After reading thisone-page piece on added sugars(PDF version here
Download PDF version here), respond to the following questions.
- After reading this, do you think added sugars should be banned from the food supply? Why or why not?
- Should reducing sugar-sweetened beverages be up to individuals, or should policies be implemented that reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (e.g., limiting serving sizes, soda taxes). Why or why not?
- Should families, schools, or the government play a central role in controlling the types of foods and beverages offered to young people throughout their day? Why or why not?
Carbohydrates Challenge Statements:You will respond to 3 commonly held beliefs around carbohydrates.
- It’s a good idea to avoid carbohydrates because they make you fat
- In terms of carbohydrate, a potato and a can of Coke are the same — they both contain the same type and amount of sugar
- Natural sugar from sugarcane is better/healthier for you than high-fructose corn syrup
Write your thoughts about each of the 3 challenge statements.
Chapter 4 - Applied Nutrition 136 insulin release could increase energy intake. In addition, fructose enters body cells via a transport protein not present in brain cells; thus, unlike glucose, fructose can- not enter brain cells and stimulate satiety signals. If we don’t feel full, we are likely to continue eating or drinking. The growing evidence link- ing the consumption of sugar- sweetened beverages with overweight and obesity in children has led to dramatic changes in soft drink availability in schools and at school-sponsored events. In 2006, the soft drink industry agreed to a voluntary ban on sales of all sweetened soft drinks in elementary and high schools. Despite these positive changes, there is still ample avail- ability of foods and beverages containing added sugars in the marketplace. Although the evidence pinpointing added sugars and HFCS as major contributors to the obesity epidemic may appear strong, other nutrition professionals disagree. It has been proposed that soft drinks would have contrib- uted to the obesity epidemic whether the sweetener was sucrose or fructose, and that their contribution to obesity is due to increased consumption as a result of advertising, increases in serving sizes, and virtually unlimited access to soft drinks.23 It is possible that the obesity epidemic has resulted from increased consumption of energy (from sweetened soft drinks and other high-energy foods) and a reduction in physical activity levels, and added sugars themselves are not to blame. This issue is extremely complex, and more research needs to be done in humans before we can fully under- stand how added sugars contribute to our diet and our health. Over the past 30 years, obesity rates have increased dramatically for adults and children. Obesity has become public health enemy number one because many chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and arthritis, go hand in hand with obesity. Genetics cannot be held solely responsible for the rapid rise in obesity that has occurred. Our genetic makeup takes thousands of years to change; humans who lived 100 years ago had essentially the same genetic makeup as we do. We need to look at the effect of our lifestyle changes over the same period. One lifestyle factor that has come to the forefront of nutrition research is the contribution of added sugars to overweight and obesity. Consuming more energy than we expend causes weight gain. Consuming higher amounts of added sugars is a factor in weight gain for many people because they do not compensate for these increased Calo- ries by increasing their energy expenditure through exer- cise or by reducing their energy intake from other foods. The role of sugar-sweetened beverages in increasing our risk for obesity has received a great deal of atten- tion in recent years. These beverages include soft drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks, and vitamin water drinks. It is estimated that U.S. children’s intake of sugar-sweetened beverages has increased threefold since the late 1970s, with approximately 10% of children’s energy intake com- ing from these beverages.19 High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), in particular, has garnered a great deal of attention because researchers have emphasized that HFCS is the sole caloric sweetener in sugared soft drinks and represents more than 40% of caloric sweeteners added to other foods and beverages in the United States.22 These researchers have linked the increased use and consumption of HFCS with the rising rates of obesity since the 1970s, when HFCS first appeared. HFCS is made by converting the starch in corn to glucose and then converting some of the glucose to fructose, which is sweeter. Unfortunately, fructose is metabolized differ- ently than glucose because it is absorbed farther down in the small intestine, and, unlike glucose, it does not stimulate insulin release from the pancreas. Because insu- lin inhibits food intake in people, this failure to stimulate Are Added Sugars the Cause of the Obesity Epidemic?