Robert H. Lustig (born 1957) is an American
pediatric endocrinologist. He is professor emeritus of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at the
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...
(UCSF), where he specialized in
neuroendocrinology
Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...
and
childhood obesity
Childhood obesity is a condition where excess adipose tissue, body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on Body mass index, BMI. ...
. He is also director of UCSF's WATCH program (Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health), and president and co-founder of the non-profit Institute for Responsible Nutrition.
[
Lustig came to public attention in 2009 when one of his medical lectures, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth", was aired.][Robert Lustig]
"Sugar: The Bitter Truth"
University of California Television, May 26, 2009; July 20, 2009. He is the editor of ''Obesity Before Birth: Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring'' (2010), and author of ''Fat Chance: Beating the Odds against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease'' (2013).
Biography
Lustig grew up in Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, and attended Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...
in Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.["About Dr. Robert Lustig"]
''About Dr. Robert Lustig''. He obtained a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
in 1976 and a M.D.
A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...
from Cornell University Medical College
Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...
in 1980.[
His pediatric ]residency
Residency may refer to:
* Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc.
* Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue
* Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...
was completed at St. Louis Children's Hospital in 1983 and his clinical fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at UCSF the following year. After this he worked at Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...
for six years as a post-doctoral fellow and research associate in neuroendocrinology. Before returning to UCSF in 2001, he was a faculty member at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and worked at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.["Robert Lustig, MD"]
University of California, San Francisco. In 2013 he completed a Master of Studies in Law
A Master of Studies in Law (MSL) is a master's degree offered by some law schools to students who wish to study the law but do not want to become lawyers. Master of Studies in Law programs typically last one academic year and put students through ...
(MSL) from UC Hastings College of the Law
The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (abbreviated as UC Law SF or UC Law) is a public law school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was known as the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (a ...
.["Robert Lustig, M.D., Professor, pediatric endocrinology, UCSF"]
University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Lustig has authored 105 peer-reviewed articles and 65 reviews.["Robert Lustig"]
''The Conversation''. He is a former chair of the obesity task force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the obesity task force of the Endocrine Society
The Endocrine Society is a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, founded in 1916 as The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions. The official name of the organization was changed t ...
, and sits on the steering committee of the International Endocrine Alliance to Combat Obesity. He is married with two daughters and lives in San Francisco.[
]
Publications
Lustig's publications discussed a proposed toxic effect of dietary fructose
Fructose (), or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and gal ...
– a component of sucrose
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula .
For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...
(table sugar), honey, fruit and some vegetables – on the development of obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...
.[ In the early 21st century, Lustig believed that the liver is damaged by fructose in table sugar and ]high-fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose, and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzy ...
used in manufactured food and beverages (particularly convenience food
Convenience food (also called tertiary processed food) is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have ...
and soft drinks), and by fructose in fruit juice and vegetable juice. His position was that sugars are not simply empty calories, and rejected the idea that "a calorie is a calorie
''"A calorie is a calorie"'' is an expression used to convey the concept that sources of dietary energy are interchangeable. This concept has been subject of debate since its emergence in the early 19th century.
History
In 1883, German nutriti ...
."[Gary Taube]
"Is Sugar Toxic?"
''The New York Times'', April 13, 2011.American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...
guideline on sugar intake, which recommended that women consume no more than 100 calories daily from added sugar
Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates (caloric sweeteners) added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates ( monosaccharides and disaccharides), and more broadly, sugars nat ...
s and men no more than 150.
Reception
Lustig's statements regarding fructose as a "poison" and the primary cause of weight gain have been disputed because claims of fructose toxicity are unproven.metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the following five medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
Metabolic syndro ...
.adverse effect
An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term compli ...
s compared to any other carbohydrate
A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...
.[
]
Selected works
Books
*(2010) ''Obesity Before Birth: Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring.'' Boston: Springer Science.
*(2013) ''Fat Chance: Beating the Odds against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.'' New York: Hudson Street Press.
*(2013) ''Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide'', Avery.
*(2014) with Heather Millar, ''The Fat Chance Cookbook'', Thorndike Press.
*(2017) ''The Hacking of the American Mind'', Avery.
*(2021) ''Metabolical: The Lure and Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine''. New York: Harper Wave.
Articles
*
See also
* Epidemiology of metabolic syndrome
*Epidemiology of obesity
Obesity has been observed throughout human history. Many early depictions of the human form in art and sculpture appear obese. However, it was not until the 20th century that obesity became common — so much so that, in 1997, the World Healt ...
* ''Fed Up'' (documentary featuring Lustig, 2014)
*Metabolic disorder
A metabolic disorder is a disorder that negatively alters the body's processing and distribution of macronutrients, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Metabolic disorders can happen when abnormal chemical reactions in the body alter the ...
References
External links
Robert Lustig, MD
University of California, San Francisco.
"Fat Chance: Fructose 2.0"
University of California Television, October 21, 2013 (lecture by Lustig updating "Sugar: The Bitter Truth").
* Connor, Anahad
"Learning to Cut the Sugar"
''The New York Times'', February 19, 2014 (interview).
* Donovan, John
"Sugar Wars"
ABC ''Nightline'', March 18, 2010 (interview).
* Ferdman, Roberto A
"Explained: The actual difference between sugar and high-fructose corn syrup"
''The Washington Post'', April 1, 2015.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lustig, Robert H.
Living people
Low-carbohydrate diet advocates
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
University of California, San Francisco faculty
Weill Cornell Medical College alumni
American pediatric endocrinologists
Anti-sugar activists
1957 births