I have selected to discuss the relationship of the sweetener sugar (sucrose) between its consumption and the rise in obesity. There is a problem with the increase in sugar consumption. Sugar both drives fat storage and makes the brain think it is hungry, setting up a “vicious cycle,” according Robert Lustig, MD, a UCSF pediatric neuroendocrinologist. Obesity is one of the top underlying preventable causes of death in the U.S.
The rise of obesity is usually blamed on too much eating and not enough exercising, but a lot of it has to do with the increase of sugar in foods and drinks, making it the biggest source of added sugar in the U.S. diet. (Popkin, BM) The history and origin of table sugar or sucrose is entwined with religion, colonialism, trade, industry, capitalism, and technology.The first to domesticate sugar cane sometime in 8,000 BC were the people from New Guinea. Solid sugar was only mentioned in history during 500 AD in India.
After domestication, cultivation of sugar cane rapidly spread throughout southern China and India. Later, the Muslim traders and conquerors exported the cane and the refining techniques to the Middle Eastern and European countries. Spanish and Portuguese explorers and conquerors also brought sugar to Iberia, Sicily and Madeira. Christopher Columbus was the one who carried sugar cane seedlings to the New World.
Sugar is made by some plants to store energy that they don't need straight away, rather like animals make fat. People like sugar for its sweetness and its energy so some of these plants are grown commercially to extract the sugar.Sugar is produced in 121 Countries and global production now exceeds 120 Million tons a year. Approximately 70% is produced from sugar cane, a very tall grass with big stems which is largely grown in the tropical countries. The remaining 30% is produced from sugar beet , a root crop resembling a large parsnip grown mostly in the temperate zones of the north.
What we call sugar, the chemist knows as 'sucrose', one of the families of sugars otherwise known as saccharides in the grouping called carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, as the name implies, contain carbon and hydrogen plus oxygen in the same ratio as in water.The saccharides are a large family with the general formula CnH2nOn. The simplest of the sugars is glucose, C6H12O6, although its physical chemistry is not that simple because it occurs in two distinct forms which affect some of its properties. Sucrose, C12H22O11, is a disaccharide, a condensation molecule made up of two glucose molecules [less a water molecule to make the chemistry work]. The process whereby plants make sugars is photosynthesis.
The plant takes in carbon dioxide from the air though pores in its leaves and absorbs water through its roots. These are combined to make sugar using energy from the sun and with the help of a substance called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is green which allows it to absorb the sun's energy more readily and which, of course, gives the plants' leaves their green colour. The reaction of photosynthesis can be written as the following chemical equation when sucrose is being made: 12 CO2 + 11 H2 O =C12 H22 O11 + 12 O2carbon dioxide + water=sucrose + oxygenSucrose in sugar form is largely used in confectionery and in most popular desserts.
It is used by cooks as a sweetening ingredient. With sufficient concentrations, it can also be used as a food preservative in jams, processed fruits, preserves, and also in condensed milk. Sucrose contributes to the crust flavor and color, as well as to the freshness found in biscuits and cakes. Sucrose is also used in the cellulose and plastic industry, and in the manufacture of ink and in making transparent soaps. It is also used as the base material in the production of ethanol, glycerol, butanol, and citric and levulinic acids.
Sucrose acts as a food for yeast in baking and in cider and beer brewing. The AHA statement, published in the journal Circulation, makes the point that added sugars, such as high-fructose corn syrup or ordinary table sugar added to sodas, breads, and other processed foods, are likely responsible for the increase in calorie consumption and the subsequent rise in obesity of the past few decades. Furthermore, people who have unhealthy sugar intake levels also consume lower levels of vital nutrients, such as zinc, iron, calcium, and vitamin A. And one study has suggested that too much sugar could raise blood pressure levels. The report also notes that over the past 30 years, we've consumed an average of 150 to 300 more calories per day than we used to, 50 percent of which come from beverages.
And our physical activity levels remain unchanged, so those extra calories don't get burned off.Naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole grains don't need to be avoided, and make up part of a healthy diet, says lead author Rachel K. Johnson, PhD, MPH, RD, associate provost and professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Even the occasional soda isn't a bad thing. "We're not saying that you should eliminate sugar from your diet or that you can't have sugar-sweetened foods," she says.
But when you can't stay within the recommended sugar allowances, you need to make up for it with extra exercise. And rather than waste your sugar intake on sodas and other empty calories, she adds, “use it in a way that enhances the flavor and palatability of already nutritional foods like flavored yogurt or flavored milk."The safety of our health can be managed by keeping track our sugar intake. Of course, knowing how much sugar you should be eating is completely different from calculating what you're actually eating. Daily intakes of added sugar aren't easy to estimate, says Johnson, as the Food and Drug Administration doesn't require that nutrition labels list the amount of naturally occurring sugars separate from the amounts of added sugars.
The best way to cut added sugars out of your diet is to limit processed foods as much as possible, and satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit. Make a practice of this, and you won't need to spend so much time staring at food labels and counting sugar grams.
