The harmful effects of high sugar consumption
I believe that America already has the most powerful weapon in the world; something that is able to cause destruction to humankind with one sip. It’s Coca-Cola—or more accurately, it’s sugar in Coca-Cola. Obesity dominates the lives of North American’s and is caused by the lack of exercise and education about food, coupled with the lack of accessible and affordable nutritious whole food.
Food means different things to different people, however, to me, it is fuel and goes beyond simply taste or culture. I need food to survive and function on campus, and I need it to keep muscle mass on my body. Call me a gym rat, but when you spend as much time in the gym as I do, you begin to count macros and forsake television—and often times studying—to meal prep. So I find it jarring that a girl can’t get a decent meal with proper ratios of protein, carbs, and healthy fats without having to prep them myself. When I enter the gym, I often face a juxtaposition of Coca-Cola in the vending machines as I’m on my way to the squat rack. In a space that encompasses wellbeing, high-fructose corn syrup still somehow ends up in the mix.
Sugar seems to be the common denominator in our society, and drives the industry that provides us with our food. Companies such as Coca-Cola are responsible for the majority of what we see on the shelves of the grocery store, and these options are often more affordable to the average consumer.
It’s true that sugar (in the form of glucose) is needed in order for our bodies to function. However, the overconsumption of refined sugar in tandem with a society that sits all day aren’t a good mix. When glucose doesn’t get used up by our muscles for energy, it actually ends up being metabolized and stored as fat. This is one of the reasons why obesity is tied to the consumption of sugar.
So when we look at a society riddled with obesity and sugar, we really need to get to the root of the problem and possible solutions. This turns the issue of sugar and obesity to one that starts with accessibility and distribution, and solutions that would require a shift in consumption and learning not to be so dependent on sugar.
Policies such as a sugar tax are an example of how there is a shift towards needing to control what people eat, as it will affect all aspects of their life. The sugar tax is criticized as being a blanket tax, but the real flaw in the tax is the fact that it targets the consumer, instead of the producer. A sugar tax would be a good start, but a better one would be a shift in the mindset of a society driven by dessert, chocolate, granola bars and snacks that have sugar listed as the main ingredient. There also needs to be an emphasis placed on exercise, especially from a young age.
It’s funny how easy it is to find highly processed food, specifically sugar filled snacks, just about anywhere in North America. All a person has to do is peruse the aisles of any grocery store, or look to the nearest vending machine in buildings to find food and beverage averaging more sugar than I’m comfortable to admit. It’s also funny how we’re told to “eat healthy” when the most “healthy” things that are accessible, and affordable, are a slice of pizza and some Coca Cola to wash it down.
This needs to change, and it starts with a cultural mindset shift. If not, we will have death by sugar, and that’s not okay.