Robert H. Lustig (born 1957) is an American pediatric endocrinologist. He is professor emeritus of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he specialized in neuroendocrinology and childhood 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.[2][3]
Lustig came to public attention in 2009 when one of his medical lectures, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth", was aired.[4][5] He is the editor of Obesity Before Birth: Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring (2010), and author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease (2013).
His pediatric residency was completed at St. Louis Children's Hospital in 1983 and his clinical fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at UCSF the following year. After this he worked at Rockefeller University for 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.[2] In 2013 he completed a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) from UC Hastings College of the Law.[7]
Lustig has authored 105 peer-reviewed articles and 65 reviews.[8] He is a former chair of the obesity task force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the obesity task force of the Endocrine 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.[2]
Lustig's publications discussed a proposed toxic effect of dietary fructose – a component of sucrose (table sugar), honey, fruit and some vegetables – on the development of obesity.[9] In the early 21st century, Lustig believed that the liver is damaged by fructose in table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup used in manufactured food and beverages (particularly convenience food and soft drinks), and by fructose in fruit juice and vegetable juice. His position was that sugars are not simply empty calories, and rejected the idea that "a calorie is a calorie."[10][9][11]
Lustig was a coauthor of the 2009 American Heart Association guideline on sugar intake, which recommended that women consume no more than 100 calories daily from added sugars and men no more than 150.[12]
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.[13][14] Excessive consumption of fructose-containing beverages is likely a cause of weight gain and obesity in many people due to the additional caloric intake rather than a specific toxic effect of fructose.[13][15][16][17][18] 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 of metabolic syndrome.[13][14][17] Other reviews indicate that fructose has no specific adverse effects compared to any other carbohydrate.[13][14]
