Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Sugar is exceptionally toxic and leads to heart disease, metabolic syndrome and cancer — it can even be equated with addictive drugs like cocaine, according to prominent medical experts. Add to this the fact that genetically modified (GM) sugar beets now dominate the U.S. market, a healthy future certainly looks bleak.

Not only are Americans dealing with the negative effects of consuming elephantine amounts of sugar, but now the health dangers of genetically modified organisms through Roundup Ready sugar beets are in the mix.

A hidden public health crisis

As a specialist in pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, Robert Lustig is on a mission to educate the masses about the dangers of refined sugar. “Sugar is not just an empty calorie, its effect on us is much more insidious. It has nothing to do with the calories. It’s a poison by itself,” declares Lustig. He is clear about the definition of sugar — it doesn’t matter whether it is high-fructose corn syrup, white or brown, from beets or cane. To Lustig; it is all the same, causing metabolic disorders like Type 2 diabetes and obesity along with cancer and heart disease. He believes that the American lifestyle with its high sugar consumption is killing us.

“Ultimately, this is a public health crisis, and when there’s a public health crisis you have to do big things and you have to do them across the board. Tobacco and alcohol are perfect examples … I think that sugar belongs in this exact same wastebasket,” said Lustig in a 60 Minutes interview.

To make matters worse, refined sugar is highly addictive — compared to cocaine by many in the health industry due to the mechanism of triggering pleasure centers in the brain when consumed.

Lewis Cantley, director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is convinced that 80 percent of all cancers are driven by the effect of insulin on tumor cells. Sugar consumption can lead to insulin resistance which causes the pancreas to secrete excess insulin. Researchers have found that insulin along with a hormone known as insulin-like growth factor, encourage tumor growth.

More dangers ahead with GM sugar beets

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