Solving Canada's Problem with Sugar Consumption

Researchers divided the mice into two groups. Group A ate food laced with the sweetener aspartame. After three months the aspartame group had higher levels of blood sugar than the mice that ate normal food. There is also speculation that same is true of other artificial sweeteners even ones made from sugar derivates or from the Stevia genus of plants.

This is a coffee with two sugars, and two creams. You’ll most likely hear this at Tim Horton’s, one of Canada’s most popular coffee chains. Tim Horton’s is also known for its doughnuts. Canadians seem to have a bit of an obsession with doughnuts, myself included, as we have the most doughnut shops per capita. So when you stop by Timmy’s (Tim Hortons), be sure to try a doughnut with your double-double. Or if you’re like me and you hate coffee, have a hot chocolate instead.

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

In the article, “Canadian Lifestyle Choices: A Public Health Failure,” the author discusses the health and lifestyle of Canadians as public health failure.

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.

Maple syrup is one of the main elements that Vermont is known for. “Vermont sugarmakers produced 890,000 gallons of syrup in 2010… the highest per capita production in the United States, according to the data collected by Coombs,” (Peters). For many years, people have come to Vermont to see the beautifully scenic foliage during the fall, and taste the maple syrup during mud season. Even those who aren’t traveling to Vermont still enjoy some pure maple syrup to taste with their pancakes and other foods. Maple syrup also makes for a great sugar substitute to cook with. While there have been no cited contaminations of the deliciously sweet substance, marketers are fearful that this could happen. For this reason, they believe that regulations should be put in place to prevent any contamination from occurring. Many small businesses are fearful that putting regulations in place could put them out of business. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets should reinforce some regulations, but shouldn’t place so many regulations on maple production that the smaller companies go out of business. They can do this by allowing Vermont to keep its own packaging system, allowing the grading guidelines that have been used for years past, and placing plausible regulations of the cleanliness and safety of the farms producing the product.

Did you know that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) accounts for over half of the artificial sweeteners used in the United States today? Although it is loved by big food companies due to its extended shelf life and cheap production, is it the healthiest option for the consumer? This is a widespread question that has been asked in the United States since the invention of HFCS in the 1960s. This artificial sweetener is rumored to increase one's chances of obesity, high cholesterol, etc. Due to the health risks linked to HFCS it is adamant that people in the United States greatly reduce the intake of this sweetener. This can be accomplished with three solutions, being, by simply raising general awareness about the health risks associated with HFCS, having stricter regulations on artificial sweeteners, or by lowering the tariffs on imported natural sugar.

The U.S. government is playing a key role in curbing America’s sugar consumption. This was initially created through a new version of our dietary guidelines. Dietary guidelines are created through the USDA to help guide food choices and encourage healthier foods. What was once a pyramid has now turned into a plate, a resource called MyPlate. It provides a visual (pictured below) and an interactive website with daily food-intake values and tips. This has helped American’s with their eating habits but some areas but has also pinpointed areas that need to be more addressed… such as sugar. In fact, poor diet is responsible for more disease than other lifestyle choices.

Today, Canada and other countries world-wide face a health crisis. Winson (2017) states “Between 1980 and 2009, obesity has doubled with half a billion people of the world being classified as obese. In 2009, 37% of Canadians are classified as overweight and 24% obese.” This places Canadians at a high risk for health problems and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, which has also seen an increase in the past decade. (Winson, 2017) In 2017, the World Health Organization released a statement, which found a link between sugar intake and obesity. It states that sugar has little to no nutritional value, and leads to an unhealthy amount of weight gain. Therefore, lowering the amount of sugar consumption will reduce the risk of obesity, health problems such as high blood pressure, and even psychological effects such as depression. (World Health Organization, 2017) To help fight

U.S. Sugar is one of the largest producers of sugarcane in the country. Its farms lie in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), which consists of 700,000 acres of drained farmland that were formerly part of the Everglades its self. (Duke University, 2016). U.S. Sugar’s facilities process sugarcane into about 800,000 tons of raw sugar annually (U.S. Sugar, 2016a). Agricultural production generally requires significant amounts of water, but growing sugar cane in Florida’s dry climate requires even more.

Unfortunately, the results expected for sucralose did not correspond to the experimental values. Indeed, the control, sucrose, was chosen due to the fact that the synthesis of sucralose begins with sucrose as its starting material and so was expected to behave in a similar fashion. Instead, it behaved alike to stevia, with a very similar minimum concentration (based off of experimental results), but with a range varying from 10-60 % inhibition versus 10-20 % inhibition for stevia. Yet again, the true comparison is difficult. In order to correct this mistake and so obtain comparable data, the initial concentrations of both sweeteners and that of sucrose should be the same, whereas in this particular experiment the concentration of sucrose was neglected. This explains the % inhibition being over 100% as can be observed in Figure 3. The stock solution, as well as the concentrations of the inhibitors, could have been increased to correspond with serving size (approximately 2-3g). These changes could have lead to more suitable data that will be analyzed based on real-life

In an effort to live a healthier lifestyle we seek products low in fat, sodium, and with zero calories. We reach for products that are convenient and commonly perceived healthy foods and drinks. Little do we know that all these products have an abundance of hidden sugars. ating too much sugar is linked to weight gain and various diseases like obesity, type II diabetes and heart disease. Too much sugar contributes to weight gain, type 2 II diabetes, and high blood pressure. A beverage sugar tax which consists mostly of soda has been proposed and where implemented it has shown to decrease the consumption of soft drinks. However successful, there are still many products in the grocery stores that have hidden sugars that are exempt of this tax.

The debate between naturally derived sugars and low-calorie artificial sweeteners has been going on for years now. As our population’s obesity rate grows every year and health concerns related to weight-control grows along with it, natural sugar is scrutinized and we are told to keep away from it as it is our enemy. Over the last couple of decades, we have been introduced to more and more varieties of artificial sweeteners promising to deliver the same sweetness or even more sweetness than natural sugar (some offer as much as 200 times more sweetness than sugar) but with a much lower calorie content, or some even no calories at all. Artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, Sweet n’ Low, NutraSweet, and Equal have become popular as “better alternatives” to table sugar, promising to help battle weight gain and actually assist in losing weight. However, does this make it the healthier option? As with all things, both natural sugar and artificial sugar have their pros and cons, but in order to find the best option in regards to our health and futures, it’s important to weigh them according to scientific findings and research.

Controversies, Infobase Learning, 26 July 2010, http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=2311. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017. This source was written in order to discuss the benefits and harms of using artificial sweeteners in place of sugar. This article was published in the Issues and Controversies database; therefore it has been used in academic writing previously. We can conclude that the source is unbiased and credible. It compared the high health risks of sugar to the very low health risks of artificial sweeteners. Also extensively covered, is the history and development of artificial sweeteners, and the opposing opinions on both. This source is lengthier than many similar ones, and contains more factual information and research-backed claims. Of all the sources, this one supports the thesis the most by providing