Book
Pure, White, and Deadly: How Sugar Is Killing Us and What We Can Do to Stop It
Publish date:
January 1, 1972
More than 40 years before Gary Taubes published The Case Against Sugar, John Yudkin published his now-classic exposé on the dangers of sugar—reissued here with a new introduction by Robert H. Lustig, the bestselling author of Fat Chance.
Scientist John Yudkin was the first to sound the alarm about the excess of sugar in the diet of modern Americans. His classic exposé, Pure, White, and Deadly, clearly and engagingly describes how sugar is damaging our bodies, why we eat so much of it, and what we can do to stop. He explores the ins and out of sugar, from the different types—is brown sugar really better than white?—to how it is hidden inside our everyday foods, and how it is harming our health.
In 1972, Yudkin was mostly ignored by the health industry and media, but the events of the last forty years have proven him spectacularly right. Yudkin’s insights are even more important and relevant now, with today’s record levels of obesity, than when they were first published. Brought up-to-date by childhood obesity expert Dr. Robert H. Lustig, this emphatic treatise on the hidden dangers of sugar is essential reading for anyone concerned about their health, the health of their children, and the wellbeing of modern society.
Authors
Image | Author | Author Website | Twitter | Author Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
John Yudkin | Deceased |
Topics
High Fructose Corn Syrup | HFCS stands for High-Fructose Corn Syrup. It is a sweetener that is derived from corn starch and widely used in processed foods and beverages. HFCS is composed of glucose and fructose, similar to table sugar (sucrose), which is also a combination of these two simple sugars.
HFCS gained popularity in the food industry in the 1970s as a cheaper alternative to sugar. It became widely used in soft drinks, baked goods, condiments, and other processed foods because it is cost-effective, easy to blend, and has a long shelf life. | |
Big Sugar | Big Sugar is based on organizations like ILSI and The Sugar Association. They promote sugar as part of a healthy, balanced diet, but ignore many of the cons of sugar consumption. | |
Diet-Heart Hypothesis | The diet-heart hypothesis, also known as the lipid hypothesis, proposes that there is a direct relationship between dietary fat intake, particularly saturated fat and cholesterol, and the development of heart disease. It suggests that consuming high amounts of these fats leads to an increase in blood cholesterol levels, specifically low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which in turn contributes to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries. Some consider this hypothesis nothing more than wishful thinking. | |
Sugar |