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How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat
Article

How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat



Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Background

Recommendation

Health writer Anahad O’Connor reveals that in the 1960s, the sugar industry paid for Harvard researchers to exonerate sugar as a cause of heart disease and to place the blame on saturated fat instead. Although that cooperation between scientists and industry representatives is an extreme example of biased research, O’Connor emphasizes that the food industry’s influence on research is ongoing. getAbstract prescribes taking nutrition research and any resulting dietary guidelines with a pinch of salt rather than a spoonful of sugar.

Take-Aways

  • In the 1960s, the sugar industry paid Harvard researchers to report that saturated fat, not sugar, caused heart disease.
  • The New England Journal of Medicine published the article. Its editors never required the authors to disclose their funding source.
  • One of the researchers later influenced American dietary guidelines, which encouraged Americans to switch to low-fat, high-sugar foods. This shift may have triggered the nation’s current obesity problem.

About the Author

New York Times reporter Anahad O’Connor writes about science, health, diet and national issues. He is the author of the best-selling book The 10 Things You Need to Eat.


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