You may have already seen Mark Bittman’s New York Times article on Dr. Robert Lustig’s new epidemiology study published in PLoS One, alleging that sugar is the “cause" of diabetes. It’s no surprise to us that Dr. Lustig is continuing his tirade against this ingredient – or that his comments about its findings aren’t actually aligned with the findings themselves.

In fact, whether you’ve read the study or not, what you really need to know is that the study, co-authored by Dr. Sanjay Basu, doesn’t show (or even attempt to show for that matter) that consuming sugar causes diabetes.  And if you don’t believe us, read what the authors had to say in a Stanford University news release:

“The findings do not prove that sugar causes diabetes, Basu emphasized …”

“Epidemiology cannot directly prove causation,” said Robert Lustig, MD …”

In fact, even Dr. Frank Hu, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard University and no fan of sugar-sweetened beverages, stated to NPR’s The Salt that the study by itself is “weak evidence of a causal link.”

Seems to us that, for the benefit of his readers, Mr. Bittman could use some help separating science from sensationalism.