My Sugar Obsession
Jun 20, 2011, 1:23 PM, Posted by Najaf Ahmad
Najaf Ahmad, M.P.H., is a Communications Associate with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Human Capital Portfolio. She has contributed to RWJF’s efforts in the areas of health insurance coverage and nursing since joining the Foundation in 2004, and is currently working on initiatives to build capacity in the health and health care workforce.
I’m obsessed with sugar and so is my husband. It wasn’t always this way; we used to spend many evenings sharing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s curled up in front of the TV.
That was until we became neurotic new parents.
In our quest to become good—and healthy—parents, nutrition became a new-found obsession. Our determination to model healthy behaviors for our child meant, among other things, reassessing our diet. To guide our efforts, we spent many evenings voraciously reading up on diet and nutrition–this time without Ben & Jerry.
It was right around then that I first heard of award-winning science journalist Gary Taubes. He had just published Good Calories, Bad Calories, his magnum opus examining the relationship between carbohydrates and obesity. A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator in Health Policy Research, Taubes has rediscovered the relationship between excess consumption of sugar, chronic health problems, obesity and food policy. He is one of only a few journalists that the Investigator program has funded.