Sugar Is In Everything

A popular question to post in r/askReddit pertains to how future generations may judge our generation on everyday decisions that we make. Think of this in the light of future revelations that may come to be where people wonder “why did they do that”? Think of lead in gasoline and that effect on IQ in the seventies, or smoking while pregnant.

I think there are two that we will look back on and be like “why did we do that?” The first will be letting plastic come in contact with our food, especially hot food. The second will be our consumption of sugar.

Sugar is in everything! I am trying to cut back in my consumption of it but I am having trouble finding foods where it is not snuck in. I am not talking about natural sugars in fruit but sugar in condiments, canned foods, frozen foods, processed foods, basically anything. I realize this is common knowledge and we’ve all accepted it, but the links between it and weight gain are undeniable and I am surprised Americans tolerate it. The link between weight gain and diabetes 2 is a real issue also, and something we need to address.

The entire world seems to be catching up with us Americans as rising type 2 diabetes prevalence increases globally. But I wonder, why is it when a country starts developing their sugar intake increases? Of course, we are designed to crave it, but are there market forces at play? It seems that sugar, like most American agriculture, is heavily supported and protected by the US government. If you look at government policies though, sugar is actually supported by aggressive policies and subsides to both keep the price high and protect growers. It could absolutely be cheaper, which would drive out suppliers, and decrease sugar supply. Is there more sugar in the market than necessary? What would happen to public health if sugar became less available? Should the government be weighing their finger this heavily onto the scale?