Hi Donna,

I saw David's interview on one of those early morning shows a few weeks ago. Channel 7 or 9, can't remember. Prof Brand-Miller was saying the same thing then, and I couldn't believe it! She must be making it up. I think her research has done well to infiltrate every so-called expert guide, but it's on the decline in the everyday world. A lot of people bought her books, like me, but no-one I knew lost weight. I have even found I get hungrier on natural foods she says are low GI foods than high- e.g I get hungry after eating sweet potato but not white potato. I recently re-read her book which I bought in the 1990's and as soon as I read her opinion that there is nothing wrong with sugar, I finally binned it.

I was worried that her comments would be difficult to oppose. Luckily David countered her very nicely.

Prof Brand-Miller's GI endorsement program earns a percentage of the sales of CSR's Low-GI sugar (and a long list of other high sugar foods).

It think the Statistic she cites about declining sugar production comes from a study done by Alan Barclay (her Chief Scientific Officer and occassional acting CEO).  The study has not been published and he has ignored my requests for a copy. 

The most reliable data I can find on the point is from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 

When you put ABARE's Australian domestic sugar availability numbers on a graph, they look like this.

Sugar availability (for domestic consumption) is highly variable.  But its obvious that if you are very careful about picking which peak and trough you compare, you could certainly conclude that consumption has dropped between (say) 1978 and (say) 1999.  Its also obvious that the trend line tells a very different story.

These numbers come from http://www.abare.gov.au/publications_html/ac/ac_10/ac10_June_a.pdf

Cheers

David.

I cant see how she can make that statement considering sugar is added to nearly everything you buy these days.

I have been sugar free well as best I can for over 8 weeks and though I havent lost a great amount of weight yet  I am happy to not be having sugar I just try and do wholesome.

Thanks David for the book