Sweet tooth: How sugar became the world’s drug of choice

Reaching out for a biscuit or a piece of chocolate to satisfy a craving for ‘something sweet’ can seem like the most natural thing in the world, but is our love of all things sugary a dangerous addiction rather than an innocent pleasure? In a lengthy article in The Guardian that’s already causing a stir on social media, Gary Taubes makes the case that sugar is ultimately the most destructive drug of all, with eye-opening long-term implications for global health. Historically, Taubes says, “the response of entire populations to sugar has been effectively identical to that of children: once people are exposed, they consume as much sugar as they can easily procure.”