Throughout most of our history, human beings gathered food in very different ways than they do in the United States today. Past generations have mostly been hunter-gatherers, farmers or people who received their food from farmers. They had a good idea of exactly where their food was coming from. 

Nowadays, things are different. Food is mass produced by big corporations and shipped to grocery stores all across the country. We don’t see it being made; we only see the final product. This includes not seeing the large amounts of harmful sugar that are poured into much of our food. 

Before I get started on the reasons why I think added sugar is extremely harmful to our health, there are two sides to the sugar debate, just like many fields of science. Some researchers claim that added sugar has terrible effects on our health, while others claim that it’s not so bad or any problem at all. I believe the researchers claiming added sugar is contributing to America’s health crisis offer more convincing evidence. Their research shows that added sugar can lead to obesity, addiction, impaired cognitive functioning and is primarily used by food companies to get consumers hooked on their products in order to maximize profits.

The main way researchers believe sugar has worsened the obesity epidemic is through sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Since 1950, consumption of soft drinks has increased fivefold. A single can of Dr. Pepper has 40 grams of sugar, and a 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade, often advertised as a sports drink for those trying to stay healthy, has about 35 grams of sugar. A typical sugar cube and teaspoon of sugar consists of four grams of sugar. Extra calories from sugar leads to obesity, but research suggesting that sugar is addictive means that excessive sugar consumption may be trapping people in a vicious cycle of overeating.

Research out of the U.S. National Library Medicine’s National Institutes of Health has offered evidence that sugar may be addictive for many people.  Eating too much has caused changes in the brain similar to the ones you’d see with addictive drugs. This problem can lead to poor health because in order for people addicted to sugar to curb their desire, they will likely eat junk food.

Other evidence shows that excessive sugar can impair cognitive functions. A study by Georgia State University found that rats on a high sugar diet had much more trouble remembering where a platform in a pool was than other rats. This led researchers to believe that sugar impairs memory. 

Howard Moskowitz, a Harvard mathematician, was hired to calculate the right amount of sugar to put in a product in order to create return customers based on their forming addiction. Too much or too little sugar in your Lucky Charms will cause it to not taste quite right, but the perfect amount might just get you hooked. Moskowitz said the industry calls the right amount of sugar the “bliss point.” I see such a business tactic, which leads to health problems, as unethical. 

Many researchers claim that added sugars are playing a big role in our county’s increase in heart disease, cancer and diabetes. However, nothing is certain yet as the scientific debate rages on, but I think we should all keep our eye on the information that this kind of research will provide us in upcoming years.

To know whether you are eating too much sugar, you may want to refer to the American Heart Association’s recommendation that states we consume an average of 30 grams of sugar a day. A 16-ounce glass of Mott’s Apple Juice has 56 grams of sugar. A Nature Valley protein bar has 23 grams of sugar and a serving of Raisin Bran has 18 grams (a serving is only one cup, and most people eat at least two cups of cereal at a time). You might be surprised that these products that are often deemed healthy contain as much sugar as they do.

So what can be done to stop this sugar madness? Some might say the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should put more limits on food producers, and I’m inclined to agree. However, if this were to be done, there would likely be claims that the government is getting in the way of people’s free will to eat whatever they want. 

An easier way to prevent these companies from pushing their unhealthy food on us, our friends and our families is to stop buying their products. If there’s no demand for sugar-packed food, there won’t a be a reason to supply it. If we refuse to buy certain products food companies put on the shelves and make them realize we’re refusing to buy them because they are overly packed with sugar, the companies will likely choose to create new, healthier foods. 

Adapting a healthier diet is not easy, especially if sugar is as addictive as some researchers claim. It is, however, an important life choice to make. 

People seem to forget that the food they eat is actually what their body is made of. It can have drastic effects on their life. It seems big food companies might have forgotten this too. However, I think it’s more likely that these companies are aware that their products are hurting their customers’ health, but they have deemed profits more important.