Some nutrition scientists attribute the increase in obesity in the U.S. to the corresponding increase in soft drink consumption that occurred between 1977 and 1997. A few would go one step further and link the increase in obesity to the fact that--in the 1980s--most soft drink, fruit punch, and snack manufacturers switched from refined cane sugar to corn sweeteners. This school of thought relies on preliminary research suggesting that high-fructose corn syrup is metabolized differently than other sugars with the potential for causing more adverse health effects.
A new study of young and middle-aged women found that those who drank the most sugar-sweetened beverages (i.e., with high-fructose corn syrup) showed greater weight gain and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The findings came...
Imagine this, it is the 1800’s and you’re shopping for sugar. You see the sweet, pure white sugar and look down. Wham! The price makes your stomach drop. You need a cup of sugar, and the price is five dollars per teaspoon. That’s two-hundred and forty dollars, and you only have two dollars with you! In the articles, How Candy Conquered America by Lauren Tarshis and This Cupcake is Trying to Hurt You by Kristin Lewis and Lauren Tarshis it talks about how the consumption of sugar changes over time from the 1800’s to today. Two ways sugar consumption in the United States differed in the 1800’s than today is how much sugar we eat and how it affects our bodies.
The article,“ Battle lines drawn over soda tax,” by Associated Press , the Press explains how there is an ongoing “national fight about taxing sugary drinks.” According to Associated Press, “ Health experts say the beverages contribute to health issues such as diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay.” This quote demonstrates that sugary drinks can lead to health issues. Since sugary drinks leads to health issues, people are considering soda tax. This is because thirteen percent of adult minorities are diagnosed with diseases such as diabetes.
The food that we as a nation consumes reflects the health and well being of the American people. We have become so accustomed to fast food and easy, unhealthy, diet choices that diseases like diabetes has become very prevalent and on the rise. One in every three Americans born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes. In the film “Food Inc.” takes a look into a typical grocery store and reveals the illusion of variety. Most of the food in the industry leads back to corn. High fructose corn syrup, a sweetener made from corn starch, is found in many of the foods and beverages that we consume. High fructose corn syrup has been linked to metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes. Corn has become very affordable and abundant and big food
However, the outcome was different from his desired result due to strong protest from the dairy and livestock industry, so the Congress instead urged people to buy lean meat and less fat food so the dairy and livestock industry do not go out of business. This created the fat-free boom in the market in the 1980s. However, food companies began to put more sugar in their products because the taste was bad when they reduced fat in the food. Now, the sugar intake of Americans has doubled compared with before. In the American market, there are approximately 600,000 different food products, and 80% of those include sugar. Although sugar is written in various forms and names, one suggests that it’s bad in any form, especially if taken too much. Sugar consumed naturally through fiber-rich fruit or vegetable should be fine, but the added sweeteners stimulate the hormones that increase insulin. High insulin prevents people from thinking they are full, and thus crave more food. This causes many diseases. Of course one meal high in sugar will not kill them, but the problem is that people generally exceed daily sugar intake in one meal alone when consuming process food. We eat more processed and convenient food instead of fruits, vegetables, and
Obesity in America has risen dramatically in the last forty years. Many believe high fructose corn syrup is to blame for this and other health related issues like diabetes and high blood pressure. High fructose corn syrup was invented by Richard O. Marshall and Earl R. Kooi in 1957 (Production of high fructose corn syrup). Scientists have done tests and many reports and found many statistics showing the same thing: once high fructose corn syrup (or HFCS) was added to food and beverages in 1975, obesity rose without warning. The U.S. has the highest obesity rate in the world: “roughly two-thirds of adults and one-third of young people in the U.S. are now overweight or obese” (McMillen). That’s a massive amount, and it’s growing at a steady pace with little sign of ending any time soon. We also eat more mass produced food than any other country in the world. High fructose corn syrup has taken over the food market and has found its way to almost all of our food and drinks.
Michael Pollan, a writer for New York Times and author of New York Times bestseller The Botany of Desire and named best book of the year by Borders, Amazon, and the American Booksellers Association, discusses some of these harmful effects along with many other facts in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pollan discusses how corn syrup has consumed our nation in chapter six of his book. He discusses how high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has snuck its way into the food of the American’s every meal. As restaurants line roads and food lines pantries, HFCS lurks in almost every meal. Marlene Bishop, editor of Chocolate, Fast Food, and Sweeteners: Consumption and Health, states: “In the last 35 years, high fructose corn syrup has replaced the use of sucrose by food manufactures in the US due to its steady price and availability (White, 2008)" (3). Because of the excess corn and low price to make HFCS, it continues to pour into the ingredients of the American’s diet.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
In conclusion it is not so simple to assume that a higher consumption of carbohydrates increases the risk of diabetes, but it is more important to make recommendations for the prevention of diabetes based on the quality and the not quantity of the carbohydrate (Hu et al, 2001). Based on the current research, diets that limit sugar sweetened beverages, are low in high GI and high GL foods and refined carbohydrates, and are high in fibre are optimal for reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
If you are not convinced, a very prominent side effect of this shift is seen in the Australian child obesity statistics. According to the ABS, in 2008, a staggering 25% of Australian children were suffering from obesity and the amount of obese boys aged 5-17 has doubled since 1995. That is a quarter of children gasping for air as they merely walk. A major cause of these terrifying statistics is due to sugar alone. A report from the Australian newspaper said “Children consume three times more sugar than is recommended. Soft drinks are the biggest source, accounting for 29% of the sugar intake of 11 to 18 year olds and 16% for younger children.” Soft drink consumption in Australia has shot up from an average of 65 litres per year in the early 1970s to about 100 litres today. We as a nation can no longer hide away from this epidemic, if we continue with our current habits then our children’s futures are already written for them. Their lives will become ones of suffering and short life expectancies. We need to stop this now before obesity kills our
With this concept in mind, I am going to analyze the Guardian online 2012 article “Why our food is making us fat,” by Jacques Peretti. The article mainly speaks about the rapid rise in obesity and the main contributor to it, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). The article also points out some of the economic and political influences behind HFCS. HFCS is used for almost every food product in the food industry. However, if we look at HFCS from a limited point of view, we just see it as something present in our food and not the health factors behind it.
The health of the nation’s youth has been under scrutiny lately due to recent reports that are showing an increase in average body mass index (BMI), poor physical fitness, and elevations in blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood lipids (Eagle, Gurm, Goldberg, DuRussel-Weston, Kline-Rogers, Palma-Davis, Aaronson, Fitzgerald, Mitchell, Rogers, Breunger, Jackson, and Eagle 2010). Eagle et al. (2010) Attribute the decrease in health to “fast food, lack of physical activity due to increased TV and computer screen time, and there is also an expanding appreciation for an inherited basis for childhood obesity” (P.1185). Sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) account for on average 159 calories daily and an average of 9 tablespoons of added sugar daily (Briefel, Wilson, Cabili, & Hedley Dodd, 2013). ...
beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
In the present society, people’s schedules tend to be extremely hectic due to either strenuous work schedules or keeping up with school and families. Due to this, numerous individuals do not obtain the recommended eight hours of sleep. On top of not getting enough sleep, they do not eat the proper foods to nourish their bodies. In return, they have a substantial lack of energy. Usually people who do not take care of themselves tend to eventually get more tired by mid-day and as their day goes on. A simple solution would be to go to bed earlier and eat better foods. However, our society has become very lazy, obese, and have started to take the easy way out over the years. Instead of eating better and trying to get more sleep, people drink energy drinks as an easy and fast way to get a boost of energy. Energy drinks have been around since the nineteen-sixties and have become increasingly more popular. There are hundreds of different brands of energy drinks that are sold in grocery stores and gas stations today, and worse than that billions of them are consumed every year. Even though multiple energy drinks are consumed every year, many people are uninformed about; what an energy drink is, what the benefits and non-benefits are, what different types of energy drinks there are, and how mixing them with alcohol can be seriously dangerous.
"High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Obesity." The Johns Hopkins White Papers (2005): 81. Consumer Health Complete. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Sugary drinks are a major cause of obesity. Most children and young adults are overweight or obese because they are consuming too much of a sugary drink. “2 out of 3 adults and 1 out of 3 children in the united states are overweight or obese.” Most of the time children and adults consume some type of sugary drink and then afterwards will not do any physical activity. Mainly sugary drinks like, soda and energy drinks is advertised to children between the ages of 2-17. Obesity is a big thing in the U.S. Many Americans will develop type 2 diabetes throughout their lifetime because they consumed too much of a sugary beverage. They consume but do not get any physical activity. In order for a person to be fit and healthy, they must get up you 30-60 minutes of physical a...