WORSE THAN COCAINE

Sugar comes in many forms—including cookies, cakes, pastries and similar treats, fruit drinks, ice cream, frozen yogurt and candy.

The obesity epidemic is already generating a huge burden of disease and death.

Are you craving for a a chocolatey treat? Are you sugar addicted? Maybe you are one of the world’s most common dependants! French scientists in Bordeaux reported that in animal trials, rats chose sugar over cocaine – even when they were addicted to cocaine! Experts believe we can be truly addicted to sugar.

The increasing rate of diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver, obesity and heart disease, chronic fatigue – all of which are linked to sugar consumption. Not to mention depression, food cravings and addictive overeating. The obesity epidemic is already generating a huge burden of disease and death. The odds of dying from heart disease rose in tandem with the percentage of sugar in the diet—and that was true regardless of a person’s age, sex, physical activity level, and body-mass index (BMI).

Remember when almost nobody had diabetes? That wasn’t a long time ago. In 2011, there were 366 million diabetics in the world — more than double the number in 1980, and 5 per cent of the population. In the US, by 2030 this figure might be as high as 33 per cent (!).

The limitation is about 26 g sugar per day (about 6 teaspoons for women and 9 teaspoons for men)…A tablespoon of ketchup has 4 g of sugar, a frozen pizza may maintain as much 26 g and a muffin 22 g! Is it unrealistic to expecting people to sacrifice all that?  

According to new guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) only 5 % of a person’s total daily calories should come from added sugar . The limitation is about 26 g sugar per day (about 6 teaspoons for women and 9 teaspoons for men).

To put that in perspective, a can of regular soda contains about 9 teaspoons of sugar, so quaffing even one a day would put all women and most men over the daily limit! More examples: A tablespoon of ketchup has 4 g of sugar, a frozen pizza may maintain as much 26 g and a muffin 22 g! Is it unrealistic to expecting people to sacrifice all that?

THE FOOD INDUSTRY CASH IN ON YOUR SUGAR ADDICTON

Dr. Robert Lustig has been calling for laws that restrict sugar as if it were alcohol or tobacco. Many people’s initial reaction upon hearing this was: “Give me a break. Shouldn’t it be up to us how much sugar we eat? We don’t want the sugar police, do we?”

“Nobody chooses to be obese”

– Robert Lustig 

Is the answer to close our eyes? Not doing anything when we know the harmful effects of high sugar diet? Should we just let the companies continue cash in money on your sugar addiction? Many people unknowingly consume food and drinks containing ridiculous amounts of sugar. Well, I believe that knowledge empower people. It’s important to me as a doctor that my patients make better-informed health care decisions for themselves.

WHO warned that obesity already affected half a billion people.  Obesity is a global health issue. In the UK, 60% are overweight. Do they really choose to be fat?

“Nobody chooses to be obese,” says Lustig. He’s a professor of clinical paediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and an expert on childhood obesity. “Nobody. Especially not children. This is a global pandemic. D’you think, all of a sudden, everybody in the world became gluttons and sloths at the same time?”.

“The sugar industry has learnt the tricks of the tobacco industry. Confuse the public. Produce experts who disagree. Try to dilute the message.”

Not everyone knows about the sugar industry – the Big Sugar.“The food industry,” said Lustig , “has no impetus to change. They’re making money hand over fist.” The companies have to stop advertising sugary drinks and snacks to children. Sugar has become “the alcohol of childhood”.

A powerful tool wielded by Big Sugar: Skewed science. The obesity expert Philip James puts it this way: “The sugar industry has learnt the tricks of the tobacco industry. Confuse the public. Produce experts who disagree. Try to dilute the message.”

Did you know the World Sugar Research Organization and the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) are just two sugar-funded science institutes that stand by their claim that sugar is good for you?

 They take out visible sugar and put invisible sugar in your food instead.

Did you know that The Flo-Sun sugar company made donations between 1997 and 1999 a total of $202,500 to Democrats and $147,500 to Republicans? Those numbers have gone up in the later days.

With so much money pouring into the hands of lawmakers, it’s no wonder the sugar lobby has much more political clout than most are willing to admit. Did you know the US government restricts cheap sugar imports into the United States thereby tripling the price of sugar to US consumers? As a result, the sugar industry earns $1 billion a year in excess profits they otherwise would not have. 

They even learn new tricks. They take out visible sugar and put invisible sugar in your food instead. Always read the labels. Have in mind they sometimes avoid to list sugar as the first ingredient.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS MAKE YOU CRAVE SWEETS EVEN MORE

Eating artificial sweeteners, which are sugar-free, are generally hundreds or even thousands of times sweeter than sugar, can make you crave sweets even more. You undermine the benefit of using artificial sweeteners, for example, if you use a glass of diet soda to justify having a bowl of ice cream.

However, if artificial sweeteners can help you cut back on calories in a meaningful way, then they can be helpful in controlling weight and blood sugar. Sometimes switching to artificial sweeteners are a good stepping stone, but they’re not a permanent fix.

BREAK THE SUGAR ADDICTION

Don’t try to eliminate all sugary foods at once. If you deny yourself even a single piece of candy, you’ll only crave sweets more.

Instead, eat a healthy diet made up of more satisfying foods – whole grains, fruits, vegetables and healthy oils. Eat foods which are digested more slowly.

Here are a few suggestions to help you break the sugar habit:

Keep sugary foods away. Don’t tempt yourself by stocking candy, cookies, and other high-sugar foods in your cupboards and fridge. Substitute for these things, keep fruit around.

Sweeten foods yourself. Start with unsweetened iced tea, plain yogurt, and unflavored oatmeal. Then add your own sweetener. No matter how much sweetener you add, you probably won’t put in as much as the manufacturer would have.

Watch for hidden sugars in foods. Be wary of foods where sugar tends to hide, including reduced-fat products. When companies take out the fat, they add back almost all the calories in sugar. Read labels.

Eat breakfast. Start out your day with a filling, nutritious meal, so you’ll be less likely to give in to cravings. Steel-cut oatmeal, eggs, and fruit are all good breakfast choices.

Change your attitude towards sugar. Sugar itself isn’t dangerous but the amount of it is! Take control over your own life. Don’t let sugar or even worse the Big Sugar control you!

Sources:

Harvard Health Publications: “Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying with heart disease”

Harvard Health Publications: “How to break the sugar habit and help your health in the process”

The American Heart Association’s recommendation

The Telegraph: “Sugar is as dangerous as alcohol and tobacco, warn health experts”

The Guardian: “Fat profits – how the food industry cashed in on obesity”