Recent & Recommended Books on Sugar and its Effects on the Body
By Lee Ross
WI Staff Writer
Empty Pleasures: The Story of Artificial Sweeteners from Saccharin to Splenda
By Carolyn de la Peña
Sugar substitutes have been a part of American life since saccharin was introduced at the 1893 World’s Fair. In Empty Pleasures, the first history of artificial sweeteners in the United States, Carolyn de la Pena blends popular culture with business and women’s history, examining the invention, production, marketing, regulation, and consumption of sugar substitutes such as saccharin, Sucaryl, NutraSweet, and Splenda. De la Pena describes how saccharin, an accidental laboratory by-product, was transformed from a perceived adulterant into a healthy ingredient. NutraSweet, Splenda, and their predecessors have enjoyed enormous success by promising that Americans, especially women, can “have their sweets and their health, too.” Empty Pleasures, however, argues that these “sweet cheats” have fostered troubling and unsustainable eating habits and that the promises of artificial sweeteners are ultimately too good to be true.
Dietary Sugars and Health
By Michael I. Goran, Luc Tappy, Kim-Anne Lê
Sugar consumption is suspected to play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, fatty liver disease, and some forms of cancers. Dietary sugars—fructose in particular—also have a potential role in obesity and metabolic diseases. Dietary Sugars and Health presents all aspects of dietary sugars as they relate to health and disease. It provides a review of the current science related to dietary sugars, ranging from historical and cultural perspectives to food science and production to basic research, animal trials, human pathophysiology, epidemiology, and public health policy implications. Each chapter features a concise, thorough summary of the current knowledge, including an overview of cutting-edge research, controversies, and future perspectives.
Sugarproof: The Hidden Dangers of Sugar That Are Putting Your Child’s Health at Risk and What You Can Do
By Michael Goran, Emily Ventura
A leading childhood nutrition researcher and an experienced public health educator explain the hidden danger sugar poses to a child’s development and health and offer parents an essential 7- and 28-day “sugarproof” program. Most of us know that sugar can wreak havoc on adult bodies, but few realize how uniquely harmful it is to the growing livers, hearts, and brains of children. The damage can begin early in life. In his research on the effects of sugar on kids’ present and future health, Goran found that too much sugar can cause health issues in kids, including prediabetes and elevated risk for eventual heart disease, and behavioral, emotional, and learning problems that many children struggle with every day. Sugarproof teaches parents to raise informed and empowered kids who can set their own healthy limits without feeling restricted.
Sugar Blues
By William Dufty
It’s a prime ingredient in countless substances from cereal to soup, from cola to coffee. Consumed at the rate of one hundred pounds for every American every year, it’s as addictive as nicotine — and as poisonous. It’s sugar. And “Sugar Blues,” inspired by the crusade of Hollywood legend Gloria Swanson, is the classic, bestselling expose that unmasks our generation’s greatest medical killer and shows how a revitalizing, sugar-free diet can not only change lives, but quite possibly save them.