Many people say that sugar is responsible for the recent rise in obesity but is this correct? A fact is that nowadays we eat more sugar than we used to. In 1700 an average English household consumed less than 2kg of table sugar year. Between 1970 and 2000 adults in the US increased their daily intake by 13%. But is sugar the main cause for obesity? Scientists and researchers aren’t sure. Some argue that it isn’t only sugar. They say if you eat too much of anything you can get obese. Other scientists say that sugar is a major driving force behind obesity. They also say that sugar can lead to heart disease and Type II Diabetes. Natural isn’t bad, it is the added sugar that we should be worried about. Sucrose and high fructose corn syrup are added sugars that you don’t need in your diet. All this unnecessary sugar adds calories to our diet and this causes Diabetes and related illnesses. In 1960 1 in 8 US adults were obese, nowadays it is more than 1/3. Since 1980 obesity levels have quadruped in the developing countries to nearly 1 billion people. For every additional 150 calories of sugar per day in a country, diabetes increases by 1.1%.
Sugar increases obesity but to what extent are food industries responsible for the consumption of sugar? Most packed food in the US supermarket has had sugar added in its manufacturing. Especially low fat products contain a lot of sugar. US doctors and scientists are pressing food companies to reduce sugar in their products and to be more open about how much they added. Until relatively recently sugar was rare, however now it is made quickly and through the invention of high-fructose corn syrup in 1957 this increased as it is as sweet as table sugar but about 30% cheaper. In developed countries industries also have to make a reason to make people buy food, as they aren’t buying it because they are hungry and sugar gives them pleasure so they will buy sugared food. Especially sugary-sweetened drinks are very unhealthy. The government tried to reduce people buying sugary drinks but the food industry prevented this. So we could say that he food industry doesn’t care about how unhealthy sugar is. They just want profit and therefore even will advertise their sugary products. Sugar also cause tooth decay. Some people say that sugar might not be the main problem in our health but they way they are marketed makes us eat more then we need.
Some researchers take it even further and argue that sugar is toxic and addictive and should be handled as a drug. Many organizations want to cut the consumption of sugar and politicians are considering putting taxes on sugary drinks to reduce their consumption. Robert Lustig, an endocrinologist, is completely against fructose. He says it doesn’t play an essential role in our metabolism and as it metabolized by liver, if we eat a lot of it, it converts into fat. A fatty liver can cause inflammation, scarring, progress of cirrhosis and insulin resistance. Our body is just not adopted for sugar. Fructose also doesn’t affect Leptin, which is a hormone that shows when you’re full, so we never get the feeling that we’ve eaten enough. The burst of sweetness affects the reward system in our brain and therefore has a similar affect as cocaine. It alters our brain chemistry and makes us want more so it can be addictive however I don’t think it should be treated as an addictive drug as it isn’t as addictive as cocaine or other drugs.
Even if sugar has such a big impact on health I don’t think that more money should go towards research into the effects of sugar rather than cancer research because cancer is an illness that around 13,500000 people are effected by (http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/cancer-prevalence). Even though there are even more people suffering from obesity, after all it is on them to reduce their sugar consumption. If they only stop drinking sugary drinks there sugar levels would reduce already. Cancer is an illness that many people die of and it isn’t just something they can cure with changing their diet. Therefore do I think that money should be invested in the research of cancer and not in the research of the effects of sugar as cancer is more dangerous and it isn’t something you can cure easily.
Sugar increases obesity but to what extent are food industries responsible for the consumption of sugar? Most packed food in the US supermarket has had sugar added in its manufacturing. Especially low fat products contain a lot of sugar. US doctors and scientists are pressing food companies to reduce sugar in their products and to be more open about how much they added. Until relatively recently sugar was rare, however now it is made quickly and through the invention of high-fructose corn syrup in 1957 this increased as it is as sweet as table sugar but about 30% cheaper. In developed countries industries also have to make a reason to make people buy food, as they aren’t buying it because they are hungry and sugar gives them pleasure so they will buy sugared food. Especially sugary-sweetened drinks are very unhealthy. The government tried to reduce people buying sugary drinks but the food industry prevented this. So we could say that he food industry doesn’t care about how unhealthy sugar is. They just want profit and therefore even will advertise their sugary products. Sugar also cause tooth decay. Some people say that sugar might not be the main problem in our health but they way they are marketed makes us eat more then we need.
Some researchers take it even further and argue that sugar is toxic and addictive and should be handled as a drug. Many organizations want to cut the consumption of sugar and politicians are considering putting taxes on sugary drinks to reduce their consumption. Robert Lustig, an endocrinologist, is completely against fructose. He says it doesn’t play an essential role in our metabolism and as it metabolized by liver, if we eat a lot of it, it converts into fat. A fatty liver can cause inflammation, scarring, progress of cirrhosis and insulin resistance. Our body is just not adopted for sugar. Fructose also doesn’t affect Leptin, which is a hormone that shows when you’re full, so we never get the feeling that we’ve eaten enough. The burst of sweetness affects the reward system in our brain and therefore has a similar affect as cocaine. It alters our brain chemistry and makes us want more so it can be addictive however I don’t think it should be treated as an addictive drug as it isn’t as addictive as cocaine or other drugs.
Even if sugar has such a big impact on health I don’t think that more money should go towards research into the effects of sugar rather than cancer research because cancer is an illness that around 13,500000 people are effected by (http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/cancer-prevalence). Even though there are even more people suffering from obesity, after all it is on them to reduce their sugar consumption. If they only stop drinking sugary drinks there sugar levels would reduce already. Cancer is an illness that many people die of and it isn’t just something they can cure with changing their diet. Therefore do I think that money should be invested in the research of cancer and not in the research of the effects of sugar as cancer is more dangerous and it isn’t something you can cure easily.