Sugar and tobacco aren’t so different, and both substances are the main causes of diseases, like cancer, according to Gary Taubes, author of The Case Against Sugar.

However, unlike tobacco, sugar isn’t verified as the root of illness by nutritionists which is problematic, Taubes told BNN in an interview Monday.

Taubes’ main argument in his book is that sugar (fructose and glucose) is the fundamental cause of diabetes, heart disease, many common cancers, Alzheimer's Disease and obesity.

Taubes said the belief that sugar can be consumed in moderation is false.

“We don’t say too many cigarettes cause lung cancer, we say cigarettes cause lung cancer,” Taubes said, drawing parallels between cigarettes and sugar.

“In the 1970s when nutritionists were going after sugar, the sugar industry basically hired the most influential nutritionists to say, ‘fat is the problem, eating too much is the problem,’” Taubes said.

“The sugar industry managed to delay meaningful research on sugar by 30 years. So we’re just now beginning to do the studies again that we should have been doing in the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

Taubes is a dietary investigative journalist, uncovering nutrition stories for The Journal of Science and The New York Times. He is also the author of Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories.

He is now calling on science to improve their study on sugar’s effects and improve the public’s education on the commodity.