Robert Lustig

Robert H. Lustig(born 1957) is an Americanpediatric endocrinologist. He is professor emeritus of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at theUniversity of California, San Francisco(UCSF), where he specialized inneuroendocrinologyandchildhood obesity. He is also director of UCSF's WATCH program (Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health), and president and co-founder of the non-profit Institute for Responsible Nutrition.
Lustig came to public attention in 2009 when one of his medical lectures, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth", was aired.He is the editor ofObesity Before Birth: Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring(2010), and author ofFat Chance: Beating the Odds against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease(2013).
Lustig grew up inBrooklyn, New York, and attendedStuyvesant High SchoolinManhattan.He obtained a bachelor's degree from theMassachusetts Institute of Technologyin 1976 and aM.D.fromCornell University Medical Collegein 1980.
His pediatricresidencywas completed atSt. Louis Children's Hospitalin 1983 and his clinical fellowship inpediatric endocrinologyat UCSF the following year. After this he worked atRockefeller Universityfor six years as a post-doctoral fellow and research associate in neuroendocrinology. Before returning to UCSF in 2001, he was a faculty member at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and worked at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.In 2013 he completed aMaster of Studies in Law(MSL) fromUC Hastings College of the Law.
Lustig has authored 105 peer-reviewed articles and 65 reviews.He is a former chair of the obesity task force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the obesity task force of theEndocrine Society, and sits on the steering committee of the International Endocrine Alliance to Combat Obesity. He is married with two daughters and lives in San Francisco.
Lustig's publications discussed a proposed toxic effect of dietaryfructose– a component ofsucrose(table sugar), honey, fruit and some vegetables – on the development ofobesity.In the early 21st century, Lustig believed that the liver is damaged by fructose in table sugar andhigh-fructose corn syrupused in manufactured food and beverages (particularlyconvenience foodand soft drinks), and by fructose in fruit juice and vegetable juice. His position was that sugars are not simplyempty calories, and rejected the idea that "a calorie is a calorie."
Lustig was a coauthor of the 2009American Heart Associationguideline on sugar intake, which recommended that women consume no more than 100 calories daily fromadded sugarsand men no more than 150.
Lustig's statements regarding fructose as a "poison" and the primary cause of weight gain have been disputed because claims of fructose toxicity are unproven.Excessive consumption of fructose-containing beverages is likely a cause of weight gain and obesity in many people due to the additionalcaloric intakerather than a specific toxic effect of fructose.Fructose – when consumed in excess as a sweetening agent in foods and beverages – is associated with surplus calories and greater risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders as components ofmetabolic syndrome.Other reviews indicate that fructose has no specificadverse effectscompared to any othercarbohydrate.
Books
Articles