I know you are probably thinking sugar is not a drug… Essay

I know you are probably thinking sugar is not a drug… But could you go more than one day without eating something without sugar in it? Or have you ever hidden candy so that you do not have to share it? If so, you are not alone.

The main cause of health issues in modern society is right on the tip of our tongue, however, it seems not to be savored strong enough. There are several kinds of research on sugar addiction that show how much we care about our health.

Yet, only a few understand how this drug can affect the body. As Dr. Robert Lustig explains in his talk “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”, sugar affects our society in many different ways. Ways that we could not have foreseen a couple of years ago.

He talks about how since the appearance of processed food and corn syrup, companies have modified their products in order to benefit themselves by selling things that make you want to buy more.

As a very clear example, he explained what he called the “Coca-Cola Conspiracy”. And to be honest, who does not love a good, cold glass of refreshing Coca-Cola? Well, like many other products, Coca-Cola is built to make you addicted. How? They put a magic combination of good price, caffeine, salt, and sugar. Price makes it an economic drink, caffeine makes you pee free water, salt makes you thirstier and the sugar hides the salt (which makes you like it even more!) This is how companies change the market, making non-processed food less attractive and flavorless compared to others.

There are many health problems seen today that are carried by this great sugar/corn syrup revolution. A diet packed with corn syrup can affect the brain by making it harder to learn and remember. Sugar in excess can delay collagen activity, making your skin prone to premature wrinkles. It can also make you store a couple more pounds of fat, risking obesity, diabetes and heart problems. Proteins, tissues, and even organs can become problematic. And not to forget the fact that it gets you hooked (turning it into a drug).

Because of the globalization and the expansion of big food chains that want to add shelf life to their products, we have been paying a steep price with our health. A good example of how far the epidemic has come is that in recent years diabetes and high blood pressure have become more common in Japan, these were not present in the population before the discovery of corn syrup.

The amount of chemicals and derivative products that they insert into our food is crazy and even crazier that we cannot live without them! Personally, I find myself in a place where I support the fact that sugar is very harmful to us. But with today’s market’s large production of items that have all these damaging components, it is not easy to find a way of avoiding them. That is why our society is battling so hard with all these diseases that become more common despite the efforts of medical communities and researchers.