Ask Dr. Scott

330 Responses to Ask Dr. Scott

1. 

   jennifer on May 15, 2012 at 11:52 pm

   Dear Dr.Scott

   I have tried, and tried! I went two weeks without ANY junk food. I went to work one day not prepared for lunch, got a some what healthy sandwich from the deli, then I broke down and bought a danish After that I have had lots of BAD days, trying every morning to start over. I only last about 2-3 days, then fumble again.Seriously.. what is my problem? Well, I know the answer to that. Sugar addiction. What else is there? Fat camp? Am I ever going to snap out of it, or continue to crumble for the next 20 yrs, if that. I’m sorry I sound so sad, I just don’t know how to fix this anymore.

   Sincerly,

   Frustrated in California

   Reply
   • 

     Dr. Scott on May 16, 2012 at 8:22 am

     Jennifer,

     Sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time; but you are not alone. Imagine that you are writing a book on how bad sugar and foods that act like sugar are (like I was) and every day you break down and eat something you know is bad for you.

     The best advice I can give you is this: it takes practice. The pull that addictive foods has on us is strong and you have to find ways that work for you to avoid them. Take a little time off, pick another day and start again. Each time you don’t make it, you learn something new. You will get there, just be patient with yourself.

     Best of luck!

     Scott

     Reply
2. 

   Thaddeus Sheehan on May 9, 2012 at 8:40 am

   Dear Dr.Scott,

   I’m currentley writing an argument based research paper for my Senior HS Composition class and my statement is that “The U.S. should ban all products with over 5 grams of refined sugars”. I’m Explaining the negative Physical/Mental effects of Sucrose, and then how our cravings should be fixed with the natural fructose in fruit. I’ve found your articles to be a great help in explaining the harmful effects of refined sugars….I’m also trying to show that the obesity rate and various health issues from a high sugar diet in America stack up to a GREATER death toll than Cigarretes. Since there is a high tax on Tobacco products, do you feel that (in an ideal world) the Government should be similarly against added sugar products?

   Thank you for your time,

   Thaddeus

   Reply
   • 

     Dr. Scott on May 9, 2012 at 8:01 pm

     Thaddeus,

     I’m impressed that you are taking on such a weighty issue at such a young age.

     First, here are the statistics (an excerpt from my book):

     Deadly Connection
     It may come as a surprise, but sugar may cause as many deaths as cigarette smoking, perhaps even more. Let’s start counting.
     If you consider that sugar is connected to diabetes (and not everyone does), the deaths caused by sugar and cigarettes are roughly the same. According to the World Health Organization, four million deaths a year are attributable to diabetes while smoking causes around five million deaths. But, as I will illustrate, sugar may be responsible for far more than four million diabetes deaths. Sugar may have links to obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Factoring in all the deaths from these other sugar-related illnesses, the damage cigarettes cause is relatively small compared to sugar.
     Yet, we ban cigarettes and allow soda and sugar-stocked vending machines in our schools.
     Perhaps you are reacting the same way I did when I first began uncovering the truth about sugar. There was a disbelieving voice in the back of my head saying, “Oh, come on… eating sugar cannot possibly be as harmful as smoking cigarettes.” Sugar is so safe that we do give it to little kids. It is in everything that we eat. It is natural, isn’t it? How could it cause that much harm?
     You are not alone in thinking this way. The medical community agrees with you; outside of dental problems, they don’t think that sugar causes any harm at all. And that is what is really shocking; there is no one telling you the true harm that sugar can cause.
     The doctors who first realized that there may be a connection between smoking and lung cancer were alone in their opinion. After all, everyone knew that smoking wasn’t harmful. Were they crazy? Slowly, though, over time, the truth was revealed. Sugar sits at the same crossroads. Studies are beginning to show the link between sugar and obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. These studies are not enough to convince the medical community, but that will change. Despite sugar’s overwhelming prevalence in our lives, human beings and sugar do not make very good bedfellows.

     While I think it might be a good step to ban all foods with over 5 grams of sugar, it starts to get a little messy when you look at what happens when you eat foods with sugar in them. You put 5 grams of sugar into full-fat ice cream, or 5 grams of sugar into crackers, or 5 grams of sugar into beef jerky and you will get three different blood sugar responses. Fruit sugars, it turns out, are no better that added sugars and there are many grains that act like sugar in our bodies (take a look at the glycemic index and you will see that your blood sugar raises the same if you are eating straight sugar or something like a rice cake or white bread).

     The problem is, really, we have taken our bodies which thrive on meat and vegetables and now only feed them grains and sugars.

     Hope that helps,

     Scott

     Reply