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America's Favorite Addiction: Sugar
- 2. The Problem Excess sugar is a major source of health related problems in Americans, especially obesity and heart disease, the leading cause of death in Americans.
- 3. History ● Sugarcane crops were introduced to America by Christopher Columbus in 1492. ● The crop has thrived and become a staple in almost every food culture on this planet.
- 4. The Rise of Added Sugars ● “Virtually every item in the entire grocery store is laced with added sugar, on purpose, by the food industry, because they know when they add it you buy more.” ○ - Dr. Robert Lustig, pediatric endocrinologist and founder of the Institute for Responsible Nutrition ● Americans are consuming 2 to 4 times the daily recommended amount of sugar.
- 5. What’s at Stake ● Excess sugar can lead to a massive list of health and psychological problems. ● Obesity alone will bring significant issues the body is unprepared to handle.
- 6. Sugar Deception ● Sugar can hide under 56 different names (Barnwell). ● Sugar is the only category in Nutrition labels to not include a daily value percentage for sugar. ● Misleadingly small serving sizes.
- 7. Fighters in the Ring ● In the 1960s, the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists to find research that would downplay the risks of sugar and instead point the finger towards fats (Kearns et. al.)
- 11. What We Can Do ● Strive to be educated on the matter. ● Read nutrition labels in its entirety. ● Be active in the discussion of food politics.
- 12. In light of COVID-19
- 14. Works Cited Barwell, Anna. “Secret Sugars: The 56 Different Names for Sugar.” Virta Health, 3 Dec. 2018, www.virtahealth.com/blog/names-for-sugar. Davies, Nicola. “Mental Illness and Obesity.” Psychiatry Advisor, 17 Dec. 2018, www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/conference-highlights/aaic-2015-coverage/mental-illness-and- obesity/. Fuhrmeister, Chris. “Watch: Why Are Americans Addicted to Sugar?” Eater, Eater, 11 Oct. 2016, www.eater.com/2016/10/11/13251674/is-sugar-a-drug-video.
- 15. Works Cited “Have Low-Fat Diets Made Us Fatter?” Harvard School of Public Health, 6 Jan. 2016, www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/have-low-fat-diets-made-us-fatter/. Krans, Brian. “America’s Deadly Sugar Addiction Has Reached Epidemic Level.” Healthline, 24 Oct. 2016, www.healthline.com/health/sugar/americas-deadly-sugar-addiction. Ogden, Cynthia, et al. “Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults, by Household Income and Education - United States, 2011–2014.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 Feb. 2018, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6650a1.htm?s_cid=mm6650a1_w.
- 16. Works Cited “Products - Data Briefs - Number 360 - February 2020.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Feb. 2020, www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db360.htm.
Editor's Notes
- Hi everyone my name is Tiffany Nguyen. Today, I’ll be taking you through my presentation: America’s Favorite Addiction: Sugar.
- Sugar alone is not bad for you, however like the majority of all things, sugar in excess can be deadly. The American Heart Association recommends that adults consume no more than 25 to 37 grams of added sugar a day. There are conflicting reports about today’s average consumption ranging from 70 grams to 150 grams a day but without a doubt Americans are eating sugar in excess (Gunnars; Youn; Krans). This constant intake triggers a spike in human brain dopamine levels, which leads to cravings for even more sugar. That is often known as addiction; some scientists want to identify sugar as a drug (Fuhrmeister).
- Sugar has been a part of the human diet for thousands of years. Formerly considered a luxury, on his journey to North America in 1492, Christopher Columbus brought the "white gold" plants with him, and thus the sugarcane crop flourished. To this day sugar is still a major international cash crop and plays a significant part in almost every culture on the planet (Krans).
- Dr. Robert Lustig, pediatric endocrinologist and founder of the Institute of Responsible Nutrition said. “Virtually every item in the entire grocery store is laced with added sugar, on purpose, by the food industry, because they know when they add it you buy more.” Today, Americans on average are consuming 2-4x more than the daily recommended amount of sugar set forth by the American Heart Association (Gunnars). When it comes to sugar, conversation expands the table sugar made from sugarcane and beets, but even those made from corn, including corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup. Sugar can be identified by 56 terms, each of which can appear on food labels. Bring all these names under the umbrella of caloric sweeteners and at its height in 1999, Americans consumed 155 pounds of caloric sweeteners each year, or around 52 teaspoons a day, reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (Krans). Between 2005 to 2009, according to a 2012 report by Ng, Slining, and Popkin, 77% of all calories purchased in the U.S. included caloric sweeteners. They have been found in where one might expect: sweets, pies, cookies, cakes, and sugar-sweetened beverages—but as well as in cereals, protein, energy bars, granola, and more. Corn syrup is the most commonly used sweetener on the food market in the US.
- The human body was not equipped to process these amounts of sweeteners, as is evident from the rising tide of the related diseases. In addition to cavities, dietary sweetener intake leads directly to the development of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is thought to account for most liver transplant demands in the United States (Krans). With the physical health issues, especially obesity, may follow psychological issues as well such as depression, anxiety, or lowered self esteem (Davies).
- Sugar goes by 56 different names which can be difficult for consumers to realize just how much, and how many types of sugars are in their food (Barnwell). Nutrition labels do not include a daily value percentage for sugar, thus consumers do not realize just how much of their daily calories include sugar. Serving sizes are intentionally kept small to trick the consumer that they’re making healthy choices. If we pick up a bag of Reese’s Pieces and read that there’s only 18 grams of sugar, we’ll be excited to spend our allotted daily sugar recommendation on this candy. 18 grams looks relatively low compared to other products. But if we read the Reese’s nutrition label further, we’ll find that 11 Reese’s Pieces equal one serving. Eleven. The entire bag itself has six servings, thus if you didn’t intend to share, you’ll be consuming 108 grams of sugar alone. That’s more than three times the recommended amount. Undershooting the serving size is an extremely popular tactic among food companies to present their product as healthier than it actually is.
- In the 1960s, the sugar industry sponsored Harvard scientists $50,000 to downplay the risks of sugar and instead point the finger towards fats (Kearns et. al.) This hysteria over sugar led to the trend in labeling foods as “low fat”. However, Americans paid too much attention to the “low fat” tag and not enough to the rest of the nutrition label. Low-fat products put on the market over the past 40 years are high in processed carbohydrates to make the product more palatable. In reality, this increases our insulin levels, stimulates our fat cells to store calories, slows down our metabolism and makes us more hungry. As such, obesity in America is higher than it has ever been before (Chan).
- People often substitute Vitamin Water for the healthier alternative to sodas such as Coke or Sprite. Even so, healthier does not mean healthy. This particular flavor of Vitamin Water contains 32 grams of sugar, which is the entirety of one’s daily recommended sugar intake in a single drink. Here, you can also see how the percentages are excluded from the sugar portion of the label.
- A popular “healthy snack” is yogurt. This particular one contains 26 grams, which like the Vitamin Water, is on par with the daily amount of recommended sugar all in a single serving snack.
- The Black population had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity at almost 50% of black people being categorized as overweight or obese, followed by the Hispanic populaton at 44.8%, White population at 42.2%, and the finally the Asian population with the lowest rate of overweight or obese individuals at 17.4%. In another study, the prevalence of obesity among men and women with a college degree was lower than among those with less education. (Ogden et. al.) With these studies in mind, it can be said that those at the greatest risk for obesity are minority populations with minimal education. The war against sugar is also thinly disguised as one against class and race as well.
- It is entirely possible to take our health back into our own hands. The greatest weapon is education, and just being informed on the risks of excessive sugar consumption and what products contain high amounts of sugar will minimize your risk greatly. With that said, the nutrition label on food packaging is your friend. Read it thoroughly from the calories, amount of sugar, serving size, ingredients, and everything in between. Contribute to the discussion of the importance of paying attention to our sugar consumption on any platform you see fit. Pressure our state representatives to vote on policies that outlaw deceptive food packaging and promote accessibility to healthy foods.
- With the whole world shut down, it is expected that many people, myself included, will be fighting to make healthy food choices every day while keeping our health, and our sanity, during quarantine. It is more important now than ever that we develop lifelong healthy habits that will follow us long after this virus is gone.
- Thank you everyone for following my presentation on the dangers of sugar. Stay safe!