Naeem's Blog

I wholeheartedly urge all of you to watch this 90-minute presentation called "Sugar: The Bitter Truth". This specialist in childhood obesity from the University of California, Dr. Robert Lustig, gives an extremely convincing argument for looking at sugar as a poison or a toxin.

And if you find that 90-minutes is too long, then read this NY Times article summarizing Lustig's argument. I watched the presentation a few weeks ago and I read the article just yesterday and I actually preferred the article. Easier to keep up with the nuances and details.

And if even the article is too long for you, then allow me to summarize them both:

SUGAR SUCKS!

According to a 1986 FDA-sponsored study on sugar, individuals limiting themselves to 40 pounds of added sugar (the sugar beyond what we get from fruits and vegetables) per year demonstrated no conclusive proof of harm. Forty pounds per year amounts to 200 calories of sugar per day or the equivalent of a can and a half of soda or two cups of apple juice. Unfortunately, in the 80's, it was estimated that the average annual consumption of sugar was around 75 pounds a year!

So even back then, our levels of sugar consumption were potentially problematic according to that conservative study. "By the early 2000s, according to the U.S.D.A., we had increased our consumption to more than 90 pounds per person per year."

So clearly our diet has resulted in an unmaintainable rate of sugar consumption. But getting fat is the least of our worries. Recent studies are showing a strong correlation between sugar and insulin resistance.

"...if the fructose hits the liver in sufficient quantity and with sufficient speed, the liver will convert much of it to fat. This apparently induces a condition known as insulin resistance, which is now considered the fundamental problem in obesity, and the underlying defect in heart disease and in the type of diabetes, type 2, that is common to obese and overweight individuals. It might also be the underlying defect in many cancers."

The way our body metabolizes sugar and high-fructose corn syrup is extremely problematic.

"It very well may be true that sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, because of the unique way in which we metabolize fructose and at the levels we now consume it, cause fat to accumulate in our livers followed by insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, and so trigger the process that leads to heart disease, diabetes and obesity. They could indeed be toxic, but they take years to do their damage. It doesn’t happen overnight."

That being said, scientists haven't been able to conclusively correlate the increased amounts of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, or some forms of cancer.

Yeah, even cancer.

"Cancer researchers now consider that the problem with insulin resistance is that it leads us to secrete more insulin, and insulin (as well as a related hormone known as insulin-like growth factor) actually promotes tumor growth."

So, eventhough many studies are inconclusive, two of the leading experts on cancer and its potential link to insulin, Craig Thompson and Lewis Cantley have both taken the extreme measure of removing sugar from their diets.

"“I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can,” Thompson told me, “because I believe ultimately it’s something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer.” Cantley put it this way: “Sugar scares me.”"

Indeed, sugar scares me as well.

With young children of my own, I am struggling to wean them from the high levels of sugar in their diet. So much of the food and snacks available nowadays is full of sugar. For now I'm focusing on two basic rules in our home: no sugar-infested drinks (replaced with milk and water) and lots of fruits. Simple steps that I suggest everyone else take as well.

Wow.

Of all the articles and posts I've read on the OBL kill, Chomsky's has been the MOST powerful.

No one but Chomsky could get away with saying these keepers:

"There is much talk of bin Laden’s “confession,” but that is rather like my confession that I won the Boston Marathon. He boasted of what he regarded as a great achievement."

"In societies that profess some respect for law, suspects are apprehended and brought to fair trial. I stress “suspects.” In April 2002, the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, informed the press that after the most intensive investigation in history, the FBI could say no more than that it “believed” that the plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though implemented in the UAE and Germany."

"We might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bush’s compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic. Uncontroversially, his crimes vastly exceed bin Laden’s, and he is not a “suspect” but uncontroversially the “decider” who gave the orders to commit the “supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole” (quoting the Nuremberg Tribunal) for which Nazi criminals were hanged: the hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, destruction of much of the country, the bitter sectarian conflict that has now spread to the rest of the region."

And finally, this golden quote really won it for me:

"Same with the name, Operation Geronimo. The imperial mentality is so profound, throughout western society, that no one can perceive that they are glorifying bin Laden by identifying him with courageous resistance against genocidal invaders. It’s like naming our murder weapons after victims of our crimes: Apache, Tomahawk… It’s as if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes “Jew” and “Gypsy.”"

This past week I read this well-written post over at MuslimMatters. The author, Ibnabeeomar, logically presented his case on many Muslims missing the forest for the trees when they go to extremes in arguing for Halal/Zabiha meat all the while riba-based transactions plague their personal finances. It’s a beautiful piece that I recommend all of you take the time to read.

Many Muslims living in the West are understandably bothered by the petty arguments and polemics surrounding recurring hot topics such as Halal-vs-Zabiha, moonsighting, and participating in elections. They make the case for moving on and focusing on ‘bigger fish to fry’.

I couldn’t agree more.

Here in Saudi Arabia, while many of the issues particular to the West are non-existent, the same disease (‘missing-the-big-picture’-itis) plagues Muslims here as well. The problem here, as I see it, is that Muslims are stuck in neutral with their non-stop focus on Aqeedah.

This constant infatuation with perfecting one’s Aqeedah is like a never-ending cycle of mastering one’s basic math skills. It’s not enough that a class full of children is able to proficiently add and subtract, but they must all do it in exactly the same manner. It matters not that one student uses his fingers to add while another draws lines on paper to subtract or another does it all in her head. They must all continue studying this basic skill until it’s absolutely flawless.

I see this same counterproductive approach to this most fundamental of Islamic sciences. These Muslims, whose sincerity I do not question, overlook the social, educational, political and economic tragedies currently facing the Muslim world, believing the root cause of all our problems is our imperfect Aqeedah. If we simply focused on properly understanding Tauheed and all its ramifications, they claim, then Allah (swt) would shower His blessings down upon us all.

Actually, I can’t argue with this last statement – except with the narrow scope of how they define the ramifications of true Tauheed. For them, it means studying books on Aqeedah ad infinitum. I, on the other hand, take it to mean a Tauheed-inspired worldview in which every aspect of our life, not just the theological minutiae of Aqeedah, are dictated by the One (swt).

The Oneness of Allah (swt) is not rocket science, folks. Everything we need to know we learned in Kindergarten Sunday School.

The Prophet (saw) declared, "By Allah! I am not afraid that you will worship others with Allah after my death, but I am afraid that you will fight with one another for this dunya.” So if our dear Prophet (saw) did not fear overt shirk becoming established amongst his Ummah, then why are we so engrossed by it?

We have lost sight of the bigger picture – connecting our hearts to Allah (swt) while directing our energies towards a world where Divine justice reigns supreme – choosing to instead focus on the gory details of where is Allah (swt) or exposing those who 'worship graves'.

Disclaimer #1: I am not trying to undermine the importance of studying Aqeedah. But just as basic arithmetic skills are critical in creating a foundation for higher maths, Aqeedah is but a foundation for higher Islamic endeavors.

Disclaimer #2: Saudi Arabia is not alone in her ‘missing-the-big-picture’-itis. Every Muslim land suffers from this disease in one way or another. I just picked on their over-infatuation of Aqeedah as emblematic of the problem.