Sugar-loaded Foods Alter Body Chemistry

The obesity epidemic is caused by a “poisoned” food supply that is altering people’s biochemistry and driving them to eat more and move less, according to a hypothesis proposed by a doctor who culled results from thousands of studies on obesity.

It is unfair and unhelpful to blame personal behaviors, especially a lack of self-control, for the country’s rising obesity rates, says Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatrician and nationally renowned obesity expert at University of California, San Francisco.

The processed food that is most readily available to Americans – from potato chips and cookies to yogurt and white bread – is loaded with sugars that cause the body to believe that it is hungry, which makes people feel compelled to consume more calories and conserve energy, he said.

Sugar makes the body produce more insulin, which blocks hormones that would normally tell the brain to stop eating, he said.