Sugarcoating the facts?

Today, the thought of smoking in an office seems fabulously anachronistic, probably even to smokers. In fact, cigarette smoking has dropped by about two-thirds in the past fifty years. An article by the Huffington Post identifies the five main reasons why smoking has declined so dramatically: young people at center of prevention efforts; anti-smoking laws; increased tax on cigarettes; real science discrediting previous research downplaying harm from smoking; and a less glamorous portrayal of smoking in the media. Moreover, with the aim of further dissuasion, cigarette packs in many countries are marked with gruesome photos and intense, frightening facts like: “smoking kills”.

Reminiscent of the pseudoscience that refused to link smoking with health risks, the major food industry-backed research has for decades encouraged us to replace fats with sugars. The latter is now being loudly discredited. We have now been made aware of the dangers of the small, shiny white crystals. We understand that sodas, marshmallows and chocolate bars are not doing wonders to our health, and it’s not only because of the calories. But what about the cereals many in the western world depend on for breakfast, and the granola bars advertised as healthy snacks? And the fruit juices with which we are led to believe we’re fulfilling our daily intake of vitamins? Though these foods may appear to be doing us a service, they are nothing but junk foods in disguise. Recent research is inclined to claim that these processed foods can be just as detrimental as cigarette smoking. Both can kill.

Read the full post on the CFS blog here.