So Sweet Essays

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.

The past fifty years has seen a spike in the consumption of sugar, that number totaling a tripling increase. However, sugar is not the only risk factor here, alcohol and tobacco can also be attributed with the spike, albeit not as prevalent as sugar. The biggest question that Lustig et al. poses to its’ readers is this: “What aspects of the Western diet should be the focus of intervention”? (par. 3) The current USDA has been deemed “boogeymen” of diets, as well as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Lustig et al. all believe that our attention should be turned towards “added sugar”, which is a sweetener that has fructose in it. Perhaps the biggest controversy from the past fifty years has been none other than a severe culprit that experts know as high fructose corn syrup or HFCS.

Sugary beverages suggest a poor dietary quality; they are loaded with added sugars and attribute to the body’s energy density. “A 20-year study on 120,000 men and women found that people who increased their sugary drink consumption by one 12-ounce serving per day gained more weight over time—about 4 pounds per year” (19). Through increasing the daily intake in trivial increments, the body substantially results in an increased BMI (body mass index) and an increased body fat percentage score. Another study conducted at Harvard found that a 60 percent increase occurs in children for each 12-ounce they additionally drink daily. (________) The growing correlation between obesity and sugar has led to further studies, and statistical data. Researchers have revealed that in total, “half the people in the U.S. consume sugary drinks; 1 in 4 get at least 200 calories from such drinks; and 5% get at least 567 calories.” It was additionally found that one-fourth of Americans are consuming more than 135 grams of sugar per day from soda and other sweetened beverages, which compares to people of the past who only had 10 grams of fructose a day (_____). Such a high daily intake of sugar and calories illustrates the risk that arises when people consume too much sugar; that is, sugary drinks result in weight issues and medical consequences.

In our daily life, we all have tasted sugar probably more than you think. Sugar is something we enjoy without having much concern, in fact this can be problematic. With the amount of sugar we take in, it can affect our health in the future. Therefore, the US government should create strict sugar regulations, in order to prevent future health problems of its citizens. The regulation can hopefully help prevent the increasing rate of diabetes, more risk of liver issues, and reduce people’s sugar addiction. Most people are unaware of these problems and it’s up to the US to make a change in people's health with a strict sugar regulation.

Thesis: Overall, recent studies have shown that sugar substitutes isn’t and can cause potential health problems.

The big names use things like high fructose corn syrup, MSG, and phosphoric acid to replace more costly ingredients like cane sugar, real extract, and natural juice. High fructose corn syrup is an incredibly low-buck additive that gives a sweet, refreshing taste. This has opened the floodgates to large companies which are now using it for just about anything these days. This in turn lowers the cost of the final product you see on the shelves. Your body can never deplete the MSG you consume. It will build and build forever. Phosphoric acid is known to soften bones and teeth. There is little warning through advertising about the long term effects of these man-made ingredients. We need to increase awareness of the proven dangerous ingredients companies are using in their products. Our government is allowing this to happen, thus diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart problems continue to develop amongst not only adults, but the young generation as well. These quick and easy snacks are slowly killing

Today, despite technological and scientific discoveries of the past century, we live in a country filled with mysterious sicknesses. While America continues to prosper in other ways, our health continues to decline. What has helped to cause this terrible battle? Sugar. Even though it may pack a great taste, sugar has captured and addicted us to it. Our addiction to sugar has negative consequences such as severe chronic disease and obesity. Americans need to reduce sugar consumption to prevent, cure, or limit problems of chronic disease, addiction, and obesity.

The use of artificial sweeteners in beverages and food has been on a steady rise since 1969, the year it was authorized in the United States of America. The popularity of artificial sweeteners has been on a rise because of the benefit that it is a zero calorie sweetener .Even though artificial sweeteners have some great benefits many scientists believe that it causes adverse effects such as cancer, weight gain and depression. I strongly believe that consumers are not aware of the side effects of artificial sweeteners hence the increase in consumption since 1969.

Overeating sugar is the culprit of a mounting number of obesity, heart diseases, and diabetes cases in America these days. Look around, you can see numerous amounts of fast food stores, also all the “amazingly fancy” advertisements hanging in front of them. But behind all of that crunchy, tasty and savory French fries and hamburgers in the stores, there is a deadly lie. Eating a healthy diet is getting more and more alarming, I know you are tired of people telling you to go for a healthy

It todays society, health problems are becoming the norm.”Adult obesity rates now exceed 35 percent in four states, 30 percent in 25 states and are above 20 percent in all states”(Trust for America 's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Some of these major health problems can be prevented such as some diabetes, obesity that is not genetically inherited, as well as a reduced insulin production. To do this we need to start by looking at the foods that we eat, as well as the FDA’s food standards. High Fructose Corn Syrup is in almost every processed food out there. This additive has replaced cane sugar because it is cheaper and easier to produce, even though is poses commonly know health risks like liver failure, obesity, and a reduced insulin production, and lesser known concerns such as mercury that are not spoken of that often. The federal government needs to get rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup in our processed foods because of the known health risks in both the production and consumption.

The panel stated that since the ratio of fructose to glucose had not changed substantially in the United States since the 1960s when HFCS was introduced, the changes in obesity rates were probably not due to HFCS specifically, but rather a greater consumption of calories overall. In 2009 the American Medical Association published a review article on HFCS and concluded it was unlikely that HFCS contributed more to obesity or other health conditions than sucrose, and there was insufficient evidence to suggest warning about or restricting use of HFCS or other fructose-containing sweeteners in foods. The review did report that while some studies found direct associations between high intakes of fructose and other sugars and adverse health outcomes, including obesity and the metabolic syndrome, there was insufficient evidence to ban or restrict use of HFCS in the food supply or to require warning labels on products containing

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

A few months ago I watched an interesting documentary on sugar and the world’s health crisis called that sugar film. It is about an Australian man who consumed a diet of no processed sugars as his usual diet and then ate a diet that contained the average person’s amount of sugar for two months to watch the transformation of his body; however the crazy part was that he ate all foods that one may normally consider healthy but still contain the hidden sugars like low fat yogurts, juices, and granola bars. By the end of the experiment the man had all sorts of ailments like pre-diabetes and fatty liver disease which really surprised me since the foods were considered healthy. This lead me to reassess my personal diet as well as my family’s before

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

“Artificial Sweeteners: Sugar-Free, but at What Cost?” Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Medical School, 12 Dec. 2016, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/artificial-sweeteners-sugar-free-but-at-what-cost-201207165030. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017. Holly Strawbridge is an author for Harvard Health Blog. Strawbridge’s purpose in writing this article was to inform the general public of the dangers of artificial sweeteners. The article mainly briefs over the negative effects of consuming artificial sweeteners, specifically the diseases potentially caused by them. This article speaks more negatively of artificial sweeteners than any other source used. It is also fairly short and direct. It can be determined unbiased and credible due to the fact that it was published through Harvard Medical School. This source would not be optimal for this essay because it provides information showing that artificial sweeteners are unhealthy and lead to weight