Thank you, CBS News Sunday Morning — in particular contributor Susan Spencer and producer Jason Sacca — for today’s very intriguing, informative lead story about sugar, “Is America Too Sweet on Sugar?” (If the link doesn’t work, just Google the title along with CBS.)
Susan and Jason and of course CBS, deserve major kudos for shedding light on this important subject, and I do hope and believe that CBS News Sunday Morning’s five million viewers will find the segment quite eye-opening.
It’s my greatest hope that the millions who saw the CBS News Sunday Morning story will reassess their intake of sugar and refined carbs and think about cutting them out — or at least cutting back — so they may get more energy, concentrate better, peel off the pounds, and maybe reduce their risk of such heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
As a trained journalist, I marveled at the spectacular job Susan Spencer did pulling together so many intriguing bits of information and then weaving them into a highly enjoyable, engrossing segment. This segment really draws you in when presenting some salient facts and fascinating tidbits about Americans’ love affair with sugar.
For the segment, Susan interviewed one of my favorite experts, David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D.; sugar historian Sidney W. Mintz, author of Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History; and a representative from the Sugar Association. She also quizzed me, and the episode included shots from the crowd of about 200, who gathered at my recent book signing of Sugar Shock! at Border’s at Columbus Circle in New York City.
For those of you who missed this morning’s CBS News Sunday Morning segment, you can read the transcript here. Of course, you’ll miss out on the dazzling video footage, which included oodles of gooey, sugary foods; obese people waddling along; interviews with experts, including the one Susan did with me.
For the record: While the CBS News Sunday Morning piece was absolutely fabulous, comprehensive and entertaining, I’d like to clarify some figures cited in the story. According to the USDA, the average American consumes about 142.6 pounds per year or a little more than 3/4 of a cup per day of added caloric sweeteners, including refined sugar (from cane and beets), high fructose corn syrup, glucose syrup and dextrose. However, I believe, as do other experts, that the average American takes in more like 170 pounds per year or just shy of a cup of sugar per day. It’s important to note that this 142-pound figure (or 170-pound figure) does not include artificial sweeteners, as mentioned in the CBS piece.
In fact, if you add in stats for artificially sweetened foods and drinks, the figures are considerably higher. According to the Calorie Control Council, a whopping 180 million American adults (as of 2004) consume low-calorie and sugar-free sodas, other beverages and foods using five different sugar substitutes approved by the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose and neotame.
Again, thank you CBS News Sunday Morning. Hats off to you, Susan Spencer, for your diligence, dedication and intrepid reporting. And applause goes to you, Jason Sacca, for coming up with the idea for this segment in the first place and for so seamlessly pulling together various sources and concepts for this piece. Your viewers will benefit from your hard work. It was an honor and pleasure to work with both of you.
If you’d like to learn more about sugar’s dangers and get help to beak free of your sugar habit, I invite you to check out my book, Sugar Shock! I like to believe that this book can not only open your eyes, but help you to break free from your sugar habit. That’s my intention at least, and according to the dozens of thank-you e-mails I’ve received, it does just that.