Skip to content
Rounds
0:00 / 0:00

Sugar: THE BITTER TRUTH

University of California Television (UCTV)

1.4M subscribers • 35 videos on Rounds • Health institution

YouTube
  • Recommended by 13 people, in Hacker News, across 12 different months.
  • Presented by Robert H. Lustig, MD, as the video describes them
  • May be out of date. Uploaded 17 years ago, in an area where guidance changes.
  • Debated among experts. Its central claim is contested, so look for the other side.

Assumes interest and some biology. Education, not medical advice.

25M views17 years ago13 recommendations

NutritionHeart and metabolismSugar and carbohydratesObesity and weightMetabolism and energy

Robert Lustig explains the metabolic and hormonal impacts of fructose, arguing that excessive sugar consumption is a primary driver of obesity.

( - Start of Presentation) Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Recorded on 05/26/2009. [7/2009] [Show ID: 16717] Donate to UCTV to support informative & inspiring programming: uctv.tv/donate Mini Medical School for the Public (uctv.tv/minimed) Explore More Health & Medicine on UCTV (uctv.tv/health) UCTV features the latest in health and medicine from University of California medical schools. Find the information you need on cancer, transplantation, obesity, disease and much more. UCTV is the broadcast and online media platform of the University of California, featuring programming from its ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated research institutions. UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Launched in January 2000, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California -- teaching, research, and public service – by providing quality, in-depth television far beyond the campus borders to inquisitive viewers around the world. (uctv.tv) Start Quiz The First Law of Thermodynamics Fat Intake: Grams Carbohydrate Intake: Grams High Fructose Corn Syrup The Perfect Storm from Three Political Winds The Low-fat Craze

Why it's here

13 people recommend this

What people say. Highly recommended as an eye-opening and detailed explanation of sugar metabolism and its health risks.

vixen99in Hacker News • Recommends

On “The Men Who Live Forever”

If you want some peer-reviewed background on why it's smart to cut out sugar and the foods to which it's added by manufacturers, do take a look at link to this video This is one of the best nutritional videos I've ever seen. There's a chunk of biochemistry in the middle but it's worth watching to the end! Don't miss it and add years to your life.
View on Hacker News

yanowitzin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Princeton researchers find that HFCS prompts considerably more weight gain”

This is further confirmation of a well-known phenomenon. If you want to watch a long presentation on what's going on, check this: link to this video Short version: Fructose is metabolized by your liver, results in a lot of nasty byproducts, your liver stores the excess energy as fat, etc.
View on Hacker News

doolsin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Why We Get Fat”

This is a relevant and very informative video about the impact of sugar on humans: link to this video I'd say that if you were to just dramatically reduce sugar you'll get results pretty quickly.
View on Hacker News

colinprincein Hacker News • Recommends

On “High-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain than sugar (2010)”

I think the point is that getting rid of the subsidies would let the price of HFCS increase and would be less attractive to food producers. Regarding the idea that sucrose is healthier than HFCS, I remain unconvinced. See Robert H. Lustig's awesome expostion, Sugar: The Bitter Truth: link to this video He explains the endocrinology behind why our bodies cannot stay ahead of our sugar intake.
View on Hacker News

pkulakin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away from Bad Diets”

Here's the video that started a lot of the public awareness of the issue: link to this video And there's also now a great documentary on Netflix called "Fed Up" ( link ), for anyone who has a subscription. It particularly tackles this silly idea that it's okay to eat and drink shitty food all day, so long as you exercise for a little bit too.
View on Hacker News

djsumdogin Hacker News • Recommends

On “US government to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (2015)”

…erol, but proteins that carry it through your bloodstream). If you eat a lot of sugar, cholesterol can build up between the walls of arteries as they fix the damage. They can eventually break down the wall, releasing plaque into the bloodstream and potentially causing heart complications. I highly recommend Dr. Lustig's video (UCTV) to learn more: link to this video A few years back I switched to a keto normal fat/very low carb (excluding fiber) diet. I've lost weight, gained energy and have felt a lot better. Of course this isn't for everyone. Some people have a body type that lends itself to higher carb intake (I knew a runner who'd eat 30 bananas a week) and as always do your research, consult with…
View on Hacker News

08-15in Hacker News • Recommends

On “DNA tests show Subway sandwiches could contain just 50% chicken”

…ructose seems to do that, thought I don't remember the whole mechanism. Neither chitin nor lignin are carbohydrates, lignin isn't even chemically related. Even ruminants can't digest lignin, only a few funghi can do that. At any rate, the bottom line is that frustose is a problem, glucose isn't, and lumping both under "carbs" confuses matters. See link to this video for lots of details. (But don't take Dr. Lustig's words at face value---check other sources. Most of it is uncontroversial.)…
View on Hacker News

ibejoebin Hacker News • Recommends

On “The Liver: A ‘Blob’ That Runs the Body”

Robert Lustig does a good talk about sugar metabolism in "Sugar: The Bitter Truth": link to this video Also, "The Trouble with Fructose": link Despite the baity titles, it's a good talk with real biochemistry. Edit: better video added up top
View on Hacker News

maxharrisin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Coconut oil isn't healthy and it's never been healthy”

…egulation in the bad direction. Even a little fructose makes you hungry. Dietary fat (saturated or otherwise) does the exact opposite: all other things being equal, it makes you feel sated. Don't just take my experience over the last ten years into account - here's a leading endocrinologist that's overturning decades of dogma. He'll set you right: link to this video…
View on Hacker News

mtgxin Hacker News • Recommends

On “The $35B race to cure a silent killer that affects 30M Americans”

For starters, stop ingesting all things that have fructose in them. The U.S. government is really kind of complicit in allowing the spread of diabetes and NASH to happen in the first place by allowing harmful substances such as high-fructose corn syrup and to be infused into anything you can find in a store or fast food. Sure, it's ultimately an issue of education, but when the vast majority of foods have this stuff in them, educating every person on non eating most of the available foods in stores becomes very difficult. Watch how the metabolism of alcohol and fructose compare: link to this video
View on Hacker News

brian_cunniein Hacker News • Recommends

On “Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges”

Don't take my word for it (how bad sugar is). Go to an expert: Dr. Robert Lustig, Endocrinologist at UCSF. "Sugar, the Bitter Truth" 0. He'll describe the metabolic pathways of sugar. Key take-away: fructose is processed by the liver, and much of its calories is turned to fat. 0 link to this video
View on Hacker News

identity0in Hacker News • Recommends

On “Most-mentioned links in Hacker News comments, 2006–2015”

I watched link to this video a few days ago and was surprised to see is the #1 youtube link. It does have 11M views, however, and it is a great talk.
View on Hacker News

akurzonin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Fructose reprogrammes glutamine-dependent oxidative metabolism to support LPS”

For anyone interested in a detailed explanation of fructose metabolism (and why it's bad for you), I'd highly recommend these two talks by Robert Lustig on the subject. The first one is about how the body reacts to fructose, and the second video is a follow-up that emphasizes how fructose has contributed to the obesity epidemic in the US and elsewhere. link to this video link
View on Hacker News

flitzwaldin Skeptics Stack Exchange • Mentions

A couple of months ago I watched the talk "link to this video" by endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig on YouTube. The overall tone of the talk raised a couple of red flags; it sounded a little too much like conspiracy mongering for my taste, but the claim that Dr. Lustig makes is a pretty simple one: fructose doesn't only fatten us up; it's a toxin that gets metabolized very similar to ethyl alcohol. Conclusion: high fructose corn syrup and sugar should be avoided. Have the claims of Dr. Lustig ever been independently verified or is this a one man crusade against the evil nutrition empire?
54View on Stack Exchange

Nathan Wheelerin Physical Fitness Stack Exchange • Mentions

On “As long as I do enough exercise, can the effects of junk food intake be offset?”

There's a link to this video, a lecture by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, that (from my understanding) implies that, at least in the context of taking in copious amounts of unhealthy sugars such as sucrose, fructose, and high fructose corn syrup, you can offset the bad effects of those sugars by burning them off as quickly as they are processed in the liver. It would definitely take a lot of work to do that though. However, there are a few problems with the theory of just simply eating junk food. Junk food rarely contains enough useful vitamins, nutrients, and electrolytes to maintain healthy body function, without having to rebuild muscle tissue…
12View on Stack Exchange

Brian M. Huntin Skeptics Stack Exchange • Mentions

…Bitter Truth” about sugar? From the NY Times Article: Is sugar toxic? Robert Lusteg, a specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, alleges that too much fructose and too little fibre is the cause of the obesity epidemic, in his link to this video. From the NY Times article: ... sugar has unique characteristics, specifically in the way the human body metabolizes the fructose in it, that may make it singularly harmful, at least if consumed in sufficient quantities. Is the assertion that sugar is toxic supported by the evidence? If so, is the term "toxic" being used in the ord…
1View on Stack Exchange