Examining sugar’s effects on human body, public policy
The industry calls them SSBs. You know them as sugar-sweetened beverages, and they’re one of the many ways that an overload of sugar enters the average person’s diet. They were just one of the sugar-coated problems addressed when health and science experts met at Harvard Medical School to discuss the effects of sugar — in all its forms, including the ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup — on health and public policy. “How has the knowledge of the metabolic effects of sugar affected policy? What gaps are there in our knowledge of dietary intake of sugar? And, what is the real effect of sweeteners on us? We are trying to identify gaps in our knowledge and inform a policy to move ahead and improve public health,” Harvard Medical School (HMS) Professor of Medicine Steven Grinspoon said before Wednesday’s and Thursday’s symposium, which he co-organized. Giving the keynote speech at 19th annual Harvard Nutrition and...