The Effects Of Sugar On Our Health

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.

During the past 20 years, there has been a substantial increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. More than one-third of U.S.

Over the years the obesity rate in America has increased significantly. From 1990 to 2016, the average percentage of obese adults increased from 11.1% to 29.8%. The escalating obesity rate in America has made obesity prevention one of the top public health priorities. Being overweight has become the new normal in America. Obesity is caused by eating too much and moving too little, depression, and the input of social media.

Obesity in the United States has been a serious problem affecting Americans and has been continually growing higher in numbers each year. American obesity has nearly doubled within the last 40 years and is now considered to be an epidemic that is affecting millions of people around the nation. According to the National institute of Diabetes and digestive and kidney Diseases, 31% of men and 35% of women are considered seriously overweight, along with 15% of children between the ages of six and nineteen are also overweight. The lack of physical inactivity and extreme poor dieting are catching up to almost the same threat as cigarettes and tobacco smoking. We as a nation are considered to be the fattest country in the world.

Unfortunately obesity is a battle that the citizens of the United States are fighting. Over 68.8 percent of our adults have been diagnosed as being over-weight or obese and this usually initiates in their teenage years. America is second in the world for the heaviest people. Every year obesity is becoming an increasing problem in our nation and particularly in our schools. A huge factor is what we feed our students junk for breakfast and lunch.

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

Now let's talk about sugar. It’s in just about everything we eat. On average the american citizen consumes 19.5 teaspoons per day, that adds up 66 pounds per year, for one person! That is a clear display of our addiction to sugar as human beings. Studies have shown that through brain scans it has been found that sugar affects the brain similarly to the way certain drugs do. In an article I read called “Sugar is a ‘Drug’ and Here’s How We’re Hooked” the author explained how studies supported that sugar consumption can lead to neurochemical and behavioral transformations that resembles substance abuse. The dangers of sugar have gotten so serious that research released by the American Heart Association shows that there are about 180,000 deaths

The topic of obesity in America is not a new one. In fact, the reality of obesity and its effects on America and its population has been mounting by the decade. Currently, more than 1/3 of adults in America are obese. This translates to 34.9% or 78.6 million people. Unfortunately, this number doesn’t even account for the youth of America (CDC, 2014). To call this an epidemic could almost be considered an understatement.

Many Americans believe that all sugar is bad for the human body. This statement is incorrect because in Konie’s article: Is sugar bad? Why I say no! States that, “Sugar is essential to good health, Im talking about the right kind of sugar as part of real foods diet.” (Konie.para 2.Line 4). What Konie is stating is sugar is good if it is natural sugar, like from ripe fruit and sweet potatoes. This kind of sugar is what the body needs to stay healthy.

Today, America is fatter than ever. Since the 1960s, the number of obese American adults have doubled; the number of obese American children have tripled. Since 2001 America has had the highest obesity rate in the world. In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control found that 78.1 million American adults and 12.5 million children were obese. Since than, that number has been increasing. In 2001 36% of Americans are obese; 11% more than the second obese country in the world, Mexico. (Diet, Nutrition, and Wellness: Obesity, 2013)

I have a brief idea based on my own experience. I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia when I was ten, basically because I spend too much playing and no so much eating, what affected me in many ways; I had attention problems, I was tired and dizzy a large part of the day, so, after the diagnostic my diet became really strict. Also I went through different exams, and sugars test. So, during the whole process I started to understand how sugar affected the body, and the importance of controlling the amount of sugar we eat daily.

My topic is about sugar, do you ever think sugar can be bad for your body and what it can cause. Well today I will be explaining if sugar can harm your body and why we get so much sugar in us. What beverages we can avoid by getting high blood pressure and why we drink sugary beverages if we know it contains a lot of sugar.

This research predicted that sugar could lead to negative effect on people’s health. It is true that most people are eating sugar every day and it can be harmful to people’s health. There is some research that said sugar is not that bad; however, most of the research mentioned about negative effects which can drives heath problem: diabetes, fatigue, weight gain, and addicted eating sugar. According to the survey results, all of the participants were eating sugar, and half of them were prefered to eat less sugar. This may be because many people are considering the amount of sugar when they are eating food. Furthermore, around 75% participants considered the relation between eating sugar and health, and almost 50% participants were familiar with a less sugar project, which probably means that people think eating sugar can make health problem. In addition, around 35% of respondents replied they had experiences to stop eating sugar because they were concerned with negative effects to their health: diabetes, skin trouble, weight gain, teeth problem, and fatigue. This survey is not fully representative as the sample size is small, but some people got health problem because of eating sugar, so it could be helpful to know the negative effects that cause to health problem. It is true that eating sugar can be harmful to

Research by Prof. Selena Bartlet from Queensland University of Technology, shows drug used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat sugar addiction. Pointing that sugar addiction should be treated as drug abuse. The research stated that excess sugar consumption elevate dopamine levels in the reward and pleasure ventral cortex of the brain, in a similar way to many drug of abuse including tobacco, cocaine and morphine.

Overweight and obesity are serious problems in America today. Over 37 percent of adults are considered to be