At present, sugar addiction is responsible for one of the scourges of modern society and a significant problem in the United States among other countries. While a general preference for “fast foods” and a group psyche that seems to suggest that there simply isn’t enough food preparation time available, might be a significant part of the issue, many professionals still point to sugared sodas and beverages.
Over the previous thirty years, the average caloric intake has increased by somewhere between 150 and 300 per day for most Americans. It’s also accurate to say that the average American doesn’t make up for those extra calories with any kind of cardiovascular exercise, and therefore those calories don’t serve any useful purpose other than rapidly increasing the national obesity problem.
Rather than take a holistic nutrition approach, we often opt to take the shortcut and go for foods that we know will give us a little “buzz” of activity, thus assuring ourselves that these particular types of food must be good for us. Unfortunately, very little could be further from being true, and therefore it certainly shouldn’t come as any surprise that the American Heart Association has recently set specific limits on the maximum volume of sugar that they say people should consume each day.
The volume of fructose in our daily diet, which is commonly utilized in processed foods everywhere, has actually more than doubled since 1970. It is estimated that we consume on average more than 22 teaspoons of sugar every day, with young people taking in considerably more, no doubt due to their penchant for those cans of soda drinks. It is apparent that sugar is a precursor to over eating, as its effect on the brain can trigger the body into thinking that it is undernourished and needs more food.
A restricted sugar diet should be part of holistic health solutions, and be considered by everyone individually. It’s truly unfortunate that the problem has gone so far that politicians have had to suggest additional legislation to discourage the population, as is now being considered by the city of San Francisco for instance, in the form of a fairly significant “soda tax.”
Simply being overweight can in itself contribute to a wide variety of different health conditions, and it can also place quite a bit of strain on your heart and most of the major organs as well. Obesity is a national epidemic in the US, probably more so than in any other country in the world. It is also linked to a lack of productivity, depression and other illnesses.
The number one thing consumers should do to create a path toward a healthier existence is to start reading food labels. Be particularly careful when it comes to the amount of sugar added to processed foods and always pay attention to portion size. This can be very misleading and almost invariably, the size of the portion of food that ends up on your plate is much larger than the referenced portion size on the label!
Take an individual stance and cut back, as the national sugar addiction appears to be getting worse as each year goes by.
