Resource:
Summary:
We all know that sugar is bad for us, but do we know how bad it actually is? According to the United Nations, on average there are about 35 million deaths yearly from diseases related to sugar like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. They also believe that sugar plays a huge factor in the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the United States. Also, 75% of the money in the yearly health budget goes to treating those diseases and others. Colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, Robert Lusting, Laura Schmidt, and Claire Brinds all feel that sugar should be controlled like alcohol or tobacco to protect public health. They found that the use of sugar changes a persons metabolism, creates high blood pressure, changes hormones, and severely damages the liver. The team also found that sugar consumption has tripled in the past 50 years. They want society to know how bad sugar is for them and that they feel it should he treated as a controlled substance. People think that sugar is an 'empty calorie', with them thinking that no progress will be made. It is very hard to change society and cultural ways. The team can't take such drastic measures now, but the best that they can do is to inform the public of sugars defaults.
Critique:
I didn't know that sugar is so bad for you. The team means well, but I think it will take society a very long time to understand how bad sugar is.
Impact:
I think this study is one of the many other articles that will soon start to aware society of how bad sugar is for you.
I saw this on the news when this new info came out and thought of all the cons of sugar intake. Your research proved that consuming sugar can cause sugar related deaths, obesity, and larger health budget percentages. I think that this was very interesting, as you did. :)
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, controlling the society's intake of sugar is over-controlling. My hope is that they can communicate to the nation of the defaults of the empty calories of sugar. How do you think that this would overall affect today's society?
This article surprised me a little. I knew that large amounts of sugar are not good for any person, but I guess I didn't think it was this bad. I love the examples that you gave on the different diseases you can get by sugar intake. I also thought that the comparison to tobacco and alcohol was interesting; I have never heard it that way before.
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with Hannah. To go so far as to compare sugar to alcohol and tobacco was a little too much. These researchers are a little bit controlling in this area and should consider if their approach is a bit too extreme.
Good blog, excellent comments. Which is a bigger problem- obesity or lung cancer? Which kills more people?
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