It’s in the food, the beverages, almost everything sweet. It has not only influenced Americans’ lifestyle, but is responsible for acute and chronic health problems that plague America as a whole. The consumption of added sugars has skyrocketed in the last few decades and has literally become a part of our lives, responsible for our deadly addiction, before you know it, you may become another suspect of this killer. In Nanci Hellmich, of USA Today, “Eating too much added sugar may be killing you”, Hellmich attributes sugar is not only causing us to become fat, but also is slowing killing us from within. Sugar is killing people because it is responsible for increasing the risk of health complications, growing prominence, and America’s obesity epidemic. Down the road, added sugar has increased health complications tenfold. According to Quanhe Yang, from the Center of Disease and Control, “ 'death resulting from cardiovascular disease increases exponentially from added sugar consumption.' ”(Hellmich) Atherosclerosis, the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, is caused by correctable problems such as …show more content…
Long ago, sugar was a rarity as it was hard to obtain; however, it is a whole other story today. The World Health Organization recommends " 'consuming less than 10% of calories from added sugar.' " (Hellmich) However," adults in the USA in 2010 consumed about 15% of their daily calories... from sugar" (Hellmich) At this level of consumption, a significant part of the average Americans' diet composes of sugar-rich substances. "Major sources of added sugars... are sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts, fruit drinks, dairy desserts (ice cream) and candy." (Hellmich) For the usual breakfast, breakfast is washed down with a cup of fruit juice or orange juice. This cup already contains few to several teaspoons of sugar. It is quite difficult to find processed foods that does not contain
Overall, sugar consumption has increased immensely. We know that our health is worse than it was just two hundred years ago, and yet we do nothing more than add sugar. Sugar is not a good thing, and it’s even worse when we eat a lot of it. Sugar has had a negative effect on everyone, not only our youth. We, as a whole, eat way too much sugar and either need to eat less sugar, or eradicate it
Most people are quick to blame Americans waistlines bigger on sugar. But until now, people didn’t realize that sugar increases your rate of getting heart decease. Scientist where recently paid to too research the dangers of fat while not eating sugar. They did that to make people diet for the years to come. Fat and sugar is the leading cause of heart decease.
Added sugar, as mentioned earlier, is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet and is credited with ailments like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease , and cancer. “Added sugar (and high fructose corn syrup) is made of two simple sugars... glucose and fructose. One of the main reasons sugar is harmful, is because of the fructose. Although some fructose from fruit is good, large amounts from added sugar can have disastrous effects on health. For this reason...
According to the study, now published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, consuming one or two servings of a sugary drink per day raises an individual’s risk of heart disease by 35 percent, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by
Sugar causes inflammation, causes pain and can lead to diabetes , develop cancer and heart disease.
80% of products in a supermarket have added sugars, and they are easy to sell due to the addictiveness. The attachment to sugar is much like cigarettes, cocaine, or even worse. In a Princeton University test, 43 cocaine addicted rats had the choice of cocaine or sugar water for their diet,. 40 of these rats chose sugar water, and later showed signs of addiction. Companies often hide sugar in places you wouldn’t expect. Such as, there is 3.5 teaspoons of sugar in three Oreos, but there is exactly the same amount in a Luna bar, which on the market, is a ‘nutrition’ bar. Another example is Gushers, two packets have 6.5 teaspoons of sugar, just around the amount you need per day. Surprisingly, one little carton of Yoplait yogurt has the same amount. Finally, let’s look at M&Ms, in which one bag has 7 teaspoons. Let’s compare this to a jar of Prego traditional sauce, which many seem innocent at first, but in reality holds 12.5 teaspoons of sugar. Perhaps the worst example is the addiction of babies, using their formula. Some companies substitute the natural lactose in milk for sucrose, which is regular table
Added sugars have been linked to the high levels of obesity in adults, and primarily children. While the levels of added sugar consumption has steadily increased, so has the prevalence of obesity and chronic health problems associated with obesity.
The relationship between sugar and diabetes is quite complex. The quantity of sugar delivered into the blood stream matter more than the source. Nevertheless, many refined food items such as beverages contain free sugar which leads to a rapid rise in blood sugar levels. Many argue that sugar intake cannot directly result in diabetes. However, everyone agrees that weight gain (which may be caused by excessive sugar intake) has a direct relationship with diabetes. This was reported by a review of several studies showing a link between sugar-sweetened drinks and
This is a fact that is not only staggering, but also shocking that we’ve let this happen to the modern age what with all the technology that could perhaps help reduce this. Paragraph 3’s testimonial is in short order, the UN says that sugar is now in the same league of products as tobacco and alcohol, especially when consumed in large amount, can pose a serious health threat, however it is OK, but only if used in moderation.
“Food choices are made on the basis of taste, cost, and convenience, and, to a lesser extent, health and variety” (2). The current eating environment is characterized by a variety of low cost, energy dense foods served in large portions. The average American diet receives a little under half of total energy intake from added sugars and fats. Between 1977 and 1996, the number of Americans who drank sugared beverages increased 15%, and that number currently has reached around ¾ of the total population. The frequency of consumption also rose to 2 ½ servings per day (3). Soft drinks are only behind bread when it pertains to carbohydrate intake in children ages 2 to 18 at 9% of total caloric intake (3). Most energy dense foods fill menus at Fast Food locations. Consumption of large portions of energy dense
Sugar is, and has always been, unavoidable; conversely, sugar has not always been toxic. Naturally abundant and technically enhanced, this substance has followed in the footsteps of tobacco and alcohol, becoming just as unhealthy and ultimately lethal. And, without the implementation of government
First, refined sugars not only fuel good cells, but are a feast for malicious, cancerous cells. Though it is commonly accepted that sugar is, indeed, bad for one’s health, many do not know the extent of harm that can be done. As one study states “Eating lots of sugar over time can cause you to gain weight, and robust scientific evidence shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk of 13 different types of cancer...This is an urgent problem: the world is slowly drifting into an obesity crisis, with the condition already linked to nearly 500,000 cancer cases worldwide every year” (Smith). With the obesity crisis becoming exponentially worse in America, it is no wonder that cancer rates have risen as well. Although many people would like to “find the cure”
With 56 names used for sugar, it’s no wonder it’s in everything; 74% of everything you see at a supermarket to be exact. (Lustig) For such a common ingredient, sugar has quite the laundry list of negative health effects; correlated with aging, cognitive and memory deficiencies, competes with fiber for space within our diets, and contributes to diabetes which can wreak further havoc on the brain. (Colleen, Edwards) Regardless of who you believe to be at fault, consumers, regulators, educators, producers, or the geniuses who came up with the Birthday Cake Oreo the ubiquity of the ingredient makes it a public health issue and one that is difficult for the general public to avoid. 90% of this sugar for the average consumer comes from processed foods and those recorded as consuming the most processed foods were also consuming the most sugar.
Obesity rates have majorly gone up. We can't even trust food that are labeled as "healthy". There is so much sugar, there is so much salt, and there is so much fat in everything we eat that is made from a factory. Yoplait transformed their unsweetened breakfast yogurt with veritable dessert yogurt. It now has twice as more sugar per serving than a serving of Lucky Charms, but because yogurt has an image of wholesome healthy food, Yoplait sales soared getting an annual of $500 million. We will get so used to the high amounts of sugar in the food that we are eating that we will constantly want more and more sugar in the everyday products that we buy. Although we will normally assume that the products that are being sweetened are highly sugary foods, the industry as added a very large amount of sugar into savory foods. Everyone expects ice cream to be sweet, but what about pasta sauce? In a jar of pasta sauce, you can eat as much sugar as you do eating a ton of
Everyday the body is exposed to countless toxins. Whether from environmental or our own metabolic processes, when these toxins accumulate the body becomes overwhelmed and incapable of functioning up to par. For many Americans, a problematic toxin common in the diet is sugar. The average American consumes up to 32 teaspoons of sugar per day, much of this sugar is found in many processed foods and beverages (Lipski, p. 234). Many consume over three times the amount of sugar the body needs for necessary cell function, When this excess sugar metabolizes into body fat it overloads and damages the liver. Which puts the individual on the path for developing chronic disease such as hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, inflammation, high triglycerides and insulin resistance, diabetes, as well as causes damage to lipids, proteins and DNA, contributing to the aging process (Brandis, Lustig, & Schmidt, 2012).