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BITESIZE | The Bitter Truth About Sugar | Professor Robert Lustig #552

May 1, 2025 24m 31s 11 insights
Today’s guest is a leading public health expert who has long been exposing the myths of modern medicine and the food industry. Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart. Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. Today’s clip is from episode 251 of the podcast with medical doctor and Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics, Dr Robert Lustig. Dr Lustig’s passion is in communicating how excess sugar and ultra-processed foods are fuelling the chronic disease epidemic that we are all facing today. And, in this clip, he explains why eating too much sugar can be so damaging for our health and shares some practical strategies that we can all use to help. Dr Robert Lustig will be a guest speaker at Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine Live: The Evolution of Metabolic Health – from gut to brain and beyond, held at County Hall in London on Saturday 10th May. If you are a Healthcare practitioner, join me, Dr Emily Leeming, Dr Ayan Panja, Dr Robert Lustig and others. Book your ticket using code DRC50 and save £50 on the ticket price. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/practiceunbound/1535137 Thanks to our sponsor ⁠⁠https://www.drinkag1.com/livemore⁠⁠ Show notes and the full podcast are available at https://drchatterjee.com/251 Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts ⁠https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore⁠ For other podcast platforms go to ⁠https://fblm.supercast.com.⁠
Actionable Insights

1. Eliminate Ultra-Processed Foods

Actively remove ultra-processed foods from your diet, as they are a major contributor to chronic ill health, cause your body to burn less energy, and lead to weight gain.

2. Switch to Real Food Diet

Transition to a diet composed of “real food” to mitigate and potentially reverse chronic diseases, as medicine alone is insufficient without this fundamental dietary change.

3. Protect Your Liver

Safeguard your liver by limiting sugar intake, as overwhelming its capacity to metabolize sugar leads to fat production, fatty liver, insulin resistance, and subsequent chronic metabolic diseases.

4. Feed Your Gut Fiber

Increase your consumption of fiber, nature’s perfect prebiotic, to nourish beneficial gut bacteria, which helps prevent depression, leaky gut, inflammation, and insulin resistance.

5. Prioritize Low Sugar, High Fiber

Regardless of your specific dietary approach (e.g., vegan, keto), prioritize a low sugar and high fiber intake, as these are the critical components for maintaining metabolic health and preventing disease.

6. Reduce Excess Sugar Intake

Consciously decrease your consumption of excess sugar, as it directly poisons mitochondria, inhibits the body’s energy production, and is a primary driver of chronic metabolic diseases.

7. Avoid Nova Class 4 Foods

Understand the Nova system of food processing and specifically avoid Class 4 foods, which are ultra-processed and directly linked to chronic disease.

8. Identify Real Food

Use practical guidelines like “would your grandparents recognize it as food?” or checking if a food packet has more than five ingredients to help distinguish and choose real, unprocessed foods.

9. Avoid the Western Diet

Deliberately avoid the Western diet, as it is the only dietary pattern explicitly discouraged due to its detrimental effects on overall health.

10. Try AG1 Daily Health Drink

Consider subscribing to AG1, a daily health drink, to support digestion and enrich your gut microbiome with its five strains of beneficial bacteria and plant-based compounds.

11. Subscribe to Friday Five

Sign up for the free “Friday Five” email at drchatterjee.com/FridayFive for weekly doses of positivity, including reading recommendations, quotes, and research not shared on social media.