Sugar is an essential part of any human diet. However, high sugar intake can lead to chronic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. According to the UN, there more obese people than undernourished people. Current estimates suggest that an average American consumers 73 g of fructose each day. The food industry does not seem to recognize this problem because high sugar content in food products increases sales and profits.

 

Studies have shown that reducing sugar in the diet can dramatically reduce weight. The most harmful form of sugar is the one used in beverages and soft drinks. In terms of trends in the consumption of soft drinks in the last two decades, it is clear that a rise in soft-drink consumption is positively correlated with an increase in the number of obese individuals. And obesity and sedentary lifestyles are likely to produce diabetes.

 

Sugar is comparable to alcohol in that they are both addictive. When a person eats sugary food, the brain’s hedonic pathway, or the pleasure pathway, is activated. And as in the case of alcohol and drug abuse, which requires rehabilitation, sugar addiction may require similar intervention to fight obesity and diabetes. This clearly highlights the serious social problem of excessive sugar consumption.

 

Michael Lin

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