Sugar: Enemy Number One In The Western Diet

In their 2012 article, "The Toxic Truth about Sugar," Lustig et al argue that sugar, like alcohol, ought to be regulated by governments due to the harm it can cause to individuals' health and the public good. Their argument, at first glance, appears to be highly logical and virtually unassailable: alcohol is regulated because it is bad for health and causes other problems for society, and so sugar which is the cause of much greater and more pervasive health problems and is also detrimental to the social and cultural fabric of the peoples of the world in a variety of ways involving the agricultural industry and global development should also be carefully regulated and controlled. The researchers cite actions taken in other countries along the same lines as a further justification of their call for more control when it comes to sugar content and consumption, and clearly spell out some of the concrete harms that increased sugar consumption has had and will have on the world's population, not just in developed/industrialized countries but in all countries adopting similar diets. This adds up to a very compelling picture of the threat that sugar specifically and "junk food" (calorie-dense and nutritionally-lacking consumables) generally constitutes to the world population.

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.

Sugar is everywhere in our lives. When you eat, sugar is in the food such as hamburger, sandwiches, pizza, bread, etc. When you drink, sugar is in the beverage like soda, juice, coffee and even milk. Furthermore, sugar exists in snacks such as cookies, cupcakes, biscuits and so on. I cannot list everything with sugar here. Actually, when we eat, we eat sugar. Unfortunately, sugar is now considering a toxic to our bodies. It causes diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart attack and cancer, etc. As sugar threatens the public health, government is considering curb sugar consumption by taxes on sugar; restrictions placed on food production and even age requirements on purchasing sugary foods. For this research project, I decided to pursue the question, Should sugar be regulated? This question deserves to be examined because we need to make some change for life to reduce sugar intake but at the same time it’s controversial that whether the government should intervene and regulate sugar. I wonder how the government will take appropriate measures to regulate sugar as well as improve public health.

Ultimately, the debate continues as to whether the US government should create strict sugar regulations or not. Sugar regulations should be enforced in order to decrease the rate of diabetes, risk of liver failures, and sugar addiction problems. These problems outright can ruin a person’s life, even leading to death. These problems give the necessary reason for the government to take action for a stricter sugar regulation for population

Michael Pollan says in his argument that the western diet is chiefly to blame for a majority of health deceases, he says “the scientist who blame our health problems on defiances of these micronutrients are not the same scientist who see sugar-soaked diet leading to metabolic syndrome and from there to diabetes, heart deceases, and cancer” (421) Due to all this negative impact to our health Pollan says that the food industry needs new theories to better redesign processed food and the medical community to make new drugs to beget deceases.

The American diet is based mostly in processed food which contains enormous amount of sugar. The excessive consumption of sugar can cause diseases such as obesity, heart diseases, alzheimer, liver diseases, diabetes and others. One of the problems with the consumption of sugar is that people get sick progressively without the knowledge that it is caused by sugar. In addition, sugar is an addictive food and life without it is almost impossible. As a result, processed foods are cheaper than healthy food. It is hard to avoid processed food when Americans do not have time to cook because of their life style. Americans need to know the way to change their diet and improve their lifestyles. Americans sometimes forget about the amount of sugar that a soda or flavored drink contains. These drinks are tasty, but it will not satisfy thirst. Sugar is equally dangerous and has the same health effects than smoke cigarettes. Consume sugar in excessive amounts per day have a significant effect in Americans ' daily life. Americans should be aware of the diseases caused by their eating habits, therefore; they should be more conscious of what they eat and change their diet.

The documentary “Fed Up” provides some important and disturbing details of the food industry. The 1977 heart disease and diet study known as the McGovern Report warned that the obesity rate was increasing rapidly due to American diets in fatty meats, saturated fats, cholesterol, and sugar. The food industry vehemently denied these claims, but the American people still demanded lower fat food products. The food manufacturers found that the fat removal made the food bland and unpalatable so to address this they replaced the fat content with sugar. Both the documentary and the Harvard Nutrition Source discuss the role sugar has in health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. They both link the consumption of sugar as the causality for

The daily food energy intake of Americans has been consistently rising since the early 1970’s while the energy expenditure has remained constant. A closer look at the data indicates that calories from fat are the same or even slightly decreased, while the calories from carbohydrates have increased by about 20% (Gaesser). Coincidentally or not, this is also about the same time that high fructose corn syrup was introduced. Between 1970 and 2000 consumption increased from 0.6 to 73.5 lbs per person per year (Bray). Doing the math, this would result in an additional 360 calories a day, though it should be noted that other sugars were decreased over this time so the impact is roughly half of that. At the same time, the energy intake increased from 3200kcal/day to 3900 kcal/day (Gaesser). Taking this a step further is the fact that there is a strong linkage between diabetes and obesity or excess weight gain. Between 60 and 90% cases of type 2 diabetes can be linked to obesity. Increases in body mass index (BMI) are as linked to increased risk for diabetes as demonstrated by both the Pima Indians and female nurses. (Anderson) Altogether, this paints a picture that type 2 diabetes is primarily due to excess body weight, which is fundamentally due to increased carbohydrate consumption, and in particular high fructose corn syrup. As obesity looks to be the principal cause of type 2 diabetes, treatments need to address both

When most people think about sugar, their first thoughts are not: heart disease, addiction, or slow and painful death; yet, unfortunately, these conditions are very real consequences of the unregulated and excessive consumption of sugar. In Nature’s article, “The Toxic Truth About Sugar” (2012), Robert Lustig, pediatric endocrinologist; Laura Schmidt, Professor of Health Policy at UCSF; and Claire Brindis, Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy at UCSF, evaluate the world’s ever-increasing and toxic struggle with the substance sugar – also discussing counter measures to promote healthier diets amongst American’s and other societies. Lustig and his colleagues develop their argument using statistical evidence as they address the global impact of sugar, refuting minor oppositions, before dissecting each harmful aspect of the substance – even comparing it to substances more known for their toxicity. Eventually, presenting readers with possible routes of regulation, the authors firmly suggest government intervention in the production and sale of sugary foods. Although the argument is well executed, I remain unconvinced that government intervention is actually necessary.

The author’s for the article “Regional Differences in Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake among US Adults” are Sohyun Park, PhD; Lisa C. McGuire, PhD; and Deborah A. Galuska, PhD. All of the author’s credentials are the same which is a Doctor of Philosophy, which is short abbreviated as PhD where a person who attains a doctorate of philosophy is awarded the academic title of a doctor. Sohyun Park is also an epidemiologist, Lisa McGuires is the lead epidemiologist and Deborah Galuska is an associate director for science, division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity. I believe that the author Deborah Galuska is a credible source for nutrition because first and foremost she has a PhD, and is also an Associate Director for Science for Division

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

The body requires sugar (Espat, 2015). However, there is recent speculation that sugar can cause cancer. “More than one million people in the United States (US) get cancer each year” (American Cancer Society, 2016). Most Americans eat more than double the recommended daily intake of sugar each day (Espat, 2015). According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, individuals should not consume more than 10% of their calories from sugar (US Department of Agriculture, 2016). While increased sugar intake can lead to other issues, such as obesity, which is associated with cancer, “diabetes and cancer occur together more often than would be expected by chance alone” (Oncology Nutrition, 2016).

The leading cause of death in the U.S., Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), also known as a heart attack, strokes or clogged arteries, is a serious health issue. As previously stated, each of the health effects related to sugar are connected to more potential risks; CVD is no exception to this domino effect. Sugar is labeled a contributor to obesity and diabetes, both of which are considered factors leading to heart issues. Obesity contributes to large quantities of excess fat cells resulting primarily from fructose, which then cause the liver to function poorly. The poor functioning of the liver allows fatty plaque to build up in the arteries of the heart, creating a high risk for a blood clot. The connection between these various aspects of metabolic health were tested in a study of 11,733 adults conducted by the Center of Disease Control. From this study, researchers concluded, “We observed a significant relationship between added sugar consumption and increased risk for CVD mortality” (Yang, “Added Sugar…”). Yang and his fellow researchers reveal that adults who consumed seventeen to twenty-one percent of their daily diet from sugar were thirty-eight percent more likely to die of heart

Researchers who are publishing in the Journalist of the American Medical Association’s Internal Medicine have found that Americans who consume the most sugar are twice as likely to die from a heart disease compared to those of us who limit our sugar intake to about 160 calories a day. That is about 10 teaspoons.’ (http://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/271873707/you-may-be-eating-more-sugar-than-you-realize-and-thats-bad) (citaat)

Advertisement and commercial industries portray table sugar, and other artificial sweeteners as fuel needed by the body. Though body and body cells need sugar as fuel source. The body mechanism is just like the case of engine, there are bad fuels which can destroy engine. Table sugar is just a bad fuel for the body. Several research studies have arraigned sugar first culprit for the epidemics of complicated health problems such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer. Worst of it, several research now ranking sugar as addictive substance as drugs.