Kick Sugar Summit 2021 Summary
An Overview of the highlights, common vibes, and trends in the future of health and health management practice.
In case you missed it, this year marks the 7th occurrence of the annual Kick Sugar Summit which is a pretty neat digital experience for watching interviews with leading global experts on how sugar and sugar addiction are influencing human health.
The biochemical affects of sugar, sugar’s direct and indirect influence on chronic diseases as well as mental health, and treatment options to reverse diet-related diseases are the focus in a spread of interviews to feast your mind on.
Here we summarize some of the trends and themes from the event, as well as a sneak peak of some featured health leaders with must-know work highlights.
Feel free to drop a note asking more questions or how to find the minds behind the progress!
Overview:
The collection of presenters ranges from practicing MDs, people who used dietary healing to become celebrity success stories, and researchers with novel products.
Treatment methods for managing and reversing specific forms of disease especially diabetes, obesity, ADHA, and even autism got some attention.
Ages for treatment methods range from pediatric specialists to geriatrics. Some doctors focus on pain alleviation through dietary changes while others use amino acid supplementation to address neurotransmitter deficiencies that cause depression or effect stress resilience.
While some speakers have their own products, shows, books, and treatment programs some focus on continuing research and sharing the findings.
Themes:
Sugar is no longer referred to as a simple “ingredient”. Sugar is an addictive substance and a source of aggravation for many diseases. After many studies on sugar’s influence on the brain’s biochemical triggers (often more than cocaine) it is now being compared to smoking, alcohol, and other toxins.
The ole’ summary of diet advice of “moderation” is no longer valid. Food sources, especially in the US, have been so penetrated with sugar and sugar derivatives that “common sense” eating no longer meets the needs of the human body.
Not all sugars are the same, but it doesn’t really matter now. Whether it’s natural, added, or synthetic sugar substances over-tax the body and our poor liver has to “deal” - along with alcohol, fats, and other drugs. While high fructose corn syrup and other manmade sweeteners can tax the digestive process more so than say honey, the bountiful supply of never-ending sugars is the bigger issue. For example, if you’re adding honey to your coffee it doesn’t make that sixth teaspoon “okay”…
Children are getting adult diseases they never have before. One of our featured doctors (Dr. Robert Lustig) has led the “ah-ha” moments of sugar and human health through pediatric discoveries: children are getting Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Because alcohol and sugar break down similarly and the liver has to, again, “deal” - children are experiencing similar results to an adult chugging booze…
Perception of normal sugar amounts in society are grossly flawed. 25 grams per sugar a day - of any kind - is ideal. Fiber is ideal. Most foods you consume lack fiber and are two servings are over the maximum threshold of sugar a day. :)
Recent nutrition education is slow to move through academia and professional training. While many of the experts featured on the panel have been aware of the affects of sugar consumption on human health and even generational DNA manipulation, many have colleagues still unaware or unaccepting of the recent findings. So, if your diet (a major influence of recovery and long-term health) isn’t on your doctor’s radar, the hospital kitchen’s radar, or even your grocery store’s radar what do you do? (Answer: follow us and get educated to protect and prevent illness for yourself and your family)
No one diet. This may seem obvious, but it’s clear that once diet becomes religion we’re in a bad place… there is no one diet for all or even a large percentage of people. Genetics, epigenetics, and the health of your gut all play into what’s best for you and at what time in your life.
Microbiome. Yeah, it’s kinda a big deal. In fact, sugar affects us most through this whole situation often helping grow detrimental bacterial to out-populate beneficial bacteria. The result is something called dysbiosis, which can lead to: weakening cell junctions in the gut lining, bacteria where they shouldn’t be in the body, and body-wide inflammatory response.
Just because a food isn’t sweet doesn’t mean it’s not spiking your blood sugar levels. A bowl of basic basmati rice can spike your blood sugar as though you consumed up to 10 teaspoons of sugar…When two slices of white bread outweigh a teaspoon of sugar it kinda makes sense. So, it’s good to grasp the Glycemic Index and how certain savory foods (starches, wheats, non-fibrous carbohydrates) can launch blood sugar. It’s the repetitive spiking and overproduction of insulin that lead to the real damage and can unintentionally create insulin resistance over time, a precursor to diabetes.
Mental health and sugar consumption have some correlating data. Yeah, this one we kinda figured out after reading some very interesting studies on removing sugar and wheat from the diets of patients in mental hospitals resulted in a lower expression of auditory hallucinations, outbursts, and general overall symptoms - the response was startling in a good way. Yet, many hospitals still permit the inclusion of the now clearly addictive substance in recovering patients’ diet plans. There’s some speculation that the rise of sugar consumption in food (rapidly increasing ten fold over a few decades per person) and the dramatic increase in reported mental illness or mental health support has some connection.
Featured Experts and Their Thing:
Please note these are highlights only; some interviews will have separate in-depth coverage published later in the Atlas Library
Dr. Robert Lustig - Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, UCSF
Pediatric research and the three “Ah-Ha” moments in recognizing children’s health and the impact of sugar.
The most interesting “ah-ha” being: why are children developing adult diseases that they never used to?
Read his featured summary to learn the 11 Major Takeaways from this interview including what diseases are emerging in children.
Dr. William Li - World-Renowned Physician, Scientist, & Author of "Eat to Beat Disease"
More commonly known for his 20-minute Ted Talk: Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?
Dr. Li introduces and examines what we expose ourselves to through food can help prevent, manage, eliminate or create disease.
There’s a lot to take in here so we recommend just reading the book or starting with his Ted Talk.
Martha Carlin - Citizen Scientist & Chief Executive Officer at The BioCollective
It was a real banquet of knowledge bites hearing from Martha on how the microbiome is influenced by sugar and the special regard we all should have for our gut.
Her motivation to seek a better treatment solution for her husband after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s sent her on a path to become a citizen scientist. An enjoyable read on her personal story can be found here.
The coolest part though? That she found the top microbiologists to help her develop a treatment that lowered her husband’s UPDR test scores from 35 to 20… We’ll be featuring an in-depth summary on her work and progress to gather the best minds in the world to solve for disease treatments through understanding the microbiome under her open source foundation the BioCollective.
Julia Ross - Nutrition Therapy Expert for Treating Addictions and Eating Disorder
Author of The Mood Cure and The Diet Cure, her latest work The Craving Cure focuses on the addictive behaviour in some (most) people and how to overcome it, especially the power of the reward circuit in the brain.
A major feature of her health management plans are rooted in amino acid supplements that target neurotransmitter balance to correct nutrient deficiencies that influence mood and craving strength.
Learn about the five major neurotransmitter-influences that she focuses on and the symptoms that indicate whether yours might be out of balance by reading our featured in-depth article.
Dr. Jen Unwin - Clinical Health Psychologist & Author of Fork in the Roads
What Dr. Unwin says in response to abandoning sugar and improving diet: "it's simple but it's not easy".
In practice, she’s observed the “Thirds Principle” as far as the type of support people need to remove sugar from their diets:
1/3rd of patients act on information alone for health changes
1/3rd of patients need extra support in social groups
1/3rd of need formal support and accountability monitoring
She notes that addictive behaviour is emotional to overcome, similar to a breakup.
Fun Fact: Red blood cells (lifespan of 120 days) actually are sensitive to the blood sugar levels in our system when created. They not only “tag” that glucose level but also adapt in size over time when exposed to high levels.
For example, in people with diabetes RBCs increase in diameter.
This is why when her team takes blood samples for testing they can actually test a three-month history of blood glucose levels.
Sales of her recent book fund a nonprofit that works to provide food addiction resources and research to the public so we recommend going for it if this is a topic of interest to you because, in the end, it all goes to an educational cause.
Dr. Nicole Avena - Author, Research Neuroscientist, Nutrition and Addiction Expert
"The Hard Science Of Sugar Addiction". We love a good Ted Talk and Dr. Avena is another featured health professional presenting on How Sugar Affects the Brain (it’s a five minute knowledge bomb you need to hear).
Dr. Avena has focused on the importance of diet in expecting mothers and how the diet of a pregnant woman can influence her baby’s health, for a lifetime. Additionally, she’s gone on to research and educate how diet should change for women wanting to become pregnant, expecting, and once their baby is born as well as what to feed them! (Oh and what dads should eat/do too).
A considerable treat of an interview even if none of the above criteria suit your needs simply for the content on the basics of sugar addiction, sugar’s influence on dieting, tips to reduce your sugar intake successfully, and other beneficial habit-forming health hacks.
Dr. Emeran Mayer - UCLA Brain-Gut-Microbiome Expert & Author of "The Mind-Gut Connection"
"The Science of Sugar's Impact on the Microbiome". LOVE. IT.
Dr. Mayer goes into the depths of our biochemical design and questions the interdependence our neurological, biochemical, and bacterial systems have with one another. Considered a pioneer and leading researcher on brain-gut health and chronic disease (IBS especially), his contributions to basic and translational enteric neurobiology have wide-ranging applications in clinical GI diseases and disorders.
Now, the interview was conversational and getting to know the doctor as much as his work. Which was, actually, quite nice. So if you’re considering watching this interview and on the fence, just go for it.
Quite nice to listen to and holding quite the reputation, this guy: has published more than 388 scientific papers, co-edited 3 books, published the best selling The Mind Gut Connection book in 2016 and the Gut Immune Connection book in June 2021, a recipient of the 2016 David McLean award from the American Psychosomatic Society and the 2017 Ismar Boas Medal from the German Society of Gastroenterology and Metabolic Disease (happy we’re typing this and not speaking this).
His recent work focuses on alterations in the bidirectional communications within the brain-gut-microbiome system and their role in chronic inflammatory and functional diseases of the gut, obesity, and cognitive decline.
Dr. Michael Klaper - Clinician, Internationally-Recognized Teacher, Speaker on Diet and Health
"Sugar: Sweet Taste, Sour Realities"
Now, this was an entertaining interview in personality and content. Dr. Klaper has served as a nutrition advisor to NASA’s programs for space colonists on the Moon and Mars and to the American Medical Students Association. This guy even has a YouTube channel and is working to implement applied nutrition in medical schools known as his “Moving Medicine Forward” Initiative.
That’s a wrap!
Some of these featured health professionals will have more in-depth summaries released in the future, as well as some not mentioned here. To get the info you need to start living a more engaged, aware, and health-centric life you can learn more about each interview’s major takeaways in articles to come or contact Health Atlas Guide directly - love hearing from fellow health enthusiasts.
If you want to see these interviews for yourself, you can purchase access on the Kick Sugar Summit homepage for a lifetime (apparently) and the package comes with a few other perks.
Hope you enjoyed the summit and hope you got something out of our recaps to help direct you on the right path for health!