
it should be none at all.”
“Put simply, sugar wreaks havoc on the
body,” says Matt Plowman of Cardiff Sports
Nutrition. “As well as being addictive,
sugar dampens your immune system,fat diet,” says a spokesperson from PHE.
“Unsaturated fats help lower cholesterol,
but it is the ones in cream, butter and
fatty cuts of meat we need to watch out
for.” To declare outright that sugar is
the enemy of good health, the same
spokesperson said, would be “unhelpful”.
As author Gary Taubes explains in
The Case Against Sugar, our nutrition
has been under the influence since at
least early 1944 when the sugar industryREFINED
STRENGTH
“The one time sugar
can be useful is after
intense exercise,”
says Plowman. “Eat
it then and you’ll
open up the muscles
to absorb protein,
creatine and
carnitine.” Here’s
what to pack for the
gym and what
to leave at home
HIT!
HARIBO
Glucose is the
best form of sugar,
and it’s what our
muscles burn during
a workout, meaning
they’re ready to
re-absorb it like
a sponge. For best
results, opt for
Tangfastics – maybe
not a sharer bag.MISS!
HONEY
Fructose is difficult
for the liver to
process and after
a certain point it
turns into fat, as
well as dampening
the metabolism.
Basically, you’ll
have to hit the gym
all over again.HIT!
GLUCOSE GELS
In most cases we
have plenty of fat
to metabolise into
energy, but it isn’t
the most effective
way during aerobic
workouts. Glucose
is a better fuel, but
we can only store so
much, so give yourself
a top up mid-run.MISS!
ISOTONIC DRINKS
Unless you’ve been
running for over an
hour, stick to protein
shakes. You can
rehydrate from
shorter sessions
by sipping water to
avoid the hidden
sugars on top of
those in your shake.began paying a dietary scientist named
Ancel Keys. Keys rapidly became the
noisiest proponent of the hypothesis that
saturated fat caused heart disease. His
professional adversary was the British
nutritionist John Yudkin, who by 1957
had begun to question the notion that
saturated fat was the primary cause
of cardiovascular disease. Through
the ’50s and beyond, Keys attacked
Yudkin’s low-carb recommendations as
propaganda insisting the other man had
“no theoretical basis or experimentalTHE
GREAT
SUGAR
SWINDLE
SUGAR IS A MORE
LETHAL DOSE THAN
DAILY INDULGENCE