Introduction
Among the killers in America and possibly topping the list isn’t gun violence or cancer but heart disease. During my freshman years in high school, I can vaguely recall the first day of my class when my class teacher brought in a tub filled with table sugar. She grabbed a pair of measuring spoons and started shoveling out scoop after scoop while engaging the class in a discussion based on day-to-day diet activities. She asked everyone in the class, “How many of you will have soda with your lunch?” To this pretty much everyone raised their hands with the response “it’s what’s available in the cafeteria mostly, besides water or milk.” She filled a small transparent cup with 39 grams of sugar and asked the class if anyone would be willing to eat this much sugar, all at once and if this much amount of sugar is healthy for anyone. To this everyone shook their head in disapproval of digesting this much sugar and replied with no. She explained to the class that this much sugar is normally in a 12 oz. can of coke, which equals 39 grams of sugar and is equivalent to 9 1/3 teaspoons in comparison. She discussed that apparently most Americans continue this habit without giving much thought to it. Sugar has proven to be one of the leading causes of heart disease and rising rates of death in the United States.
Discussion
Sugar has been one of the leading causes of the rising death rate in the United States. This amount is normally found in 39 grams of sugar which is found in a can of coke. Upon doubling the amount to 65 grams, she mentioned that this much is found in a 20 oz. bottle of coke. The unbelievable yet quite undeniable fact is that everyone ingests more than this amount of sugar, on a daily basis. Even today, I can still remember the harsh reality I learned in that class. The contents of that lesson ring in my head, even when I am standing in the GWC cafeteria, choosing a drink to have with my lunch. Choosing a 7up wouldn’t be that bad, right? Wrong! A 20 FL oz. bottle of 7up has a total of 63 grams of sugar in it, which is only two grams less of a coke can. Considering this fact, then how about an Arizona Ice Tea? That’ll be another bad choice since an Arizona Ice Tea is noted to contain about 22 grams in 15.5 FL oz. can, which is still by far a lot of sugar to digest. Root beer is also equally bad for health in this regard as well. Since a 20 FL oz. A&W root beer can has about 75 grams of sugar in it, which is just beyond anything found in soda cans. This discovery just had me startled and surprised over the amount they have been adding in root beer cans.
I started my research into drinks that people normally opted to be on the healthier side of diet. One of the options that popped up on the list was Vitamin water, which is considered to be healthy. A 20 FL oz. bottle of Vitamin Water could have made a healthier option only if it didn’t have 32 grams of sugar in it. Coke owns the brand and adds about 32 grams of sugar in it, along with vitamins, which may or may not be healthy for us but this is being sold to the public under the disguise of healthy water. This brought me back to stage one of my searches but I eventually stumbled on to a 17 FL oz. of Sparkling Ice Water which quite incredibly had zero grams of sugar in it, to my surprise. I was beyond exhausted with my research at this point since several of the options people considered healthy were actually more of a health risk for their hearts. Another fact that surprised me was the method through which this much poison was being marketed to children and teenagers. This has presently caused the youth to be victimized by problems such as weight gain and obesity (Stern et al., 2017).
People normally consider sugar to be white and simple granules. Although this presumption is purely based on the wrong basis, since there are as many as 56 types out there presently. Some of these are classified as Corn syrup, dextrin, and dextrose among the most normally available to the public. Although I believe that diet plans do not necessarily start with understanding the depth and meaning behind carbs or which vitamins or what sugar types to use but by understanding how much is sufficient for a human body. An excess of anything can be harmful, and this can be anything other than sugar as well. However, despite having this understanding most people normally consume more than what’s necessary for them, which has led to a major crisis for health and care departments in the United States (Malik et al., 2010).
Conclusions
Conclusively, it was understood that any excess can become lethal but knowing the exact amount can prevent any serious issues from arising. Sugar, normally sold in soda cans and other drinks, which people unthinkably drink away, can prove to be quite lethal for them. Leading issues in heart diseases have mostly been linked to sugar which everyone consumes on a daily basis. Obesity which has been labeled to be a leading cause of death, is also stemming from the continuous use of sugar.
Works Cited
Malik, Vasanti S., et al. “Sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease risk.” Circulation 121.11 (2010): 1356-1364.
Stern, Dalia, et al. “Changes in Sugar-Sweetened Soda Consumption, Weight, and Waist Circumference: 2-Year Cohort of Mexican Women.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 11, Nov. 2017, pp. 1801-1808. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.304008.
