 | the average American teenager consumes as much as 140 grams of added sugars per day, most of which are coming from sugary drinks such as sodas, juices, and sports drinks. That is around 7 times more sugar than is suggested. -Isa Ansari |
Think back to what you ate for breakfast this morning. Did you have waffles? Eggs and toast with jam? Orange juice maybe? Cereal and milk? Say you had a serving of honey nut cheerios and milk with a 8oz glass of Minute Maid orange juice. Already, before you even left the house, you have consumed 33 grams of sugar, approximately 10 grams more than the suggested amount of added sugar for your entire day. And it doesn’t stop there; According to the American Heart Association, an average teenager should consume no more than 20-25 grams of added sugars per day. However, the average American teenager consumes as much as 140 grams of added sugars per day, most of which are coming from sugary drinks such as sodas, juices, and sports drinks. That is around 7 times more sugar than is suggested. That is frightening. And what is also frightening is a lack of education surrounding the intense affects of sugar on our cardiovascular system, it’s literal massive contribution to child and adolescent obesity, and the startling reality of why we keep on craving it.
In 2013, the Journal of the American Heart Association conducted a study that led to evidence supporting the danger of the molecule G6P (glucose metabolite glucose 6-phosphate) that is found in sugar. They found that this molecule was responsible for altering the muscle protein of the heart which could lead to a failure of it’s pumping abilities, resulting in a heightened potential for heart failure. Sugar is also known to increase blood pressure and stimulate the liver to put more harmful fats into our bloodstream, which are both things that can also lead to heart disease. Half of people diagnosed with heart failure die within 5 years. This is no joke. If, on average, we are consuming up to 7 times more added sugars than suggested every day, for most of our lives, our risk for this continues to increase.
According to preventative cardiologist Suzanne Steinbaum of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, nearly ⅓ of teenagers and kids in the United States are overweight or obese. That is 1 out of 3. Look around you as you read this, notice the young people, consider the statistic, 1 out of 3. Part of this can be largely attributed to the overconsumption of added sugars, specifically sugary drinks, in young American diets. When is the last time you had a soda? A glass of apple juice? A snapple? According to Robert Lustig, author of New York Times bestseller Fat Chance and professor at UCSF, as a population on average we weigh 25 pounds more than we did 20 years ago. And it is not necessarily because we are eating more in general, it is because we are eating more sugar. The consumption of Fructose, a form of sugar found in things such as sodas or juices, causes fat cells in our body to mature and become fatter. It also interacts with the hormone leptin in our bodies (the hormone which tells us when we have had enough food) and causes resistance to it. This, as well as a lack of healthy fats, fibers, and proteins in sugary products, can cause those with a high sugar diet to not feel full after consuming the right amount of calories, and therefore overeat.
Now the question is, why is it so difficult to stop eating sugar? And if it is so unhealthy for us, why do our bodies make it so difficult for us to say no? Why are the cravings so strong? The answer is simple. Consuming sugar releases dopamine in our brains and causes our brains to tell us: yes that was pleasurable, and yes let’s do that again. It reacts with our brains in a similar way to heroin, but on a much smaller level. Even still, it is dangerous to ingest because it can lead to out of control cravings, increased tolerance to sugar, and often out of control consumption, which we know can be very detrimental to our health. In short, sugar has a similar risk for abuse as many drugs because of the way it interacts with our brains.
As a population, we consume far too much sugar, however it is not necessarily our individual faults. As we can see, even things that are advertised as healthy for us, such as Honey Nut Cheerios whose whole pitch is that they lower your cholesterol and are so good for you, contain more sugar in a single serving then the entire suggested amount for a whole day. A lack of education surrounding the effects of sugar and the multitude of everyday food items that contain an excess of sugar are key elements in the sugar epidemic. Also, the way sugar interacts with the dopamine receptors in our brain can be used strategically by companies producing sugar heavy products, because they know their customer base will be hooked in a similar way they might be hooked to any drug. The solution to this problem? Education and careful consideration of the way we choose to take care of the one and only body we inhabit. Simply knowing about the danger of the can of soda you plan to buy for lunch, or the ice cream bar you are thinking about getting after school may prompt a closer look at the question: Is it worth it? The more we know, the more power we have to make healthy decisions about what we put into our bodies. Good luck with breakfast tomorrow.
According to preventative cardiologist Suzanne Steinbaum of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, nearly ⅓ of teenagers and kids in the United States are overweight or obese. That is 1 out of 3. Look around you as you read this, notice the young people, consider the statistic, 1 out of 3. Part of this can be largely attributed to the overconsumption of added sugars, specifically sugary drinks, in young American diets. When is the last time you had a soda? A glass of apple juice? A snapple? According to Robert Lustig, author of New York Times bestseller Fat Chance and professor at UCSF, as a population on average we weigh 25 pounds more than we did 20 years ago. And it is not necessarily because we are eating more in general, it is because we are eating more sugar. The consumption of Fructose, a form of sugar found in things such as sodas or juices, causes fat cells in our body to mature and become fatter. It also interacts with the hormone leptin in our bodies (the hormone which tells us when we have had enough food) and causes resistance to it. This, as well as a lack of healthy fats, fibers, and proteins in sugary products, can cause those with a high sugar diet to not feel full after consuming the right amount of calories, and therefore overeat.
Now the question is, why is it so difficult to stop eating sugar? And if it is so unhealthy for us, why do our bodies make it so difficult for us to say no? Why are the cravings so strong? The answer is simple. Consuming sugar releases dopamine in our brains and causes our brains to tell us: yes that was pleasurable, and yes let’s do that again. It reacts with our brains in a similar way to heroin, but on a much smaller level. Even still, it is dangerous to ingest because it can lead to out of control cravings, increased tolerance to sugar, and often out of control consumption, which we know can be very detrimental to our health. In short, sugar has a similar risk for abuse as many drugs because of the way it interacts with our brains.
As a population, we consume far too much sugar, however it is not necessarily our individual faults. As we can see, even things that are advertised as healthy for us, such as Honey Nut Cheerios whose whole pitch is that they lower your cholesterol and are so good for you, contain more sugar in a single serving then the entire suggested amount for a whole day. A lack of education surrounding the effects of sugar and the multitude of everyday food items that contain an excess of sugar are key elements in the sugar epidemic. Also, the way sugar interacts with the dopamine receptors in our brain can be used strategically by companies producing sugar heavy products, because they know their customer base will be hooked in a similar way they might be hooked to any drug. The solution to this problem? Education and careful consideration of the way we choose to take care of the one and only body we inhabit. Simply knowing about the danger of the can of soda you plan to buy for lunch, or the ice cream bar you are thinking about getting after school may prompt a closer look at the question: Is it worth it? The more we know, the more power we have to make healthy decisions about what we put into our bodies. Good luck with breakfast tomorrow.