The eighth annual Lundberg Institute Lecture focuses on Gary Taubes' groundbreaking exposé, which makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives and making us very sick. Diabetes is more prevalent today than ever among Americans; obesity is at epidemic proportions. Nearly 10 percent of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The excessive consumption of sugar is at the root of these and other critical health problems. 

Taubes delves into Americans' history with sugar: its uses as a preservative, as an additive in cigarettes, and more recently its overuse in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. He presents the arguments against sugar, corrects misconceptions about the relationship between sugar and weight loss, and provides the perspective necessary to make informed decisions about sugar as individuals and as a society.