Cut Sugar Consumption

I grew up playing the game “Candyland”, and I dreamed of finding the golden ticket and living in Willie Wonka’s factory. I was also given a Gatorade after every sporting event I ever played in so what could be so bad about sugar? Sugar, real and artificial, can be found in almost every product we consume and although sugar is a simple carbohydrate that the body uses for energy, its impact on our body is far from simple. The consumption of sugar has been linked to a host of chronic health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The addictive nature of sugar is also a significant problem that leads to the other detrimental effects listed above. Sugar has also been useful to help preserve goods, fuel fermentation, balance acidity, and add flavor to other foods. Whether it’s cereal, spaghetti sauce, or yogurt, sugar is everywhere and has become unavoidable in our daily diets. As Americans, we have become accustomed to the sweet addictive taste of sugar, and our dependence on excessive amounts of sugar in its different forms has become alarming to many health experts. In analyzing preference and dependency with sugar, I will trace the addictive nature and major risks sugar has placed on society.

Having worked with many people who struggle with severe sugar cravings, I have come across some sure-fire ways of battling sugar

There are plenty of reasons and research studies that show how destructive sugar can be for your health if not managed properly, “and unfortunately our standard American Diet is anything but balanced.”(Konie 1) Americans don’t manage their sugar levels, let alone manage their sugar intake. The exponential growth of obesity in underway and the main cause. Sugar. Many people don’t understand this but sugar is perfectly fine as long as you can control it, many also don’t realize just, “how dangerous the extremes can be.”(Konie 1)

Todays people are quick to blame dieting problems on sugar, saying "I cant avoid it!!" or "Theirs sugar in everything." Turns out dieting is not the greatest problem. Heart Disease is one most common problems with eating sugar. People who consume more than the average 30 grams (1.0 oz.) of sugar a day are more likely to contract this disease.

Added sugars have a negative impact on public health; research has discovered an addiction to sugar.The study by Johnson and Kenny used rats to conduct their research and found, “that intermittent sugar intake leads to physiological and behavioral symptoms on discontinuation that are similar to those seen during opiate withdrawal and binge-like intake of sugar that to some degree resembled the behavior of rats given unlimited access to psychostimulants” (Epstein and Shaham 530). Similar to other addiction, it does not matter what the consequence may be, the drive of wanting the subsistence is stronger. In the article, “If Sugar is Addictive”, using potentially addictive sugared foods, the rats would seek out “despite receiving electric shocks while doing so, another classic behavioral indicator of addiction” (Gearhardt, Roberts and Ashe 47). Another study that was conducted by Dr. Hoebelo indicates that “When the rats tasted sugar, their brains released opioids that acted on the same receptors as addictive drugs” (Tufts University 4). With the benefit of animal models, such as the rat, has given insights on sugar

The main argument to be made here is that the only kind of sugars we should consume are natural sugars. Too much food these days contain high fructose corn syrup and other additives that our bodies can't handle. Some good natural sugars include ripe fruit and raw honey. Our bodies need natural sugar in order to function properly because, "when our cells don't have enough glucose to do their job they find alternative means by which to get their energy, particularly through fat or even our own body tissue. Always remember to be careful, though, as too much of anything is still bad.

Let's talk about sugar. Everybody loves sugar. If you want to stay fit, you have to say NO to sugar. It has to be a clean diet all the way.

The primary goal of my behavior change project was not to eliminate my sugar intake entirely, but to cut back on the amount of sugar that I consumed per day to a healthier amount. Before this project, I was consuming 1-2 twelve packs of soda per week. Each soda can contains 48g of sugar…that’s 576-1,152g of sugar! According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are (7): Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons). Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).This is a six week project, in which each week I will decrease my sugar intake, until I reach zero grams of sugar per day.

Utilizing appropriate health psychology strategies to establish health-enhancing behaviors is critical to preventing the onset of chronic illnesses. Through this assignment, I monitored my consumption of sugar from unhealthy-food items for one week. I then utilized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies and the transtheoretical model of behavior change model to design an effective intervention plan that I implemented for two weeks.

Sugar is one of the main causes for diabetes. For example, sugar contributes a huge role in diabetes, “Type 2 diabetes occurs as a result of a lack of insulin production or an increased resistance to insulin [1]. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that allows for the regulation of the uptake of glucose. It is released in response to increased glucose levels in the blood and allows for individual cells to take up glucose from the blood to metabolise it.A high-sugar diet has been linked with an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes due to the links between high sugar intake and obesity.” www.actiononsugar.org With having higher risks of health problems you feel as if you're not the best you could be. So much sugar making you feel

RESEARCH: ELIMINATING ADDED SUGARS 2Research: Added Sugars, Obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease The ideology behind the intake of added sugars to one’s diet can cause the effect of increased risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease is a controversial topic. While there is extensive research and theories by many researchers in the scientific community to support the adverse effects of added sugars to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, at the same time, there are not many randomized, controlled trials to prove the researchers’ theories

Defining a sugar-addiction is similar to identifying an addiction to other substances. Addiction to substances similar to heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and cigarettes are defined by a pattern within a twelve month period. Three out of seven symptoms: increased tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, using the substance more than intended, an inability to control the use of the substance, expending effort to obtain the substance, replacing important activities with the use of the substance, and continuing to use the substance despite its negative consequences could indicate addiction of the substance (Tufts University 4). Sugar-addiction is a complex issue, when it comes from sugar, since it is a substance that is in countless foods that are eaten.

I made the choice to lower my sugar intakes because many of my family members suffered from diabetes and I wanted to lower my risk of developing diabetes. I stop drinking juice because I know most juices contain a lot of sugar, I stop eating candy, cookies, cereal and I lower my chocolate portions. One roadblock was the cravings, I was always thinking about the sweets that I was not longer eating and the marketing for sweets is everywhere tv and social media, what I did was I stop buying candy, cookies, and juices since I didn’t have it at home I couldn’t really do anything about it and eventually I stop craving them. Another road block was that around the time of the month I would crave chocolate day and night and I allowed myself to have a small piece and that was

Attention: Are you a sugarholic? Do you eat refined sugar everyday? Can you go more than one day without eating some type of sugar containing food? Have you ever hidden candy in your home in an effort not to share them with anyone? If you have you are not alone; I am guilty of my own questions. Sugar addiction is the most prevalent, widely practiced and legally accepted addiction in our society. Through my research I have found several books written on the sugar addiction

As we hear of more studies exclaiming alarming findings of negative health concerns related to obesity and our continuously growing percentage of obesity in our country, particularly childhood obesity, sugar is in the spotlight. We often hear of dieticians and weight loss experts warning us that we