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Obesity : A Very Important Risk Factor

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Obesity is a very important risk factor which may cause many fatal diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and cancer (Martinez). The prevalence of obesity in the United States has been continuing to rise because society has not been taking care of itself. Many changes in day to day activity patterns and also diet have been provided for people to follow in order to keep themselves healthy and in shape. Some still might believe the reason behind obesity is the fact that the government is not helping them out, or the types of food the government produces, affects the cause of obesity. Obesity is a matter of personal responsibility, which has nothing to do with the government. Sugar has been known to be the …show more content…

For example, when cereal is being consumed, the sugar contained in the cereal activates the sweet-taste receptors, which are just part of the taste buds on our tongues (Barclay). This sort of sweetness allows the taste buds to send signals to the brain stem. From this point on, the signal allows the brain to activate the reward system. "This reward system allows the sugar to flow through the electrical and chemical pathways across several different parts of the human brain" (Barclay). After this point, the consumer is left with the decision as to whether or not to continue eating the sugary substance. Therefore, the reward system gives off a “feel good drug” symptom which generates the human brain to have more sweets. Over-consuming sugar can be very harmful towards the body. Even though, sugar is highly addictive, over activating the reward system allows the body to start a series of unfortunate matters. These events might cause a person to experience loss of control or cravings of more sweet substances, and also a contribute to a very high tolerance to sugar (“Why Is Sugar?”). This sort of addiction also causes dopamine to be released, which leads some people to constantly wanting more of that sugary substance. If people decided on eating too much, the dopamine response does not allow it to level out. In other words, eating lots of sugary

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