The Comparison of Fruit vs Sugar Consumption

“Sweet!” is a word that people use to describe things they enjoy. Sweet treats make people feel happy they associate the word sweet with good things. Sweets are something to indulge in, enjoy with friends, and have as treats during celebrations. Yes, sugar is sweet in the mouth, but it is bitter in the body leaving its consumers with many destructive side effects. Today, in most industrialized countries sugar is so entrenched into food that is eaten daily that foods seem to be unpalatable without it. Sugar is found in products like Mayonnaise all the way to thinks like breakfast Oatmeal sugar is ingrained into our society wither we realize it or not. People are indeed addicted to sugar, even though it is destructive to their bodies, overall good health and well-being. So, the question might be “why have not people and societies cut sugar out of their diets?” Education is key.. Many people do not understand the fatal side effects that sugar can leave you with. Helping others understand that not all food is created equal and some foods, such as sugar, are not nourishing but destructive to people individually and societies as a whole. Most scholars and people in general can agree that bad health reduces quality of life for people and those around them.

Since sugar is destructive to bodies and overall health then by indulging daily in sugar people are significantly crippling their ability to experience good health and enjoy life. Disease and sickness are very prevalent in this day and time, how can the people living now the people facing this problem help to diminish it. A very simple way that this can be helped is through education. The public might think that cookies, candies, and cakes are the only sweets that contain high amounts of sugar, so by not consuming treats like these daily they will avoid high amounts of sugars in their diets and be healthier. They wish that were true.

There are so many hidden sugars in foods, that are advertised to be good for you or at least healthier, by the label, other consumers or product advertisements themselves. It is true, the foods people should be avoiding are not just candies, desserts and pops and all those colorful items that are see in stores. Food manufacturers have hidden sugar in most all premade food products. The average American eats, in some shape or form, 19.5 teaspoons or 82 grams of sugar daily. In the course of one year, that amounts to 66 pounds of sugar! The recommended amount of sugar is limited to 6 teaspoons (25grams) for women and 9 teaspoons (38grams) for men. The drastic difference in these two numbers should light a fire under our society to change so that deses is not so prevalent. So, why hasint there been any effort to change this when there are people out there that know and have the facts on all of this. Well it’s because of how entrenched sugar is into our way of life and society. If people ate the right amount of sugar a day one can of Coke (which is 39 grams of sugar or 9 1/3 teaspoons) would not fit into their diet.

And if they did consume a can of Coke all they would get the rest of the day would be celery and greens. The Journal of Nutrition talks about how sugars can act like a drug addiction to people’s bodies. “Many scientists have speculated that obesity and eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia, may have properties of an “addiction” (24–30). Also, “Sugar bingeing can produce behaviors that are similar to those observed in drug-dependent rats. Concomitant neurochemical changes may result in, or perpetuate, these behaviors.” In another article by Nicole Avena, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the New York Obesity Research Center at Columbia University and the author of Why Diets Fail: Because You're Addicted to Sugar, again explains that sugar is very similar to a drug because of the dopamine it releases in the brain “Sugar has been found to release dopamine in an area of the brain associated with reward” (3).

As clearly expressed in these excerpts, people's love for sugar borders on a chemical dependency since sugar releases feel-good dopamine in the body. No wonder people love it so much! Sugars are everywhere, and they come in several forms. In the documentary “That Sugar Film” by Damon Gameau, he explains where the different kinds of sugar are found: There are three main types of sugar: lactose, sucrose, and fructose. You will find lactose in dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese. Sucrose is the table sugar you might put in your tea or coffee. Then we have fructose; fructose is 50% lactose and 50% sucrose. In the past, fructose was rare in our diets because it was mostly found in fruits, veggies, and honey. So, fructose was eaten in moderation. But now we find it everywhere, it is in most manufactured foods. These hidden sugars in otherwise healthy food are destructive to our bodies and we are growing more and more unhealthy.

Sweets and snacks are big sources of added sugars in the diet. These are things that are very accessible in this society. While it is obvious that cookies, cakes, and ice cream are full of added sugars. Sugar is not always so obvious to spot. Snacks that might seem healthy at first glances, like granola bars or flavored yogurt, can and do contain high amounts of added sugars. So in this lies the problem, people are consuming their “healthy foods” and having a treat every now and again which is not a big deal right? However, they are not realizing that the foods they consider healthy can be just as packed full of sugar or more so than the treats they might have once in a while. Instead of a sugary afternoon snack, have a piece of fruit. The naturally occurring sugars in fruits are locked together with loads of beneficial vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

A serving of fruit is also usually lower in calories than a serving of fruit juice or a sweet treat, making it a far healthier option. This manufactured fructose that people are eating in almost everything is affecting their bodies in ways that they might not even be aware of. For instance, it is very hard on human bodies to maintain the constant spike and dips in blood sugar. Every time sugar is eaten the body must respond to the sugar by the release of insulin. Some other conditions that are seen from an excess of sugar are chronic diseases, obesity, fatty liver, extra stomach fat, and a general lack of not feeling good. Now, some people might say “I eat sugar all the time and feel fine!” but how do they know that they would not be feeling, sleeping, and functioning on a much higher level if they were not consuming as much sugar? Now the point of this paper is not to convince people to stop eating sugar, but to help them to see the importance of watching how, when, and in what form they eat sugar. There have been studies to show that people will start feeling a change in how they function and feel if they were to stop eating sugar for just five days.

Look at what Dr. Jean Marc Schwarz said in That Sugar Film. “I think the most important message is that this is not you get a fatty liver and that is it, it will stay fatty. It actually can be reversed very easily by taking away the fructose from your diet, taking away all those drinks. I mean, water is a good drink.' What he said here is that people can get rid of a fatty liver very easily by just taking sugar out of your diet. And if you can get rid of a fatty liver that easily how many other conditions could they get rid of simply by taking those nasty hidden sugars out of their diet? You see when people are constantly putting sugar into their blood they are spiking their blood sugars, from low to high, up and down. Who would feel like a normal human with their blood sugar going up and down? Constantly! And with their blood sugar, their moods and mental state are on a roller-coaster. Sugar can not only affect physical health but mental and emotional health as well. There are some people that feel lethargic, have mood swings, are a little overly cranky, could this be from the amount of their sugar intake? This is serious because it is not only affecting people’s health but also their mental states, relationships, life, mental activity, and lifespan. All of these things being negatively affected in each individual’s life reflects on the community and the function of its people. When you want a treat, get a treat.

Helping people to eliminate or reduce these foods that have high amounts of sugar from their diets is important. In this society people consume these foods from a very young are, in doing this they are sending messages to their brain saying, “food that is good is sweet”. This, in turn makes their bodies begin to become addicted to sugar and the feeling that everything needs to either be sweet or covered in some sticky-sweet sauce. What are some of the possible resolutions? How can scholars and regular people educate society in a lasting way that will bring about a change in their attitudes about and consumption of sugar? Rudolf Steiner said “that sugar essentially causes materialism. And that development of the sugar metabolism and the sugar drug culture developed a materialistic culture.”

By educating the younger generation on the destructiveness of sugar perhaps they can avoid some of the common mistakes this generation is currently making in regard to health and wellbeing. Scholars do not believe that sugar is solely to blame for the deterioration that we are seeing in most industrialized nations, but sugar definitely plays a major role. Given the prevalence of sugar in the food supply, lowering our consumption of those foods would be a great way to start. This was said in the film That Sugar Film by Kathleen Des Maisons, Ph.D. 'Sugar is not evil, but life is so much better if we get rid of it.' Our problem is the overconsumption of sugar and the destruction that behavior is causing in our bodies and lives. We should all be working together to solve our misconceptions of sugar in our diet and lives, instead of pointing fingers at someone else. Refined sugar and the excess fructose that people are consuming is causing serious damage to the health and well-being of millions of people. Everyone should strive to be part of the solution by helping to educate those around them and by being a positive role model by making wise food and life style choices.