Last time we sold these, we recommended finding a podcast to keep you entertained through your long workouts. And yes, if running for 45 minutes is your bag, you’ll want an overlong podcast to keep yourself occupied.
But if you’d like to lose weight without a protracted exercise routine, or without exercising at all, we recommend another audio accessory: The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes. If that audiobook doesn’t make you kick your Crush soda habit, nothing will. And if kicking sugar doesn’t improve your health, nothing will.
Sound hyperbolic? Oversimplistic? Maybe. But Mr. Taubes mounts a heap of evidence that sugar isn’t just “empty calories,” but a physiology-phucking toxin.
And he’s not alone. The New York Times this week posted an article titled “In Sweeping War on Obesity, Chile Slays Tony the Tiger” about the country’s war on sugary foods. One of the movement’s leading advocates, Senator Guido Girardi, doesn’t exactly sugar-coat his message:
“Sugar kills more people than terrorism and car accidents combined,” he said in an interview as he shook a box of Trix cereal for effect. “It’s the poison of our time.”
These government programs may seem heavy-handed or paternalistic, depending on your political leanings. And they may seem futile. But having recently traveled abroad, I was reminded that Europeans — even young Europeans — still smoke like chimneys. It’s jarring to my young American sensibilities, since I was taught at a young age that cigarettes are poison, whereas Europe has lagged in these public health campaigns. If sugar is a similar public health threat, and we want kids to stop seeing it as a “treat,” we probably need to start sending the message ASAP.
By all means, use these sport Bluetooth headphones to help you break a sweat. But if that sounds like a lot of work, and if you’re looking for a shortcut, consider freeing yourself from Tony the Tiger’s saccharine claws.
