Sugar Intake Research Paper

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.

This is a fact that is not only staggering, but also shocking that we’ve let this happen to the modern age what with all the technology that could perhaps help reduce this. Paragraph 3’s testimonial is in short order, the UN says that sugar is now in the same league of products as tobacco and alcohol, especially when consumed in large amount, can pose a serious health threat, however it is OK, but only if used in moderation.

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.

Obesity is defined as defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Obesity is not only based on an individual’s weight but also their BMI. A BMI greater than or equal to 25 is overweight. A BMI greater than or equal to 30 is obesity ((Organization, 2013). Obesity is the most common preventable deaths and the fifths leading health risk globally. Obesity has also been linked to other debilitating diseases and can increase a person’s chances of being hospitalized. Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death (cdc.gov, 2014).

Down the road, added sugar has increased health complications tenfold. According to Quanhe Yang, from the Center of Disease and Control, “ 'death resulting from cardiovascular disease increases exponentially from added sugar consumption.' ”(Hellmich) Atherosclerosis, the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, is caused by correctable problems such as

Obesity is a health condition where a persons body weight is heavier than what is considered healthy for a certain height. To determine if someone is obese, a nutritionist measures their body mass index, which correlates with their amount of body fat. If the BMI is 30 or above, their body weight is twenty percent higher than an ideal height weight ratio and considered obeast.

In the article from USA Today, “Eating Too Much Added Sugars May Be Killing You,” Nanci Hellmich claims added sugars in soda, candy, and many more sweets may be killing you. Hellmich says that added sugar can lead to an increased risk of death caused by heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. She supports her claim by referring to a survey recorded by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey done on 31,000 people, then reflecting on the dietary habits of citizens based on interviews, and finally providing the evidence that most adults consume 10% of their daily calories from added sugar which is very unhealthy and hazardous for people’s health. Hellmich writes it in an informative tone for the public

Obesity is a disorder that involves excessive body fat which increases the risks of health diseases. The extra weight can come anywhere from your muscles, bones, fat, and or even the water your body stores. There are many different kinds of obesity ranging anywhere from childhood obesity to metabolic syndrome. If not treated obesity can become severe, causing you to become very ill or even hospitalized. “What is Obesity” says, “According to the CDC, an estimated 112,000 excess deaths per year are associated with obesity” (paragraph 5). Do not take obesity as a joke because it can kill you.

In an article written by Julie Corliss, medical writer at Harvard Health Publications, she addresses Americans unhealthy sugar intake, “Added sugars make up at least 10% of the calories the average American eats in a day. But about one in 10 people get a whopping one-quarter or more of their calories from added sugar” (Corliss). Sugar not only leads to weight gain, but also increases the chance of suffering from heart disease. Moving away from artificial and processed foods will help Americans lose weight and start towards a healthy lifestyle. If the body is consistently treated poorly, this will reflect in the mirror and on the scale.

Being obese is not just being overweight, but being overweight at an unhealthy level. The way to classify someone as overweight is by using their body mass index, better known as BMI. If someone has

According to World Health Organization (2016) when a person has a large amount of accumulated fat on their body, they are classified as obese and that is a health issue that can be influenced significantly by the social determinants of health.

Children’s health and wellness expert Dr. Alan Greene discusses this likeness of sugar to a drug in-depth in his Healthline.com article Is Sugar an Addictive Drug. “Evidence is mounting that too much added sugar could lead to true addiction. Added sugar is not the sugar naturally found in foods, but the amped up levels added to many processed foods. Medical addiction changes brain chemistry to cause binging, craving, withdrawal symptoms, and sensitization. Excess added sugar can do just that, through changes in the same pathways as addiction to amphetamines or alcohol. Sugar addiction could be an even harder habit to break, according to recent evidence about how added sugar affects our stress hormones.” Though the quantity and variety of food avaliable to us today is for the most part a good thing, it is having and will continue to have dire consequences for the

They are correct to an extent. Most Americans consume the processed chemical filled sugar, which does not help benefit our body for the better. If you eat the chemical filled sugar, it would be a good idea to cut that kind of sugar out. “Too much sugar does not just make us fat; it can also make us sick” (Richards). Chemical sugar has been found to affect your mental health. For example, when i eat too much of the chemical filled sugar such as candy bars or ice cream, it’ll give me energy for a little while, then i suddenly stop having that energy, and am tired and weak. When pure sugar doesn’t have a time limit of when you run out of energy. When I eat fruits or cane sugar i have energy all day, and helps my brain focus and think

Sugar is a very common thing we can find in our modern world. It’s in the majority of what we eat, drink, and snack on. Convenience is its best friend, because it can be found anywhere we look. We can find it at our corner gas station, our local supermarket, favorite movie theater, and in our own homes. Sugar is so closely related to the obesity crisis, and is believed to be the number one reason obesity exists.

The average North American consumes more than 130 pounds of sugar and related products every year. That may sound impossible but when you consider that one can of Coke has 10 teaspoons of sugar; you see that it is not that hard as the average American also drinks about 1 or 2 sodas per day. When it comes to refined sugar, the bottom line is that as intoxicating as it may be, it is addictive and there is little room for it in a healthy diet. It is by far more damaging than helpful. It is lethal when ingested because it provides