“A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down”
Anyone remember where that line comes from?
So, what happens when the spoonfuls just keep on coming and 1 tsp turns into a full buckets of sugar instead?
Does that help the medicine go down too?
History Lesson
Just 200 years ago, the average American consumed around 2-4 pounds of sugar per YEAR.
1 tsp SUGAR = 4 grams SUGAR
1 pound SUGAR = 453 grams SUGAR
1 pound SUGAR = 113 tsp SUGAR
2-4 pounds per YEAR = 226 - 453 tsp SUGAR per year
So, let’s assume around an average of 339 tsp per year for the average adult then shall we? That’s less than 1 tsp PER DAY!
That’s right, there are 365 days in a calendar year and people consumed less than 1 tsp of sugar per day.
Okay, let’s summarize….
In early 1800, Americans were consuming around 1 tsp of sugar per day or less in some occasions.
In early 2000, we were consuming somewhere close to 155 pounds of sugar per year.
That means in 200 years, we jumped from 2-4 pounds per year to 150+ pounds per year!
That’s an increase of over 5,000%
Crazy leaps we’ve taken in the world of food, nutrition, and health isn’t it? Could you imagine what it was like just a few generations ago when people actually consumed real whole foods and we had beautifully fertile and nourished soils?
What a time it must have been (minus any concerns of economics, machinery, hard labor farming, factories, etc.). Now, I do want to highlight something else here…
The Name Game
Important to note, when we’re talking about sugar these days, we’re talking about much more than just your average table sugar that your grandma may have used to “help the medicine go down.” Sugar today has over 50 different names because we’ve found ways to isolate and refine it in such diverse ways. “Sugar” is found in highly processed forms like high fructose corn syrup, extracts of corn, beets, sugarcane, rice, and others.
Glucose
Maltodextrin
Syrup
Fructose
Agave
Dextran
Fruit Juice Concentrate
Brown Rice Syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Corn Syrup
Lactose
And with so much sugar to go around, you’d think we would be a pretty sweet people.. but that’s so far from the truth I can’t even begin to explain.
Let me just say this, high sugar consumption can definitely have detrimental effects on our mental health, cognitive abilities, emotional stability, stress response, immune system health, and much much more.
Many people in the past have taken a look at how high sugar consumption can impact dopamine and addictive behaviors, most notably Dr. Nicole Avena. More research has showed us what we believed to be true, that high sugar consumption can impact our emotions and behaviors too!
Just as what we know that high smoking, vaping, or alcohol consumption can impact our emotions and behaviors. Diets high in sugar are also usually deficient in actual nutrition, you know those beautiful colorful fruits and vegetables, necessary amino acids and proteins, as well as dozens of specific vitamins and minerals we need to live our best lives and function as beautifully sound and healthy human beings.
On the topic of Sugar, here are some of my favorite brands and products to support your health:
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Sugar Fiends
Thus, what we find is that a diet high in sugar has the potential to lead to the following (and many more):
Increase in impulsivity
Cognitive decline
Cognitive impairment
Anxiety
Fear, Stress, Schizophrenic behaviors
Addictive Behaviors
Oxidative stress & Inflammation
Mitochondrial dsyfunction
Increased anger and aggression
Susceptibility for infection (sinusitis, UTIs, etc)
Poor energy regulation
Obesity
Alzheimer’s & Dementia
Cardiovascular disease
Acne and Eczema
We have nearly found just as many health problems linked to high sugar consumption as we have for the many number of names we use for “sugar” itself. Wild stuff. No wonder so many people are trying to reduce their intake of sugar, and added sugars specifically.
And we could spend a whole lecture on the role of artificial sweeteners or non-nutritive sweeteners too, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves just yet. I’ll focus on that for another day. Let’s just say I’m not a fan of artificial anything if you know anything about me at this point.
Sugar Consumption by State
In a recent report by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health of the of University of Connecticut, they share some super interesting details on differential markers of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage intake state by state variations. Published with the help of American Society for Nutrition.
Notice any trends in the TOP 10 list for amount of GALLONS consumed? I do!
Let's look:
The Midwest highlights much of the highest use of consumers, where we also tend to see poorer health, poorer public health funding, and many rural disparities.
While more “coastal” cities like Seattle, Philly, and other countries like Chile, Mexico, and indigenous tribal locations in the US have been successful to lobby for SSB taxes to help fund public health efforts in their districts, many people in the midwest are still "swigging and chugging" gallons and gallons, of sugar sweetened beverages every week, month after month.
And we can only expect to anticipate the associated risk factors to continue - #diabetes, obesity, fatty liver, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and more, including addiction and poor mental health struggle in education and even influential roles in cyclical poverty.
My home state of Indiana comes in at No. 10
Mississippi No. 1 for highest levels of consumption
Can you guess who might come in last (aka the least amount of soda / soft drink consumption aka aka healthier choices?) The answer might surprise you!
Aloha!
It was Hawaii!
Don’t forget to check out how your state scored in the official report, available here for your empowered and informed perusing.
Let me know in the comments below how you feel about soda, sugar-sweetened beverages, soft drinks, pop and all the other names we give for these sugary drinks?
I’ve known many people who have significantly benefited in their health journey by just simply getting rid of soda and soft drinks in their life: things like weight loss, less headaches and migraines, improved mood, improved sleep, and many more.
Please do me a favor and share this with a friend or family member who’s on your personal health team to support one another in our journeys of health. Take this post and share on social media to spread the word and lesson of the week! :)
Stay Sweet Fam, (but not too sugary)
- Jonathan
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If you missed last week’s editions you can check them out here: