Yet more shrill hysteria in the meeja!

Apparently sugar is the unhealthiest enemy of all.

Sugar therefore beats nuclear fallout, exhaust fumes, radon gas and of course smoking as the greatest enemy of mankind.

It's a wonder any of us are still alive?

Now I don't deny that sugar causes problems, but for fuck's sake girl, get a grip!  You say yourself that "It's too easy to believe that it's just scaremongering" and you're right – that is precisely what it is.  You come up with weapon's grade crap like "In fact, it may frighten you to learn that heroin, morphine and sugar all stimulate the same receptors in our brain" and you don't call that scaremongering?  You tell us to be scared by comparing sugar with heroin?  You tell us that "The amount of sugar you consume directly affects your risk of developing nearly all chronic diseases" and you really seriously and honestly don't call that scaremongering?

I suppose next you'll be lobbying the gubmint to ban advertising of anything that's sweet?  How about plain packaging?  How about plastering everything that contains sugar with images of obese people?  Why not close down all sweet shops?   If sugar is the ultimate cause of all ills then that's the very least you can do?

Sugar in large quantities is bad.  We know that.  We have known that for decades but wiffling on, making extreme statements is not going to help anybody.  Ignore those so called "experts" who have proved themselves to be self promoting idiots whose primary aim is to get their names in the papers and to justify yet more research grants.  Ignore their "guidelines" because you simply cannot set a "guideline" for something as diverse as the human body.

Listen Petal, I know you're a nutritionist [whatever that is] but you also claim to be a journalist.  Could you be trying to fill a few column inches with some dramatic crap just to sweeten your pay-cheque?

Relax.  Go have a cigarette.  It's much healthier than sugar.