I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love sugar. Humans have a natural sweet tooth and it can be difficult to control our sugar-eating habits. But how can something so nice be so bad for us?
Obviously, naturally occurring sugar, for example in fruit, is considered healthy sugar. However, refined sugar is not healthy and is added to many processed foods to make them taste better. Surprisingly, this ‘hidden’ sugar can be found in many savoury foods like bread, tins of vegetables and sauces. Moreover, refined sugar has no nutritional value and therefore offers ’empty’ calories. It also has no fibre, unlike the natural sugar in fruit, and therefore is easy to eat a lot of. Consequently, excess calories lead to weight gain. Too much sugar also encourages tooth decay in children and diabetes in later life.
So, what can we do about too much sugar, especially the hidden sugars in our diet? It seems to me that the government must take some responsibility for this situation. Ideally, it should regulate the amount of sugar that companies can add to processed foods. Furthermore, education must also be part of the answer and students should learn in school about the health issues associated with eating a lot of sugar. This approach has worked for smoking, after all.
Personally, I think it is extremely important that young people know about the dangers of sugar so that we can make informed choices. Although it is delicious, we must not put our future health at risk.