The Baltimore Sun, 1923

"Many authorities on diabetes have denied that excessive consumption of sugar is a cause...However, it is a well-known fact that incipient cases...of diabetes are made worse by excessive use of carbohydrate foods." --Dr. William S. McCann, Johns Hopkins From the same 1923 article:

"There has never been a period in the history of the human race that sugar has been as freely consumed as it is today."

--Dr. William S. McCann, who would later become the President of the Association of American Physicians

Thread: How nutrition was understood in 1885.

What follows are passages from the 1885 edition of Banting in India—a book I came across while researching Ravenous ( amzn.to/3vPpndl ) 2/ How carbohydrates fatten our bodies. (Excerpt from Banting in India, 1885)

Thread: What I learned from a 140-Year-Old Keto Diary

While researching Ravenous — the Kindle version is temporarily on sale for $2.99: amzn.to/3vPpndl — I came across a surprising find in… 2/ … an 1884 Wales newspaper: a candid, first-person account of what it’s like to go on a low-carb, high-fat weight-loss diet.

Still can't believe this Associated Press article is from 1931.

(Full story of sugar, insulin, and cancer in Ravenous: amzn.to/2RHUy9H) Also pretty cool that the research was carried out by two women at a time when so few women had opportunities in science.

🧵1/ Four New York Times Articles from 1928 -- and the Haunting Story of The Sugar Institute.

-While researching Ravenous (just released in paperback: amzn.to/39wIwsE), I came across a New York Times article from April 8, 1928 that led me to some disturbing findings… 🧵2/ The 1928 Times headline is "Too Much Sugar for the World to Eat." Americans in 1928 consumed far less sugar than we do today, but, the article explains, there had already been an extraordinary increase: "For every pound [of sugar] consumed a century ago, today there is 20."

🧵1/ The Cancer that Changed European History -- And Gave Rise to the Glucose-Cancer Connection

In this thread, I want to share a fascinating historical episode I discovered while researching Ravenous (just released in paperback amzn.to/39wIwsE). 🧵2/ It's a story that I think has important implications for how we think about cancer and, in particular, cancer prevention. It begins in 1887, the year German Crown Prince Friedrich, next in line to be kaiser, was found to have throat cancer.

Thread-1: Did we ever truly have a chance of winning the “war on cancer”?

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act--the launch of the so-called "war on cancer." While writing my new book Ravenous (amzn.to/2RHUy9H), I tried to understand why… Thread-2: …we aren't winning this "war." In this thread, I want to pose a question that I did not directly address in Ravenous: Is it possible the "war on cancer" was undermined from the very start?

Thread-1/21: Why do so many of us get cancer? Does it have to be this way? Have we overlooked something fundamental?

These questions lie at the heart of my new book Ravenous: amzn.to/2RHUy9H. In this thread, I want to explain why I don’t believe it has to be this way. Thread-2/21: This story begins in the 1843, when Stanislas Tanchou, a French physician who studied cancer trends, appeared before French Academy Science and made a startling announcement: there were places, Tanchou claimed, where cancer appeared to hardly exist at all.

Thread-1/10: Why do our Congressional Representatives Want to Give Our Kids Even More Sugar?

In my new book, Ravenous (amzn.to/2RHUy9H), I write about the devastating toll sugar takes on our bodies and lives. So, I was upset to learn… Thread-2/10: ...that 55 U.S. Congressional Representatives recently signed a letter urging the USDA to allow more flavored (sugar-filled) milk options in the National School Lunch Program. Even without this change, the current regulations are an outrage. bit.ly/2UN3OLd

Thread: 1/10 - What are we teaching our kids about nutrition?
I spent the last five years studying nutrition while working on my new book Ravenous (amzn.to/2RHUy9H). So I was curious what my son would be taught in the online health class he took for high school credit. Thread: 2/10 - I expected the science to be somewhat outdated, but, even so, I was surprised. One multiple-choice question showed this image and asked the students to mark all the responses that make the meal "unbalanced." Any guesses?

Thread: 1/25: Can sugar be thought of as a cause of cancer? I explore this question in my new book Ravenous: amzn.to/3eJi4L2 (Pub date is 5/25. If it looks interesting, pre-orders are a huge help!) Thread: 2/25: I think the evidence points strongly in the direction of “yes” — sugar can be thought of as a cause of cancer. But I also think there are some important nuances to the science that are sometimes easy to overlook.

Thread: Can epilepsy provide us with any clues about cancer prevention?  It sounds strange, but the science is intriguing. In my new book Ravenous (very grateful for pre-orders: amzn.to/3gt7vhT), I discuss the importance of the PI3K enzyme in cancer Thanks to metabolism researcher Lewis Cantley of Weill Cornell, we know that mutations in the PI3K pathway play a role in the vast majority of cancers deaths. The Memorial Sloan Kettering scientist Li Ming  recently referred to PI3K as “the Commander-in-Chief of Metabolism.”