1. Sugar is addictive
It’s true. According to a panel on CBS’s 60 Minutes back in 2012, “sugar is toxic.” Dr. Eric Stice also found that sugar activates the same parts of the brain that drugs like cocaine and meth do, making it absolutely addictive. In addition to this, Stice discovered that sugar “users” also develop a tolerance, much like a drug user could experience. Having a tolerance means that a person will require more sugar to feel the same, original effect. Over time, a small amount of sugar will not effect an individual who regularly intakes a large amount of sugar. Therefore, the individual will feel the urge to ingest even more sugar.
2. The sugar industry has been keeping secrets
In the 1960’s some research was done, by the sugar industry, analyzing the connection of sugar to heart health. The sugar industry actually withheld their findings, which clearly pointed to the harmfulness of sugar. Unfortunately, the industry was not interested in looking into why sugar was causing harm to their lab rats. These documents were found and re-published, by the University of California, San Francisco, in 2017, exposing the dishonesty of the industry. If you would like to learn more about the sugar industry, and this specific research, check out this insightful article by Anahad O’Connor, over at the New York Times:
3. Sugar is really good at hiding
With 61 different names for sugar existing (like illicit drugs?) on labels, it is more helpful to just read the sugar content in grams, instead. These days, many packaged foods are being advertised as being “healthy,” but contain outrageous amounts of sugar. In fact, sugar is actually hidden in about 74% of packaged foods, including foods that are not necessarily considered to be “sweet.” Items such as certain breakfast bars, yogurt, and fruit juice, can contain insane amounts of sugar. With our “recommended” daily intake of sugar being around 30 grams, a cup of cranberry juice being up to 20 grams of sugar is considered to be quite steep.
4. We have evolved to crave sugar
Long ago, before we had such easy access to sweet treats like candy and soda, sweetness was a rarity for us humans. Natural, sugary foods like fruits, contain important vitamins and minerals. Our brains, subsequently, evolved to reward themselves, with dopamine, every time we tasted those rare treats making us remember to want more. Some people call this the “reward center” analogy. Our brains continue to do this today, and with sugar so incredibly easy to access in today’s world, the amount that we are ingesting is way out of proportion.
Sources
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/9906666
http://www.eatingwell.com/article/116820/the-truth-about-sugar/
