Sweet Poison : Why sugar is ruining your health.

The silent killer. The metabolic murderer. It drips down your hand in the hot sun, sticks to your teeth like slime, and slides down your throat in fizzing bubbles. Sugar. A catalyst for obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. How could something so sweet be so dangerous? Cloaked by its syrupy spirit, sugar is packed with useless calories that create harmful reactions in the body, leading to deadly consequences.

The population’s consumption of sugar is at an extreme level. Unfortunately this massive intake is not from an overindulgence of sweet strawberries which, like other fruits, also contains essential vitamins, nutrients, and fiber to satiate hunger and nourish your body. The principle cause of a diet drowning in sugar is sweetened drinks. Instead of quenching your thirst, sodas, most juices, and sports drinks give no benefit, and instead are pumping you with around 40 grams or 10 teaspoons of sugar. With just one can of pop, you slurp down almost the total daily recommended limit of the sweet stuff.

Now, let’s talk about that ‘daily recommended limit’. In the U.S., the USDA’s dietary guidelines prescribe an everyday maximum sugar intake of less than 10% of total calories. Based on the same organization’s instruction for adults to consume 2,000 calories a day, the ratio for sugar is roughly 200 calories, around twelve teaspoons. It may not seem like much sprinkled throughout a 24 hour period, but when put into perspective of what that amount equals in soda, like described above, you get one and a half 12oz cans each day. Everything else you munch, crunch, and gulp that contains added sugars is considered an immoderate supply, increasing your risk of packing on pounds and contracting a dire disease. Because sugar has such a concentrated presence in our food, it is no surprise that over 90% of Americans violate the maximum precedent daily, sometimes by triple the number.

Since it is known that sugar should be limited in our diet, why do so many people continue to willingly breach the daily ratio? Most likely because sugar literally creates an addictive reaction in your brain, causing you to crave it like a drug. A drug! Eating something sweet releases a rush of dopamine in the body, eliciting feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. It also activates the brain’s nucleus accumbens, 3 which is the same section that fires for a heroin addict amidst a buzz. Along with these reactionary spikes, the level of glucose and insulin in the blood skyrockets. Then, with a repeated exposure to sugar, the tastebuds dull, leading to the perception that you need increasingly sweeter food to satisfy cravings. In simpler terms – an addiction. Once you decide to cut the sticky substance from your life, and depending on your normal level of sugar consumption, you may experience withdrawal symptoms, like headaches and depression. Yet these ailments are nothing compared to the self-inflicted harm you are avoiding; everything from tightening pants to constricting blood vessels.

Because of the dangers of this syrupy seasoning, the World Health Organization recommends a sugar quota of 5% of total calories – half the amount of the USDA at around six teaspoons. One reason for this vast difference could be the focus this institution has on health, rather than competitive interests. Throughout its history, the USDA has supported policies that favor corporations, like the National Livestock and Meat Board, as well as succumbed to pressure from big business lobbyists such as from The Sugar Association, (a real organization founded in 1943). Due to their wavering allegiance between the well-being of American citizens and lining their pockets with cash, the dietary recommendations they publish are routinely skewed. However, it is exceptionally simple to find unbiased, scientific research that supports not only a diet absent of added sugars, but one extremely limiting or completely without dairy, meat, or eggs.

Several sources to find education-based dietary guidelines are the World Health Organization, NutritionFacts.org, and Harvard Medical School. Harvard Medical School developed a complete diet recommendation chart, similar to the USDA’s Food Pyramid, called 4 the Healthy Eating Plate, that does not contain foods with added sugars. The chart is substantiated by modern nutrition research with no influence from the food or agriculture industries. The bulk of the plate, at least half of the daily recommendation for consumption, is made of vegetables with the accompanying statement of “the more veggies – and the greater the variety – the better”! Upping your veggie intake and using fruits to indulge in a bit of sweetness will help eliminate worthless calories, improve digestion, increase energy levels, and lower the risk of a numerous diseases.

Sugar is a nefarious cornerstone of the American menu. Lurking in plain sight, it exists in everything from candy to catsup to cornbread. To evade its deadly effects, you must be vigilant to avoid excess consumption. Be aware of its aliases, like ‘fructose’ and ‘maltol’, as well as the more easily recognized terms of ‘golden syrup’ and ‘corn sweetener’. Even though switching to alternatives with a lower glycemic index, such as monk fruit extract and agave syrup, will lessen the spike in blood glucose and insulin within your body, they are still sugar. Any source of added sweetener in a dish or drink should be treated as if you were spooning a scoopful directly into your mouth. Do you think that much sugar would provide valuable nutrients for your organs, brain, and heart? The answer is most likely a resounding ‘No’ – the taste will be sweet, but the consequences will be poisonously bitter.

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References:

1. Beck, L. (2023, January 11). The Globe and Mail. Coconut sugar vs white sugar: Which one is healthier? https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/ask-ahealth-expert/coconut-sugar-is-it-healthier-than-white-sugar-or-justhype/article19187927/

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, November 28). Get the Facts: Added Sugars. https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/datastatistics/addedsugars.html#:~:text=Americans%20should%20limit%20their%20ad ded%20sugars&text=Americans%202%20years%20and%20older,su gars%20(about%2012%20teaspoons)

3. Domonell, K. (2017, October 30). Right as Rain by UW Medicine. Just How Bad is Sugar For You, Really? https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/body/food/just-how-bad-sugaryou-really

4. Harvard Health Publishing. (2017, June 5). Harvard Medical School. Healthy Eating Plate. https://www.health.harvard.edu/stayinghealthy/healthy-eating-plate

5. Harvard T.H. Chan. (2023, April). The Nutrition Source: Sugary Drinks. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthydrinks/sugary-drinks/

6. NutritionFacts.org. (2020, March 2). The Recommended Daily Added Sugar Intake. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-recommendeddaily-added-sugar-intake/

7. Sugar Association. (2023). Your Resource for All Things Sugar. https://www.sugar.org SugarScience. (n.d.).

8. Hidden in Plain Sight. https://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/hidden-in-plain-sight/ VegWorldMag. (2018, November 25).

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10. Women’s Health. Sugar is Killing Us. Here’s Everything You Need to Know. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19911900/dangers-ofsugar/