Day 48

Debate and Action

We have learnt through history that science is constantly in need of updating as we discover more and more and understand that some things we thought of as a solid truth don’t sustain under more developed microscopes and investigation. In truth we can only really ever have our own experience of something, and I am certainly having that.

It has become very obvious on this trip that a lot of discussion and arguing back and forth goes on about this sugary topic. It stirs a real response and people are quite divided on the issue (especially those that have ties to the beverage companies). I understand how important these discussions are in moving knowledge forward accurately and ultimately most people want to do the right thing and make sure information is released in the correct manner. Sadly I think this comes at the expense of action sometimes and human beings suffer greatly. My time spent in the Aboriginal communities or with Larry and his R rated tooth extraction are examples of sugar having an effect right now while stalling goes on in academic circles. Without making too big a comparison, this is what occurred with Big Tobacco, where companies delayed information and medical knowledge for profit motifs and millions of people died in the process. I know sugar is in a slightly different basket but people are already suffering because of it. I hope we learn from the past and make sure we get on our bikes and prevent more unnecessary pain.

Breakfast was an egg and salad sandwich and a chai latte (7 teaspoons)

I then had a piece of lemon bread and a strawberry NAKED smoothie (15 combo)

A cup of tea with 2 sugars on the plane

I bottle of coconut water (4) and some trail mix ( a real sugar trap with 10 teaspoons in a standard cup full)

Dinner was amazing sushi with a sweet unagi sauce (2 teaspoons)

Tomorrow is going to be terrific. I am meeting with 2 of the world’s leading researchers of fructose who have been conducting a 10 year study that began in 2005. They are both strong believers in getting a message out there now especially in regards to children. A report was released here in the USA only 3 days ago which said that 1 in 10 kids here now have fatty liver disease, something previously unheard of outside of alcoholics. Fatty liver disease is one of the main results of excess fructose. A real world example perhaps of the growing impacts of sugar. Do we act now or do we let that number increase? For Australia, the time has come to have a strong look at how we advertise to children and what we are providing for them in our school cafeterias.