Stop blaming sugar for all the world's obesity woes

Sugar being an illegal substance - ridiculous right? asks Kate Stewart.

In case you haven't heard, rumour has it, there's a new drug on our streets, doing the rounds.

A highly addictive, white substance that brings on an intoxicating high. Users crave the rush it brings them. By all accounts, they can't get enough of the stuff. Sugar ... it's cheap, legal and readily available 24/7 and if you can't handle it in its pure form, there are plenty of ways you can still get your fix. You simply have to purchase it in manufactured form. Whether that be as a chocolate bar, ice cream or fizzy drink, one thing is for sure, addicts don't have to worry about the issue of supply ... yet.

I say yet because I have to wonder just how far the powers that be will go, in order to control the use or abuse of this precious white substance. Will they ration it? Ban it? Add it to the list of controlled substances or take the extreme measure of making it illegal?

Sounds ridiculous, right? Sugar being an illegal substance. I can just see it now.

Users everywhere, waiting for darkness to fall and then taking to roaming the mean streets in search of a sugar dealer. These drug dens will undoubtedly earn themselves some kind of trendy name like lolly shops, Wonkaworlds and crystal cribs. The cooks will be kept frantically busy, bagging up anything from a teaspoon to a kilogram of the deadly white crystals. I don't even want to contemplate what the street value will be, but for the future drug lords it will certainly be one sweet deal. I know we have great cause for concern as far as health related issues are concerned but I am a worried that sugar is fast becoming the "fall guy" in a much bigger problem. Sugar, as sweet as it is, does not actually contain that many calories, so the argument by Cr Ray Stevens that it causes obesity is, in my opinion, questionable. Carbs do that, particularly the white ones, like bread, potatoes, pasta, noodles and rice, all converting to sugars of some kind, once consumed, then passing themselves of as energy

If the health of the people is the real focus, it stands to reason you focus on the bad foods, plural, not just target what seems to be the obvious. If this were to happen then let's just be honest, the Hospital Cafe might as well just shut up shop. There's too much misinformation out there. Why just fizzy drinks? Do you really think that orange juice is a healthier option? That a muffin is better than a cookie?

Wake up and smell the (sugar-free) coffee. Obesity rates are rising faster than ever because the very foods that are affordable to people on low incomes all fall into that white carb group. They are cheap, filling and easy to prepare. I'm not saying sugar is the innocent victim in this health issue because it's not. What I am saying is that just targeting sugar is not going to make any significant difference, except perhaps to our teeth,

The so-called experts have been wrong before. The Heart Foundation tick, craved by many as a marketing must have, isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. The foundation got it wrong about eggs all those years ago and have often had to back track and retract over things like coffee and chocolate.

Sure, banning bad-for-you food is an option but an even better option would be to make healthy food affordable. Restrictions and other options like fat taxes will make little or no difference. As long as the unhealthy food is cheaper than the good stuff, people will continue to buy it, not always out of choice, but out of financial necessity.

Perhaps as a vote winner this election, someone could promise us a healthy food version of Quitline. Drug companies and scientists could design chewing gum and patches that contain all the goodness of five plus a day and two to three servings of beef or lamb. Actually, that's not such a dumb idea. For the sugar addicts, making the sugar substitutes free on prescription or at least cheaper, might be a better place to start. Have you seen the price of them? Another fine example of the healthy option being priced off the market.

There is always bariatric surgery of course - but it appears only politicians can afford that solution. Free surgery for those who need it ... with health funding already thin on the ground, there's a fat chance of that happening.

If anyone has a sugar-free cheesecake recipe please email me, investik8@gmail.com

Read Kate Stewart's oven-ready weekly blog on the MasterChef NZ television series on our website - wanganuichronicle.co.nz