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Tuesday, 14 December 2010

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Sugar: The Bitter Truth Revisited with Dr. Robert Lustig

Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:00 AM PST

I have been moonlighting on another job which explains the infrequent posting here on Speedendurance.

I pride on the fact that ALL the information on this site is free, with no monthly membership fees.

That being said, I do have to earn a living, and that's where I am a Technology Consultant on the side.

At the Dreamforce User conference in San Francisco, there was a special series of short informative lectures by UCSF professors. One of them was Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor in Pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco.

Now, that name may sound familiar as he was featured on a near-viral video called Sugar: The Bitter Truth from July 2009. (To me, at least 1 million views is considered viral, and this post will probably help his count)

The lecture on YouTube is 90 minutes long, but his short lecture was only 30 minutes followed by a brief Q&A period. I recorded the audio portion and the full video should be posted later on Salesforce's Dreamforce YouTube channel in a few weeks.

Now, I don't fully agree with all of Dr. Lustig's statements. See my Why am I Fat article.

I believe a calorie is a calorie, but your body is smart enough to adjust to your caloric intake. Eat too much, you will get fat. (However, your body will burn slightly more because you will weight more, as well as the thermic effects on eating) Eat too little, your metabolism will eventually slow down to save itself from starvation. Remember, cavemen and cavewomen didn't eat 3 square meals a day at 7am, Noon, and 6pm (or in Italy, espresso and corneti for breakfast, lunch at 1:30pm, and 8pm for dinner!)

The human body is a complex mechanism, and it is very easy to show a single fact and prove it scientifically, but the whole picture needs to be presented as well.

Mind you, Dr. Lustig is not selling a book, which is why I like this guy. There are some good take home messages here.

In short, he's promoting the awareness of obesity and especially child obesity in America and the rest of the world. Whether that comes from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is another story. Again, read my Why am I Fat article.

He is very charismatic, with a Donald Trump look, but after 5 minutes, he's very brash, confident, and at times, cocky. Just ignore the delivery and listen to the facts.

He's not totally anti-fructose as it may appear at the high level. At the end of the audio, he does say he's not against Fructose in whole fruits and vegetables. He's only against it as an additive, such as high fructose corn syrup, or when fruit is frozen and the fiber is lost.

He can be reached at rlustig@peds.ucsf.edu

Here was the original video on YouTube:

Here is the 30 minute condensed audio portion, for those who like to listen in the car during traffic. I worry about those people who watch YouTube videos on Smartphones while driving.. and yes, they do exist. Trust me on that.

Enjoy.

PODCAST Info:

Presenter: Dr. Robert Lustig

Interview Date: December 2010 at Dreamforce, San Francisco

Duration: 32 mins

File Size: 74 MB