(a) Averaged images for DA D2 receptors (measured with [11C]raclopride) in a group of (i) controls (n=10) and (ii) morbidly obese subjects (n=10). (b) Results from SPM identifying the areas in the brain where D2 receptors availability was associated with brain glucose metabolism; these included the OFC, the CG and the DLPFC (region not shown in sagittal plane). (c) Regression slopes between D2 receptor availability (measured in striatum) and brain glucose metabolism in (i) CG and (ii) OFC in obese subjects. 10
Back to the money spent on sugar. Pepsi seems almost saint-like by comparison here, as they only spent $150 million advertising Gatorade last year. Keep in mind that all of the products listed so far (we’re at a total of $432 million at this point) are just brightly colored versions of sugar. This would almost be comical, if it weren’t destroying our collective health.11 12 13 14
I hope you’ve buckled up, because this is where things turn truly depressing. Did you know that our own government (who – obviously - should be looking out for our collective health) spent less than 0.5% of all agricultural subsidies on production of fruits and vegetables? You read that right – that’s less than 1%. Should less than 1% of any food-related funding be going to fruits and vegetables? Shouldn’t the majority of funding be going to fruits and vegetables? I feel like we are all in a bad Twilight Zone episode here.
And, while I wholeheartedly believe in freedom, liberty, and a free market economy, when you have 70% of the population overweight, and one in three people obese, you need to make some changes, and you need to have some oversight. It doesn’t take an advanced college degree, or even a high school diploma to see the problem here. As the old saying goes, numbers don’t lie.
I will leave you with one more staggering fact, which shows how truly disconnected we have become, from our Paleo ancestors. Fruits and vegetables are the only foods, which all nutrition experts can agree upon; we should be eating, ad libitum. But do you know what classification they have, by our own U.S. Department Of Agriculture? Their classification is only a brief two words: ‘specialty crops’.
Hopefully in your own personal, ongoing scientific experiment (that is your life), fruits and vegetables are not ‘specialty crops’. They should be part of your main course. I hope I’ve given you some real things to think about here. And remember – our children and future grandchildren are the ones who will suffer the most from this ludicrous sugar economy we are allowing to persist. Not us.
While it is easy to be complacent, apathetic, and not do anything, you have a voice. And what is a democracy, if not simply a collection of individual voices? Make your voice be heard, and tell the world where you stand on the true price of sugar.
References
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