Back in 1934 just three in every thousand adult Americans had diabetes. By 2012 that had risen to one in seven, with a new case being diagnosed every 16 seconds. In the UK, one in 16 people now have the condition; globally, some 400 million have it.

This “tidal wave” is the subject of US science journalist Gary Taubes’s remarkable book. From the earliest historical cases – diabetes was first described in the sixth century BC – to the latest research, Taubes argues that the primary cause is not dietary fat and a sedentary life, as has been believed, but our addiction to sugar, which has “unique physiological, metabolic and endocrinological [ie hormonal] effects” that trigger diabetes and obesity.

Sugar is “uniquely toxic”, he says, and compares the scale of the problem to the battle against smoking. Indeed, he claims that so many diseases, from gout to dementia, are caused by the metabolic abnormalities associated with insulin resistance that sugar is killing far more people than cigarettes. This is a shocking and extremely important book with far-reaching implications for diet and healthcare.

• The Case Against Sugar is published by Portobello. To order a copy for £8.49 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.