Thursday, 16 October 2014

Sugar is slowly killing us (Matthias)




Sugar is in everything. Most people will admit that too much sugar is bad for them. However little do they realize that sugar is far more damaging than a simple tooth ache as we were taught as children. Too much sugar has been compared by scientists to the damage of drinking too much alcohol which is shocking. Scientists have discovered that it is a leading cause to obesity which is now a bigger problem than malnourishment across the world.
               
Sugar is what makes things sweet and most people enjoy that taste. However most people are also cautious of how much they can eat. Scientists have discovered that it not only causes cavities but also changes metabolism, raises blood pressure, throws hormones off balance and harms the liver. These are all severely detrimental attributes of sugar. Experts are now talking about limiting soft drinks and other sugary products in order to save people’s lives. They are thinking about doubling the prices of soft drinks and limiting what is permitted to be sold in schools. They want to rid people of easy to obtain, loaded with sugar products. They make a point by saying it’s easier to restrict the availability of these products than to tell kids to exercise and have a proper diet.
               
While it does seem like sugar is posing a huge threat, others argue that sugar is only lethal when taken in unrealistic amounts. They argue that while sugar does cause problems they are only one factor of these problems and these problems can have other causes as well and we should not be focusing solely on sugar itself. Also they mention the fact that scaring the public with portraying sugar so badly will not help in the correction of people’s diets. While it is key to try and force people away from unhealthy eating habits, it is not in their best interest to focus solely on sugar and depict it as such.
               
I feel that while sugar is a big problem I myself have never really enjoyed candy or anything of a particularly sweet nature. I prefer savory and salty things as opposed to sweets so I’ve never really experienced such a problem. However I do believe that obesity is a huge problem usually connected to sugar and soft drinks. I do believe that schools should limit what they sell and try to be healthier. Doubling prices and making it harder to obtain these products will result in public outcry and will most likely backfire as many people will probably not like this new change, even I would not appreciate having to pay more for a plain soft drink. Having more advertisements and programs dedicated to healthy eating will most likely help the problem in a less drastic manner. In short I believe the experts are on the right track however they are taking far too drastic of a leap to reduce the threat of sugar, there are far more problems to worry about but we should not neglect it either. If a happy medium could be achieved without riots or outcry while still creating change in diets that would be the most preferred.

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