More studies financed by sugar organizations claim sugar is good for you, and fat is bad.

Their pockets are hurting?

If you think they have a point read this:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/articles/article155a.html

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Thursday May 31 11:01 PM ET

Stay Slim -- Cut the Fat Not the Sugar

By Peter Blackburn

LONDON (Reuters) - Overweight people, worried about cancer, heart disease and diabetes, don't need to drop sugar but should focus instead on eating less fatty food, nutritionists say.

Obesity has risen dramatically over the past 30 years because of unhealthy diets and lack of exercise and it threatens to become a global epidemic, according to the World Health Organization (news - web sites).

But a recent European scientific study has provided ammunition for the international sugar industry to fire back and claim that sugar isn't fattening.

``In contrast to the still popular prejudice, sugar can be used as a good tool to control body weight,'' said the London-based International Sugar Organization (ISO).

The ISO is an international forum to collect data and exchange views on the $8 billion a year world sugar market. Its 56 member countries represent 75 percent of world sugar output and 55 percent of consumption.

Sugar consumption has stagnated in rich countries, due to consumer health worries, while world production has risen steadily creating a substantial global surplus.

The ISO said sugar was given a scientific boost from the little known Carbohydrate Management in European National (CARMEN) diets study, conducted in the second half of 2000 in five European research centers.

``It shows that eating sugar is not just a vital part of an active lifestyle but also a way to control body weight and cure obesity,'' the ISO said.

The study was funded by the Brussels-based European Commission (news - web sites) and the European sugar industry and published in the International Journal of Obesity.

SPIRALLING HEALTH COSTS

The EU is concerned about the spiraling cost of treating obesity-linked diseases which now swallow up to seven percent of health care expenditure in the 15 member countries.

The study examined the effects on overweight people of eating less fat and consuming more simple carbohydrates, such as sugar, or complex carbohydrates, such as starch, on body weight and cholesterol over six months.

Some 300 British, Dutch, Danish, German and Spanish volunteers were divided into three groups and given nutritionally similar diets made up of local foods.

One group continued with their usual diet, containing nearly 40 percent of energy in the form of fats, which include potato chips, fried chicken and butter.

A second group were given a diet with 10 percent less fatty energy, but compensated by starchy foods such as bread, potatoes and pasta.

The third group was put on a diet which was 10 percent lower in fat, but with energy compensated by starchy food as well as sugar and sugar-rich foods, including sweets, yogurt and cereals. After six months, volunteers on a starchy diet lost 1.984 lbs. and those on a starch and sugary supplement shed 3.968 lbs. whereas those on a normal fat-rich diet put on 1.764 lbs.

``The volunteers lost weight significantly...without a reduction in overall energy intake,'' the ISO said.

FOCUS ON FAT INTAKE

Project leader, Wim Saris, Professor of Nutrition at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, was more cautious, saying the study provided advice on obesity and carbohydrate balance in the diets of fat people.

``It stresses reducing fat intake and focusing less on sugar,'' Saris told Reuters.

He said that sugar is part of the balanced daily diet providing 15 percent of total energy and as such doesn't cause obesity so people should carry on eating it.

``But it's absolute nonsense to say you should increase sugar intake to control body weight,'' he stressed.

A leading British nutrition expert agreed that sugar doesn't cause obesity.

``The real reason is that people are now less active and taking in more calories than they need,'' said Professor Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at King's College, London University.

Obesity is measured by the body mass index (BMI), calculated by dividing body weight in kg by height in meters squared. A BMI above 30 shows obesity.

SUGAR SPIN

``There's a culture of drinks and snacks in front of the TV,'' Sanders added.

However Sanders said he suspected that the CARMEN study had been given a sugary spin by its financers.

``The weight loss on the sugary diet was not very great...only 300 grams per month,'' he noted. ``If you give anyone (dietary) treatment, they will lose weight.''

Sanders said there were no grounds for taxing sugar on health or weight grounds and that television, computers and cars were better candidates.

``But the study doesn't show that a high sugar diet has been given a clean bill of health.''

Sugar is a carbohydrate and contains less than half the calories than fat and is a major source of energy.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/200...sugar_dc_1.html