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The Bitter Truth About Sugar with Dr Robert Lustig (Re-release) #616

Jan 25, 2026 1h 49m 21 insights
My guest on this week’s Feel Better Live More podcast is Dr Robert Lustig, Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at the University of California. He’s a leading public health expert who has long been exposing the myths of modern medicine and the food industry. His passion is communicating how sugar and ultra-processed food is fuelling the chronic disease epidemic that we are all facing today. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and so much more are caused, in Rob’s view, by the foods that we are eating. In his latest book, Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition and Modern Medicine, he outlines what he calls the ‘hateful eight’ – the eight root causes in our body that underlie all chronic disease. He explains how food and sugar impact on them and, most importantly, suggests strategies to counteract them. In this conversation, Rob explains why sugar is so damaging and explains that just like alcohol, our bodies can cope with sugar in small amounts. But in excess will end up in the liver and ultimately trigger us to get sick. Rob’s decades of clinical experience and research has led to his bold and compelling assertion that the answer to all chronic disease can be found in real food. His solution? To ‘protect the liver, feed the gut’. I think these 6 words are an elegant way of summarising the nutritional advice that all of us should consider taking on board in order to improve our health and wellbeing. We talk about what constitutes ‘real food’ and how different levels of food processing are classified. Rob explains why sugar-sweetened drinks are so disastrous for health, particularly in children – and why diet drinks do just as much damage, if not more.  We also talk about TOFI (thin on the outside, fat on the inside) and fascinatingly, Rob outlines the three types of fat gain that we can all experience: subcutaneous (which you can see); visceral (stress-related fat around the middle), and liver fat. It’s only the first of these that you’re likely to notice – but it’s the latter two which we really need to fix, especially as they’re already appearing in kids. This conversation is full of mind-blowing facts and insights but it’s also really empowering and contains simple, practical tips that all of us can use to improve our lives. I hope you enjoy listening.  Caution: contains mild swearing.   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. Thanks to our
Actionable Insights

1. Rethink Health Through Diet

To fix healthcare and personal health, focus on fixing your diet first, as health cannot be fixed until diet is addressed.

2. Protect Liver, Feed Gut

Adopt an eating strategy that protects your liver and feeds your gut, as this is an elegant summary of nutrition advice for improved health and well-being.

3. Adopt a Real Food Diet

Shift to a diet primarily composed of “real food”—that which came out of the ground or from animals that ate it—to mitigate virtually any and all chronic diseases.

4. Reject Ultra-Processed Foods

Avoid ultra-processed foods, as they are not true “food” because they inhibit energy production, hinder skeletal growth, and feed cancer cells.

5. Prioritize Low Sugar, High Fiber

Regardless of specific dietary preferences, ensure your diet is low in sugar and high in fiber, as these are common elements in effective health-promoting diets.

6. Address Root Causes

To effectively solve health problems, identify and address the upstream root causes (like the “hateful eight” metabolic dysfunctions) rather than merely treating symptoms.

7. Focus on Insulin Reduction

Prioritize reducing insulin levels, as high insulin drives obligate weight gain and metabolic dysfunction; lowering insulin can lead to weight loss and improved activity.

8. Avoid Excess Sugar

Reduce sugar consumption as it acts like a mitochondrial poison, inhibiting the body’s energy production and causing liver damage similar to alcohol, leading to chronic disease.

9. Moderate Sugar Intake

Consume sugar in small amounts, as your intestine can divert a limited “first pass” amount away from the liver, but exceeding this capacity will overwhelm the liver and initiate chronic disease.

10. Consume Whole Fruit, Not Juice

Eat whole fruit rather than drinking fruit juice, because the insoluble fiber in whole fruit forms a protective barrier in the intestine, preventing early absorption of sugars and protecting the liver.

11. Be Cautious with Diet Drinks

Avoid or be cautious with diet drinks, as they can still trigger insulin release, lead to compensatory overeating, negatively alter the gut microbiome, and potentially cause fat deposition.

12. Increase Fiber Intake

Consume more fiber (nature’s perfect prebiotic) to feed your gut bacteria, which supports a healthy microbiome, suppresses an overactive cytokine response, and improves insulin sensitivity.

13. Model Healthy Eating for Kids

When teaching children about healthy eating, model the behavior by eating real food yourself, ensure they see other kids eating it, and demonstrate that healthy food can be affordable.

14. Assess Food by Processing Level

Evaluate food based on what has been done to it (its degree of processing) rather than just its ingredients, as ultra-processing can turn food into a “poison.”

15. Reject the Western Diet

Actively avoid the Western diet, characterized by high sugar and low fiber, as it is the primary driver of chronic disease.

16. Lower Insulin to Reduce Infection Risk

Reduce insulin levels through dietary changes to decrease ACE2 receptors on cells, thereby lowering the risk of viral infection.

17. Control Blood Glucose for Viral Protection

Manage blood glucose levels to prevent glucose crystallization around ACE2 receptors, which can make cells more susceptible to viral injection.

18. Consume Fiber for Immune Regulation

Ensure adequate fiber intake to produce short-chain fatty acids in the gut, which help suppress an overactive cytokine response, crucial for managing viral infections.

19. Break the Sugar Cycle

Be aware that sugar consumption reduces your tongue’s sensitivity to sweetness, creating a vicious cycle where you crave and consume more sugar; consciously work to break this cycle.

20. Monitor Kids’ Sugar Intake

Be vigilant about children’s sugar intake, even if they appear thin, as a significant percentage of children have liver fat unrelated to obesity, indicating hidden metabolic damage from sugar.

21. Consider Sugar’s Impact on Brain/Behavior

Recognize that sugar consumption is associated with negative behavioral and cognitive issues in both children and adults, including irritability, violent behavior, and cognitive problems.