The adventure with sugar is like a toxic relationship for people. The stage of blind love is the era of colonial conquests and going into raptures over sweetness on European courts. The red light gets on when science discovers that sugar is the cause of many diseases. Then we’re just trying to get a divorce with it, but it turns out that we are so addicted, that we can't live without it anymore.
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Disastrous crush occurred after Christopher Columbus took sugar cane seedlings to the New World during his trip. The climate was favorable for crops. In the Caribbean and Brazil, sugar cane plantations popped up like mushrooms. In that time the trade and processing industry was thriving, along with the slavery. On sugar production, you could earn a fortune. Sugar itself was a luxury good still for decades. Only after the end of the seventeenth century, sugar came with ships from American colonies to Europe. Sugar changed the canons of beauty. The women should have huge shapes – only then she could be considered beautiful. The skinny ones were poor. A hundred years later poor people, could experience the daily taste of sweets. Not without consequences - more and more of them began to fall into an extraordinary disease involving the disappearance of the body whose development was progressive.
However, if the disease developed rapidly, the person died quickly. At that time, those symptoms were described as diabetes, then people started to think how to fight it. Unfortunately for decades – unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, sugarcane gained a competitor-sugar beet, which sown on thousands of hectares across Europe, had to make it independent of supplies from the colonies. Madness lasted. Diabetes still was an incurable disease. The hope appeared in 1922, thanks to the research of Fryderyk Banting, who discovered insulin. It was produced on the industrial scale by large pharmaceutical companies. And so diabetes from the fatal disease became a chronic one. The struggle continued and the realities after the Second World War were different. Food prices were high and in 1957 Richard O. Marshall and Earl P. Kooi developed high-fructose corn syrup, which was then available in many sweet products. Twice sweeter and twice cheaper than sugar found the use in the food industry. In 1974, the US Food Agency considered as a determinant of quality, gave the opinion that sugar was not a direct cause of obesity, didn't cause diabetes, cancer or heart disease, and there was no evidence for that. The number one enemy became cholesterol. In shops, there were products with it’s reduced content. Unfortunately, to make them taste good - sugar was added. The less fat - the more sugar.
Today it is present everywhere. From tobacco products to medicine under 56 names, and in 1957 it was classified as a poison by Dr. William Coda Martin. We can't imagine life without it anymore, and also…… still, don't want to realize how much evil it brings.
You have some information about toxic sugar in this movie. Why do we gain weight? Why do we feel bad?
1. Do you think that the legislator should regulate the sugar content in food products with the relevant regulations? If so, which ones?
2. What ingredients do you pay attention to of bought products?
3. What substances besides sugar do you consider dangerous to health and why?
2. What ingredients do you pay attention to of bought products?
3. What substances besides sugar do you consider dangerous to health and why?
https://studylib.net/doc/8954006/in-1957--dr-william-coda-martin-tried-to-answer-the-quest...
I absolutely agree with a thesis that sugar is harmful. I use sugar in my kitchen very rarely and also don’t substitute it with other sweeteners. Sometimes I use honey, but in general I don’t eat too much sweet products. If you avoid sugar you will suddenly feel the sweetness of vegetables, even lettuce or broccoli are little sweet. If you eat too much sugar or even carbohydrates, you are always hungry and all the time think what to eat.
ReplyDeleteI avoid all artificial adding, colouring. My diet is based on natural products. I prefer to eat carrot or even nothing than bars or chips which are everywhere available.
I also try don't eat unhealthy snacks. I plan my meals.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the most harmful substance in food is sugar?
Recently Norway introduced new tax - Sugar tax. The goal was to reduce sugar consumption. The efect was that norwegians travel to sweeden to buy sweets...
ReplyDeleteYour idea that government sould regulate sugar content in food can bring much better results that another tax.
In the first place we coud just add some text on products that have too much sugar saying "DANGER! High sugar consent". How much is too much should be discussed with scientist of course.
If that would not help maybye governemt sould regulate max amount of sugar in products - but I think it is the last thing to do. First lets try to educate society.
I do pay attention to things that I eat - I mostly eat only things that I prepare myself so I exactly know what I eat.
I agree that sugar addiction is real - somtimes I just need to eat something sweet..
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DeleteI agree with you that we should introduce education about sugar.
DeleteI didn't know that Norway introduced new sugar tax. I also think that this is not the best solution.
We all need to eat something sweet sometimes :) the most important thing is not to overdo it.
1) I am not convinced whether there is real need to introduce need legal regulations - we should rather make people aware of the harmful influence of sugar on their health. I believe we should not completely resign from sugar - rather than pay much more attention to physical activities
ReplyDelete2) Various "E" - e.g. E621, E211, E 102 - it is really terrible what those chemical substances can do with your health,
3) Also alcohol - it is legal, but has very disastrous impact on our social & physical health.
Various "E" can actually do a lot of bad.
DeleteAlcohol in excess is also very unhealthy.
In fact, everything in excess it harms, you have to be able to find a balance.
1. Do you think that the legislator should regulate the sugar content in food products with the relevant regulations? If so, which ones?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think so and not only sugar but other non-healthy ingredients also. It should be regulated in all being sold food. I wish people could go to shops and buy any food having confidence that what they buy won't threaten their health.
2. What ingredients do you pay attention to of bought products?
I pay attention to different E or other weird sounded names of chemical addons. I try to buy things with only natural ingredients if it is only possible.
3. What substances besides sugar do you consider dangerous to health and why?
All substances that are not natural are dangerous in my opinion. I feel the difference on myself. In a past I wasn't eating well and I was feeling sleepy all the time and had no motivation and concentration and depression was a easy thing to catch. Now I try to eat healthy and to exercise a lot and feel the difference to the better.
When I changed my diet and started exercise i felt great. Before, I couldn't concentrate, I was nervous. Now I need much less sleep and I am more rested.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that this need legal regulations. People in these times are aware of the dangers of excessive sugar consumption. To be honest, I don't pay much attention to the ingredients of the products. However, I must admit that I ‘m not a fan of sweets. When it comes to other dangerous substances, much is now heard about palm oil. Unfortunately, I have the impression that it is in most products ...
ReplyDeleteOf course people's awareness is getting bigger but the scale of obesity is just as big. Palm oil is very harmful, however, is not present as often as sugar. If you are afraid of palm oil, why not start reading labels?
DeleteI honestly approve any ideas about regulating the sugar content in food products. Let's take the ketchup for example, who needs a sugar in it? All these sweet sparkling drinks and the amount of sugar they own. This is madness. No wonder why is the sugar called a white killer or a white death. Sugar is not alone, salt is not better. People's knowledge need to be constantly increased by advertisements and warnings, just like those on cigarettes. Whenever I buy a product that I don't know I look for their ingredients, especially on all these E regulators, chemical substances, salt, sugar and so on and so forth. Such examples are dangerous to our health as they're main sources of many different diseases we are currently facing as society.
ReplyDeleteMan, I totally agree with you! As a coca cola fan, I know that is a dangerous thing for my body. But one thing is to know that this addiction is bad for me, and the second thing is to do something with that! How to drink alcohol without coke? Joke! But seriously it’s really hard for me to limit consumption of my favorite drink. So, from my position I think it would be better to regulate the sugar content by the law. I’m impressed that you’re checking every unknown food. I have no patience to do it. And that is the second reason why it should be controlled by authorities. It would have a positive consequence for everyone even for government because healthier society equal more money in the country budget :)
DeleteDo you think that the legislator should regulate the sugar content in food products with the relevant regulations? If so, which ones?
ReplyDeleteYes, I definitely agree with that. I think that label on the front indicating high volume of sugar could help a lot. Soft drinks should be first on that list.
What ingredients do you pay attention to of bought products?
I honestly don't check the ingredients that often as I tend to buy the same ones everytime i go shopping so i know what I'm eating. Saves a lot of time with reading labels.
What substances besides sugar do you consider dangerous to health and why
I think fat, nicotine are really dangerous. They can get you addicted easily.
I have a friend that has diabetes. For him unfortunately sugar is something he has to measure every day to stay healthy. Maybe that is a reason I am more aware to not consume too much of that substance.
I'm not the fan of government's regulations. No one makes you to eat sugar.
ReplyDeleteI don't pay to much attention to ingredients when I buy something fo myself, however it's a bit different case when I'm buying food for my son. I try to keep him away from sugar, palm oil and other shady things.
Everything can have bad impact on your health, depends on how often you use it and how big doze is. And as I said earlier I don't pay too much attention to ingredients.
1. No, because humans are thinking creatures and we should decide freely what to do or what not to do.
ReplyDelete2. Mostly to the preservatives. I try to buy products with the smallest amount of them.
3. I think that preservtives are most unhealthy, but also after this article I will take sugar into consideration. Its really addictive like cigarttes etc.
I think it is more about making people more aware of that instead of making some regulations, as we can make a lot impact on producers by just taking actions. Last month there was a lot actions to eliminate palm fat from products and a lot of producers changed it. As I'm on a diet now, I'm trying to eliminate all ingredients that have a lot of calories in it. Alcohol is a true poison and should be used really wisely or completely avoided if possible.
ReplyDeleteThere is a saying „The dose makes the poison”. Sugar always was and will be present in our diet. It is really needed for our brain and muscles to function properly.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem is that in food industry there is no limitation for added sugar in products and I think there should be some legal regulations. Let’s face the truth - most people are not willing to think about what they put into mouth, other than tastewise, so education won’t make any change.
Even if we try to avoid food with added sugar, it is tricky, you have to be real carefull, an average person won’t be able to do it most of a time. Reading labels on products is pointless – in most of them sugar is not mentioned directly. There is dozens of different phrases to avoid using a word „sugar”, such as sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as barley malt, dextrose, maltose and rice syrup etc.
What is more, as it is said in a video, sugar triggers reward system in our brains same way nicotine and alcohol do – what means you can be an addict. In times when sugar was hard to obtain, but high-energy food helped to survive – it was a good idea to seek for it. Now, when it’s at our fingertips, this chemistry of our brains tells us, that it is a good thing to eat sugar, what simply kills us.
Personally speaking, I try to avoid processed food, but it is a hard thing to do. Ready-meals are really convenient and they save time.
1. No, I think it is an individual matter of every human being. We should choose what is good for us, by ourselves.
ReplyDelete2. I pay much attention to the products that I buy are from good ingredients and not the most artificial ones. As little sugar and as many healthy ingredients as possible, for example, vitamins.
3. I think that aromas and dyes are unhealthy because they are artificial and contain harmful glucose-fructose syrup, flavor enhancers that cause headaches and preservatives that sometimes cause allergies.
In my opinion most important thing is to keep people informed and well education. As you mentioned in your article we're society that are sugar-addicted and the companies will do everything to sell us their products so the only way to force them to change their politic is to stop buying their stuff. We won't achieve it if people won't be more aware what they're eating and what it might cause in longer period of time. People need to know how important to their life is well balanced diet and I hope so more of them would buy some less processed food.
ReplyDeleteAs I wrote in some other comment it's all about the balance so we shouldn't be totally afraid of sugar. Just the amount of it in everyday products is dangerous but if we'll try to reduce it and control it we won't died after eating sweets from time to time.
I think that ship has sailed already. I mean, we cannot turn back the wheels of time and get back to the time where food has only been naturally processed. If that is the case, the only thing we can do is make the manufacturers provide us with the insight on nutritional information. Sugar is sugar and should be provided under the carbohydrates section.
ReplyDeleteI try to manage my sugar intake. I don't know about it killing me, but what it most certainly does is make people obese. People say that they are fat and link their weight with fat, where they should link it with sugar instead. Body is smart, it will burn what gives them the most with the least effort. Therefore it will burn all the sugar it received and store the fat for later
I wonder what would life without sugar look like.
Your selection of topic shows the level of awareness is rising. With more and more people talking about the importance of reasonable diet we have greater chance of making our society healthier. While some may argue about whether Earth is flat (?), there's no denying that what we eat impacts our health.
ReplyDeleteBut - there's always one - every big industry means big money and big lobbing. We cannot count on government and media to change our world. Industries and food industry among them are spending lots and lots of cash to make sure their interests are secure. That's why nowadays every change takes time.