Sugar by Taylor Klick

Sweet L ies TAYLOR KLICK

To instill a healthy lifestyle to society through awareness and education... of the dangerous copious amounts of sugar that are added to the Western diet.

SWEETLIES

CONTENTS “We must treat our bodies with love, understanding and nurturing. We only have one body, and one mind, our whole lives.” - TAYLOR KLICK

FOOD INDUSTRIALIZATION

OBESITY

LIFESTYLE CONSTRAINTS

FAT

GRAINS, WHEAT & DAIRY

SODIUM

SUGAR

SUGAR JUNKIES

FRUCTOSE

DIABETES

CANCER

FOOD ADVERTISING

TARGET MARKET & INSIGHTS

POTENTIAL OUTCOMES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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RAW FOOD DIETS

FOOD SAFETY

Many diets have evolved around what the caveman ate before the creation of fire. The nutrients and molecules of foods change when heated. These diets are based around the belief that uncooked food is healthiest for the human body. In the raw food diet, the food can only be heated in a temperature that is below 118 degrees Fahrenheit. The process of cooking is known to denture the enzymes that appear in natural foods. According to these diets, the enzymes help metabolize the food and maximize the absorption of nutrients.

Even with all of the health and safety regulations during both WWI and WWII, there was a massive explosion of mass catering, such as restaurant chains, canteens and prepared foods products. The more knowledge that was gathered about disease and food, the greater need for the government to protect the health and safety of the people.

INDUSTRIALIZATION

Direct connection with the farmer and the food they produced was replaced with rapid production and mass consumption. The North American Food system changed from an intimate commodity to a desire for mass consumption through industrialization. This industrialization of food created a whirlwind of food processing technologies all throughout the 19th century

1800 AGRICULTURE Archeological evidence proves that the transition stages from hunter-gatherers to agriculture had many negative impacts on the human development. Early stages in agriculture effected humans by shrinking brains and creating new brain diseases. Agriculture also impacted our bones by weakening them and shrinking them. There was a five to six inch reduction in human height and eleven percent reduction in the size of the brain.

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GOVERNMENT Atwater focused on four areas of nutritional research; the link between demographics and food consumption; the chemical make-up of food; the effect of cooking and processing on the nutritional value of food; and, optimal food requirements. The conclusions from studies and research created tensions between different levels of government with industry and public welfare interests.

PALEOLITHIC DIET Derived from the hunter-gatherersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; diet, Paleolithic has been effective for many. The Paleolithic diet looks back at diets 10 000 years ago containing wild plants and animals. Robb Wolf, a former research biochemist, explains the Paleolithic diet Is built around the consumption of lean meat, seafood, fruits, roots and vegetables. Wolf promotes seasonal, local and sustainable resources. The Paleolithic diet avoids grains, dairy, processed oils, refined sugar, salt and legumes. The Paleolithic nutrition focuses on the fact that modern humans have pushed our bodies into consuming these industrialized processed foods. Paleolithic nutrition was developed through the study of the evolution of biology and medicine. Through this approach it became apparent that humans have not been able to adapt to modern diets. Dr, Kurt G. Harris, recommends avoiding fructose, linoleic acid and gluten at all times. These additives have been correlated to many modern diseases.

1900

CONVENIENCE Following WWII, the traditional home cooked meal began to lose its appeal in favour of convenience and fast foods. Processed foods replaced fresh, natural foods. The priority of convenience, efficiency and taste became of prime importance during the mid 1900â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Research expanded focusing on North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portion sizes, especially in fast food industry. Food processors, however, ignored the warnings and pushed larger, more supersized products to the public.

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH As the population moved into an exponential growth stage, there was worry of not having enough resources to feed the entire population. The Fordist model was invented and hunter-gatherers became almost obsolete. Food was processed, grown, prepared, and consumed much more rapidly. Technologies were invented in order to create food as a commodity. The food industry became largest consumer industry in the world.

DIET TRENDS The public is fooled to believe in many different types of diets that promise their desires. Ninety- five percent of those who diet will not loose the weight, and of those who do ninety-five percent will not keep the weight off. This is how dieting programs have been made into a multimillion-dollar industry. They reach into the desires of their consumer, let them gain the confidence when they lose the weight. Once the client gains the weight back, they look to the same diets or other dieting companies.

THE ATKINS DIET

LOW FAT, HIGH IN SWEETNESS Richard Nixon and the USDA did everything in their power to avoid food being an influence in the next presidential election. Nixon looked for solutions to make food cheap even if it put the public at risk.. Just after WWII, studies from the USDA, AMA & AHA declared that we should have a fat-free diet. The Western diet became a low-fat, high carb diet. The taste in low fat processed foods was horrible so they added sugars to make their products taste better.

1950

OBESITY In the early 1980’s, obesity rates started to rise. Within the next ten years, one in four Americans were obese. The amount of overweight children tripled within the following decade.

LOW FAT PACKAGING Ancel Keys, who stated, “Fat raises cholesterol and gives you heart disease”, introduced the low-fat diet. Since Ancel’s statement, the National Institutes of Health spent a hundred million dollars trying to prove this fact to be correct. The N.I.H failed to prove that a low fat diet had any health benefits. During the same time, the food industry ran with Key’s research and produced multitudes of low fat products. Food packaging evolved with the promotion of a food being low fat. The public associated low fat with less body fat and bought into the brands.

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Around this time, most believed that the cause of obesity was the large quantity of fats in the Western diet. In 1972, Atkins published his first diet which stated that fat was not the root of obesity. Atkins would allow high fat foods but forbid starches or refined carbohydrates. Atkins extremely uncommon diet left the American Medical Association in an uproar. They were baffled at the thought of consuming unlimited saturated fats and high cholesterol foods. The Atkins diet also contradicted the Food Guide Pyramid that included the pasta, rice and bread. This Food Pyramid Guide was made with millions of dollars from the government to prefect.

GM FOODS Genetically modified organisms are defined as organisms where the DNA has been changed using modern biotechnology. Crops flourished due to pesticides and hormones that we were injecting into them. By the time of 1996, 1.5 billion hectares of commercial crops were grown. Negative health issues in recent studies have shown that genetically modified foods are changing the compounds of our DNA and the cells in nature.

TOXINS In 2003, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science released a report warning the public about the high risk of cancer from consuming food containing dioxin and other polychlorobiphenyls. The report exposed the amount of dioxin levels rising by108 pounds more in consumption rates then the year prior. Through these processes the Environmental Protection Agency reported that 6.16 billion of toxins were released into the environment. The EPA explained that when these toxins are exposed into the environment, they end up in our animals, crops, fish, and eventually humans. Young children are the most vulnerable to the damaging effects of these toxins. Many of these effects include behavioral disorders, thyroid dysfunction. endometriosis and cancer. The stages of a developing fetus are the most crucial for the health of the rest of its life.

SUGAR CONSUMPTION According to the U.S.D.A the public increased their sugar consumption by more the 90 pounds per capita per year in 2000. Huntergatherers consumed anywhere from 100 to 300 grams of fiber per day. Too much sugar with no fiber is difficult for the body to metabolize. Today, in the average Western diet, humans consume around 12 grams of fiber per day. Sugar consumption seems to fall in line with the increase of diabetes, obesity, cancers and many diet related diseases.

To this day we are still trying to out smart nature by over processing our food.

2000 OBESITY COSTS

LOW FAT & OBESITY

Within the last twenty years, our general population rate has rose to twenty pounds per person. Obesity is costing over a hundred and fifty billion dollars per year, which is more then the cost of smoking. If this disease keeps progressing at the same rate, within the next ten years the cost will double.

Within the last five years, Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard school of Public Health, and his team have come so some conclusions that the idea of a low fat diet in the first place could have been the route cause of obesity. Since the low fat diet was enforced, the American weight has been increasing for two decades.

NUTRITION GUIDELINES â&#x20AC;&#x153;The guidelines are not about controlling caloric intake, increasing the calories you burn by moving more and sitting less, and eating more fruits and vegetables and cutting down on sodium, sugar and fat,â&#x20AC;? stated Vilsack during the launch of the recent nutrition policies.

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In North America alone, obesity is the leading cause of death.Those that are obese place themselves into a higher risk category for high blood pressure, a heart attack, a stroke, diabetes, gallbladder disease and multiple types of cancers. In the past, society thought that obesity was simply a failure to control will power. Since that time, research has proved that obesity is a complex medical problem. Some of the main factors are genetics, environmental, behavioral and social. For those whom were obese, they experienced greater cravings. Even though genetics play a large part in obesity, it is not the sole cause. Environmental and behavioral tend to be the greater reason why a person might become obese.

Some of the main health risks that are related with obesity are:

Breathing disorders, many types of cancers, coronary artery disease, depression, diabetes, gallbladder or liver disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint disease and strokes.

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For those of a healthy weight, the consumption of food is triggered when their stomach is full. Obesity is a new disease that humans have created by the substance and the amount that we are consuming. For obese people, many feel hungry within the next hour of their last meal. MRI brain scans of some obese people reveal that when the levels of glucose, or blood sugar drop, the brain canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t control the desire for high caloric foods. Our blood sugar levels peak about an hour after a

meal, then drop once the stomach has been filled. Yale conducted a study on 14 individuals, using MRI scans to monitor their reactions to images of foods, called hypoglycemia. For those of a healthy weight, their low blood sugar craves high calorie foods such as ice cream. As the blood sugar level rose to its normal level, those cravings disappeared. When their blood sugars returned to a normal rate, the MRIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s showed that

the cravings were still prominent. Studies showed that obese people should eat every few hours with smaller portions. This moderates the blood sugar levels which reduces cravings. Obese are suggested to eat foods that are high in fiber, such as vegetables, which are digested more slowly then low fiber foods, like processed products. The slower the food is digested, the more stable, the blood sugar levels.

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Obesity can affect those who are constantly exposed to the pressures of fast foods, processed foods and are constantly bombarded to consume. Others might use overeating as a form to cope with low selfesteem, guilt, emotional stress or trauma. Some that are obese are categorized as handicap due to their size. For instance, they need to be in wheelchairs because they cannot move. Studies have proved that twelve percent of overweight workers are less productive then those that are at a healthy weight. According to Edington, weight, stress levels, blood pressure, life fulfillment, smoking and high cholesterol affect the efficiency of a worker. A healthy worker has an eighty-five percent production rate where as workers with at least three to four of these conditions work at a rate of six percent less. The staff with at least five of these conditions are at least twelve percent less efficient then a healthy worker. Many doctors have been recently turning down patients who are overweight, smoke, drink excessive amounts or partake in extreme drugs. Surgeons have been demanding obese patients to lose weight before they will operate on them. Doctors have been cancelling patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appointments, whether the patients know the reason or not. All are standing behind their decision by saying, why waste thousands of dollars on futile patients. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many different sides to this controversy, some being the it is discrimination, others believe that we are saving health care for those that want to live longer and take care of their bodies. Obesity does not just hurt that person but the other people surrounding.

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Generation Y naturally partook in physical activities since they were young, such as tag, or hide-and-seek. Now, the current generations are leading an inactive lifestyle. The majority of the time they are on their computer or playing video games. Seventy percent of teens have a television in their rooms. This inactive lifestyle deteriorates the self-esteem resulted by weight gain and negative moods.

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Our daily routines are filled with escalators, elevators, and transportation. The twenty first century children have grown up playing video games and watching television instead of playing tag or biking outside with their friends. These movements stimulate the brain keeping it active and in tune with our surroundings.The more we incorporate movement in our daily routines, the better.

Exercising has many impacts on the environment as well as improving our insides. When we walk or bike to our destinations, we are helping the world by providing less transportation. We reduce the consumption of oil and other resources such as corn. Physical activity to get to destinations can also result to reduce the amount of traffic idling and fewer vehicles will disturb our earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wildlife.

Seventy-seven percent of the world does not meet the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guidelines of two and a half hours of weekly moderateintensity physical activity. Exercise improves skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity. It acts as a natural therapy session, which reduces stress and as a result, the body releases cortisol. The more someone is partaking in physical activity, the faster the TCA cycle runs, which acts as a detoxifier of fructose and breaks down other food molecules. Exercise makes our moods much more positive and boosts energy levels.

for a personal session. How do we know if something is healthy when there are all these fad diets around? There have been many new “applications” that are free and accessible to the public. There are many applications and websites that make nutrition information easily accessible to the public.

When time and budget comes into play, a healthy lifestyle seems like a lot of effort. It costs multitudes of money to get a gym membership. There is always running outside as an option but what about in the wintertime in a four-season country? A nutritionist’s time and knowledge is expensive

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If one is working out at home, the majority of the time they can get a good work out by maximizing their own body weight. Some excellent programs or applications are Wii fit, Yoga stretch, Couch to 5k, Lose it!, etc. If someone does not own the hardware, working out inspiration can include books from the library on yoga poses, workouts, and dancing can also be used as a tool. Incorporating more walking, biking, dancing, stairs, and other activities in daily routine.

The public can easily access restaurant nutrition, calorie counters, nutrition advisors, daily diet monitors and many more. There is no need to spend money on a nutritionist when it can be regulated using these information platforms. The most important thing in nutrition advice is to be critical and determine what will work for our bodies. This way, with a wider sense of information, we can judge the failures of the fad diets and find real results of natural processes.

SWEETLIES

When many people go on low-calorie diets, they tend to gain weight. If the body completely lacks all carbohydrates, the insulin could fall so low that the body enters a state called Ketosis. Ketosis is when the muscles and tissues burn body fat for energy as well as your brain with fat molecules. Richard Veech, N.I.H researcher says, “ Doctors are scared of Ketosis. They’re always worried about the diabetic state of man… I would argue it is the normal state of man. It is not normal to have McDonald’s and a delicatessen around every corner. It’s normal to starve.” David Ludwig, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who runs the pediatric obesity clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston, advises his patients to prohibit carbohydrates in their diets. David Ludwig notes that when his diabetic patients produce to much insulin, their blood sugar drops and hunger is stimulated. The Atkins diet would allow high fat foods but forbid starches or refined carbohydrates. Atkins advised his readers to eat, “Truly luxurious foods without limit.” Atkins extremely uncommon diet left the American Medical Association in an uproar. They were baffled at the thought of consuming unlimited

SWEETLIES

saturated fats and high cholesterol foods. The Atkins diet also contradicted the Food Guide Pyramid that included the pasta, rice and bread. This Food Pyramid Guide was made with millions of dollars from the government to prefect. The testing of hormones and the Atkins diet have yet to be released to the public. Some researchers have let slip that five implemented studies have been remarkably consistent. In some circumstances, obese adults around 295 lbs., have lost twice the weight then the people on the low fat, low calorie diets in twelve weeks. In all five studies, cholesterol levels have improved but do not suggest that heart-disease risk could be reduced. The National Institutes of Health has finally agreed to grant 2.5 million dollars to researchers who will preform a five year study on three hundred and sixty obese people. If these studies do prove that the high-fat, carbohydrate diet is in fact the better diet, the public-health authorities could have a large problem. The public health authorities did approve and promote the low-fat dietary guidelines for the past twenty-five years.

Most believed that the cause of obesity was the large quantity of fats in the Western diet. Ludwig observed that in the study of hormones as underdeveloped when the low fat diet was advised.Hormones play a large part in how carbohydrates affect insulin and blood sugar. Insulin regulates our metabolism, carbohydrates are used for energy and excess calories for fat. When the insulin in our bodies is low, our bodies burn the fat. When our bodies have a greater amount of fat, our pancreas pumps more insulin. The more insulin in our bodies makes our cells insensitive which ignores our levels of blood sugar. Insulin then affects not only our body fat, but our hunger. Insulin can indirectly cause hunger by lowering our blood sugar.

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Grain based foods were not an original part of our diet. Since the industrial revolution, processed grain foods such as cereal, bread and pasta are the main ingredients of the Western diet. The processing of grains started because grains could be stored for long periods of time and the end result was more reliable to turn out. Grains are also known to possess addictive qualities triggering cravings. Modern grain based foods are loaded with refined sugars and carbohydrates. Many of these foods contain toxins from the pesticides and additives. Many diseases have arisen due to the content of grain-based foods. One of the largest problems in the Western diet is the additive protein of gluten. Many people find grains very hard on the digestive system due to the amino acids that are tightly bonded. The body must produce enzymes in order to process gluten; which is not common to everyone. The undigested gluten proteins cause an inflammation to the immune system and a damaged intestinal lining. As a result, antigens, toxins and undigested foods are able to enter the blood stream. The undigested gluten circulates throughout the blood stream, which is detrimental to significant organs. Gluten intolerance is a general term that is used to describe many different reactions to gluten diseases. Gluten sensitivity refers to the reactions that the immune system has in response to gluten in the blood stream. It is estimated that up to half of the population is gluten sensitive but goes undiagnosed their whole lives. Celiac disease is a reaction from gluten when it damages and flattens the intestinal lining. Celiac disease lowers the nutrient absorption and increases intestinal permeability. Many never are diagnosed Celiac disease and as a result, a premature death. Many who haven’t been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity and continue to consume gluten end up developing diseases like cancer, autoimmune

disease, neurological disease, bowel disease, osteoporosis, epilepsy, attention deficit disorder, infertility, liver disease, to name a few. Celiac disease is normally diagnosed when damaged intestinal lining appears in the biopsy. If the biopsy is taken of healthy parts on the intestine, celiac disease can be missed. Many times the easiest way to be safe is to implement a gluten-free diet. Improvements in the body, mind and moods can be seen around the two-week mark of being gluten free. When going on a gluten free diet, it is important not to substitute the gluten with refined sugars and carbohydrates. The healthiest gluten free diet is consuming natural whole foods such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. Along with grains, dairy has been a staple in the Western diet. Dairy shares many of the same diseases and problems of grains. “Milk is a deadly poison,” affirms the Dairy Education Board. The promotion of milk in children’s diet is astounding. Any government will charge a parent with child abuse if we made children eat that much sugar. Many people who have gluten sensitivity, are also sensitive to dairy. Grains and dairy are the most common foods to have sensitivities. Many look to the most common sensitivities and formulate that these foods are not healthy to digest if it is affecting the majority of our population and decide to restrict them from their diets.

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Studies show that salty foods impair the ability of blood vessels to widen. The Food and Consumer Products of Canada have been working with the Canadian Food and Beverage Industry to lower Canadians intake of sodium. Their goal is to have a maximum daily consumption per Canadian to be 2300mg of sodium by 2016. The FCPC has managed to encourage 88% of Food and Beverage companies to product new low sodium products. The FCPC is also currently working with companies on reducing fat, whole grains, sugar, calories, using more real fruits, increasing fiber, offering high quality protein, gluten-free, adding more vegetables, no preservatives or colour and no artificial flavoring. Interesting enough, some of FCPCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sponsors are Coca-Cola, Heinz, and Ocean Spray.

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Kacie M. Dickinson, researcher at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, have been studying sixteen healthy volunteersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; reactions to salty foods. The study includes giving half of them low salt tomato soup and the other half, high salt. After consumption, blood pressure was tested by placing their arms in a blood pressure cuff and inflating the cuff to restrict the blood. When the cuff was deflating, the researchers took an ultrasound of the arteries. All of the arteries of people who eat the high salt soup, widened about half as much as the low salt group.

The widening of the arteries detect the changes in blood vessel function. This is a sign of the early stages of atherosclerosis, which is fat accumulating in the blood vessels. These blockages cause heart attacks and strokes. Ordinarily, the heart pumps blood through the arteries to release nitric oxide, which makes the artery walls relax. This allows the vessels to expand and carry the rush of blood. Scientists predict that the salt and fat blocks the nitric oxide. People with high salt intake develop high blood pressure which relates to many different diseases.

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Sugar takes up twenty-one percent of total caloric daily intake. Statistics Canada found that thirty-five percent of Canadians were consuming these sugars by unnaturally sweetened products such as pop, juice and candy. A 12 ounce can of Cola contains 11 teaspoons of sugar. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has advised that added sugars should be under twenty-five percent of total calories consumed daily. The statistics showed that within the age range of one to three, the amount of sugar consumed rose more than seventeen percent. The consumption increase within the age range of fourteen to eighteen was over forty percent. The rate was nearly fifty percent for teenaged boys. In every age demographic, men consumed more sugar then women.

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The love and obsession of sweetness evolved as early as the stages of the hunter-gathers. When fruit was discovered, it was savored due to the fact that it was scarce. If a plant was sweet, it meant that it was not bitter or poison. It also meant that it was high in calories, which meant that sugars were the signal for high-energy foods. The Ancient Forests of Central Asia was the only region where apples grew. The hunter-gathers were so attracted and memorized by the taste, that they planted

the seeds all around the world. These apples were eventually turned into alcohol. Currently, the global sugar industry produces a hundred and sixty-seven million tons of sugar per year. Many believe that since sugar has been around for years that it is a healthy part of our diet. In moderation, perhaps our bodies could tolerate sugar but the Western diet is anything but “moderate”. Sugar can suppress the immune system. Sugar provides no

nutrients to the body, which causes the body to borrow nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the sugars. When those healthy cells are lending out their functions, they cannot work properly within the body to do their job. The consumption of sugar then contributes to the outbreak of infectious diseases. A human’s metabolism works to control the body’s energy and resources. Thirty percent of sugar automatically turns to fat in the body, not factoring the metabolism rate.

Sugar affects the insides of our bodies, from our blood, to our organs. Too much sugar can cause thickening in our bloodstreams. Having thick blood can compromise the organs making it more difficult for them to pump the blood around. This can lead to the clogging of the major organs. Over consumption of sugar stores fat in the liver. The liver can actually expand when there is fat that is stored. Sugar can actually alter our DNA within our offspring and ourselves. It has also been known to decrease the growth hormones. Sugar causes many different reactions such as hyperactivity, anxiety, difficultly concentrating, and mood swings. Sugar causes large amounts of adrenaline in our bodies. When those reactions subside, there is a measurable drop in energy, mood, and brain

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function. This drop can have the effects of causing drowsiness and and lethargy. Through heating, mechanical and chemical processing moisture in the raw sugar is boiled away and bleached white by pork or cattle bones. During this refining process, sixty-four food elements are destroyed. Sugar targets nutrients such as chromium, copper, calcium,

magnesium, vitamin E in the blood, in order to actively digest it. For example, if a consumer eats too much sugar, they will be prone to cavities because the calcium is used to metabolize the sugar instead to support the bone. Fifty-four billion dollars are spent each year on dental bills related to the consumption of processed foods that are overloaded with sugar.

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Since sugar is rapidly absorbed throughout the bloodstream, it is delivered to the brain within minutes. The brain is immediately satisfied because our brains use one-half of all sugar energy in the body. Once you have skyrocketed your blood sugar levels, it will eventually drop. The consumption of sugar can cause cellular damage within the brain. Sugar has been proven to actually affect children’s grades and affect the brain causing learning disorders.

A drug is defined as any absorbed substance that changes or enhances any physical or psychological function in the body. Experts say that sugar affects the mental function and mood. When sugar is consumed, the brain craves more because it senses intake but provides the brain with no nutrients. Epidemiologist David R. Jacobs, PH.D., calls the idea of food combinations synergy. “the complexity of food combinations is fascinating because it’s tested in a way we can’t test drugs: by evolution, and its tested in the most complex systems: life” says Jacobs. .The glycemic-index concept, is where the starches from our foods get absorbed into our blood much more rapid then sugar. The glycemic-index theory suggested that the carbohydrates took more time then sugar to be digested into the blood stream. This would impact the levels of our blood sugar. At the top of the glycemic-index are foods like simple sugars, starches and flour products. The brain-derived neurotropic factor is responsible for the development of new brain tissue. If BDNF is lacking from our brains, we would not be able to learn, grow and function. Research has shown that high sugar diets decrease BDNF.

BDNF and sugar are very closely related due to the fact that BDNF leads to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Sugar and BDNF work in a cycle, starting with high sugar consumption which leads to low BDNF. Low BDNF leads to a weakened blood sugar control, resulting in high blood sugar. This continuous cycle was discovered during testing done on animals with similar human characteristics. It is worth noting that the cycle only took two months to effect the animal’s spatial and memory abilities. Sugar is a depressant and when it is consumed in large quantities, it affects the central nervous system of the brain. Gene-Jack Wang, researcher at Brookhaven National Laboratory, observed that drug and sugar addicts have similar shortage of dopamine receptors. Many nutrition experts say that white sugar is an extremely harmful drug, especially in the quantities we are consuming today. Studies show that sugar is just as habit forming similar to those involving alcohol and drugs. Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition, claims, “White refined sugar is not food. It is a pure chemical extracted from plant sources, purer in fact than cocaine, which it resembles in many ways.”

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Fructose came into play around the same time that Richard Nixon was President. Nixon and the USDA did everything in their power to avoid the cost of food being an influence in the next presidential election. Nixon looked for solutions to make food cheap, even if it put the public at risk. Just after WWII, studies from the USDA, AMA & AHA declared that we should have a fat-free diet. The Western diet became a low-fat, high carb diet. The problem started to develop when food processors took fat out of their processed foods. None of the food tasted horrible because the fat was the majority of the flavour. The solution that the food industry adopted was to add sugar and salt to improve the taste. In the 1980’s, high-fructose corn syrup replaced many sources of sugar. HFCS is much cheaper then dealing with the fluctuating costs of sugar. The food industry masked HFCS as a healthy alternative to the public. The food industry deliberately overloaded most processed and packaged foods with HFCS due to the benefits of the low cost production.

HFCS was first used in America in the year of 1975. Sucrose is a refined sugar that is made up of a molecule of the carbohydrate glucose and the other half is a molecule of the carbohydrate fructose. The fructose is almost twice the sweetness level of glucose. HFCS is made up of the same molecules but fifty-five percent of the fructose molecule. This five percent is enough to make a large difference on how our body metabolizes it. The body is able to metabolize fructose very easily when consumed in small quantities along with fibers. Since the western diet provides for minimal fiber sources and large quantities of fructose, this is very problematic for the metabolizing process.

cake for their birthday, we are actually doing them more harm then good.

In Robert Lustig’s lecture called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” he talks about the biochemistry and human physiology of the Western diet, specifically focusing on fructose. He compares sugar to a toxin or a poison. Throughout the course of his talk, he calls sugar “the most demonized additive known to man.” Lustig argues that sugar and sweeteners are the primary cause of obesity and diabeties.Lustig suggests that when we give our children lemonade on a hot day or a birthday

If the HFCS enters the body in liquid forms such as fruit juices or sodas, it will hit the liver more quickly then fructose from a natural source. In laboratory studies with testing HFCS on rats, most of the sugar is converted to fat. This induces insulin resistance, which is considered the main problem contributing to various forms of obesity. The average American consumes over 60 pounds of HFCS per year.

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Physicians received a twelve-page report from Corn Refiners Association stating that HFCS is safe. Websites like sweetsurprise.com or cornsugar.com were feed to the public when anyone questioned the safety of HFCS. There have been campaigns and companies built around the promotion of HFCS in our foods. These campaigns included quotes from researchers from institutions like Harvard, who have reputable names. These campaigns and reports were run by the Corn Refiners Association.

Would you consume a toxin such as ethanol? HFCS has twelve of the same effects on humans as ethanol. HFCS can only be metabolized by the liver. It is suggested that HFCS is the reason why over seventy million people of those consuming the Western Diet have fatty livers or liver disease. HFCS creates uric acid in the body and casue the heart rate go up. Thirty percent of HFCS immediately turns into fat without the dependent factors of metabolism or genetics.

bacteria from the gut through digestion to enter our blood stream. When HFCS is run through a chemical analyzer or chromatograph, mercury has showed up in the results. These tests are not new, but they have been hidden from the public very well.

Walter Glinsmann, who was the primary author for the HFCS report, now is the advisor to the Corn Refiners Association. Glinsmann and the FDA., included in their report that the public is consuming 40 When you cook with sugary sauces or salty pounds excess of sugar per capita per seasoning, the result is the food browns much year. This statistic means that the public is quicker. HFCS is 7 times more likely to brown consuming two hundred calories per day of in the stomach. HFCS has been proven to literally sugar that is less then the amount of two create holes in the intestinal lining allowing cups of apple juice.

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Not only are HFCS in the majority of all processed foods, humans tend to eat more of it. HFCS alters the way our brain processes the intake of the food that we consume. HFCS fails to connect with the hormone in the brain called Leptin. Leptin regulates the control of appetite and metabolism. This is why we feel that we can eat more of processed foods and feel still hungry. When consuming HFCS compared to sugar, sugar has a sweetness level of one hundred where as HFCS’s sweetness level is one hundred and seventy-three. Instead of using less HFCS because it is sweeter then sugar, food processors are actually using more to make their food “tastier.”

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A recent study confirms that the next generation could live two to five years shorter. These predictions are associated with the rising rate of diet related diseases and complications. Presently, the life expectancy of adults is four to nine months shorter then previous generations with no obesity. “We’re in the quiet before the storm,” declares Dr. Ludwig, “ It’s like what happens if suddenly a massive number of young children started chain smoking. At first you wouldn’t see much public health impact. But years later, it would translate into emphysema, heart disease and cancer.” Haven Emerson, director of the institute of public health at Columbia University, observed that diabetes was rare when there was no consumption of refined sugar and high rates in diets that diid contribute to the increase. During the Korean War, the autopsies of the American soldiers who were killed in battle indicated they had substantial plaques in their arteries, where as the Korean soldiers did not. These plaques were from the high-fat and high sugar diets of the American soldiers where as the Korean diet was low fat. In the 1970’s, John Yudkin published a polemic called “Sweet and Dangerous.” Yudkin did many experiments on feeding sugar and starches to rodent, chickens, rabbits, pigs and college students. These tests showed that sugar raised blood levels of fat, which lead to heart disease. In Yudkin’s experiments the sugar raised the insulin levels which eventually causes type II diabetes. Since the late 1900’s, medical professionals have related the skyrocketing rates of obesity to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is thought to have formed from the fat in the liver. In many studies, if animals were fed fructose or enough sugar, fat would form in the liver. Metabolic syndrome has symptoms such as excess body fat. Metabolic syndrome is when the cells in your body are rejecting the hormone insulin. Our bodies create insulin as a result of the foods that we eat which regulates the level of blood sugar.

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The pancreas pumps out more insulin when our level of our blood sugar rises. When the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin the body develops “pancreatic exhaustion.” This allows forces the blood sugar to accelerate to an extreme rate. Metabolic syndrome is pinned as the cause of heart disease and diabetes. The Disease Control and Prevention Center estimates that seventy-five million Americans are affects by this condition. Michael Pagliassotti,, a biochemist at Colorado State University, has conducted many studies with respect to nutrition and animals. Pagliassotti says that fat in the liver can attribute to metabolic syndrome later in life and sometimes develop signs in as little as a week. When sugar is eliminated from the animals’ diet the fatty acids in the liver and insulin resistance disappears. Kimber Stanhope and Peter Havel at the University of California administered a similar study involving fructose. When the human subjects drank eight to ten cans of Soda a day, their livers would develop insulin resistance. Lustig states that sugar and HFCS are not “acute toxins,” which the FDA regulates. Lustig suggests that sugar or HFCS could be “chronic toxins” which suggests that food is not immediately toxic after one meal but after a thousand. Lustig and his collegues at U.C.S.F are currently conducting studies that involve obese teenagers who consume the amount of sugar that they would get from fruits and vegetables.

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Cancer is generally associated with the same issues as obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The first connection between these diseases was in 2004 by the World Health organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Malignant cancer was observed to be minimal in populations where there was no consumption of the Western diet. Human

cancer cells need the insulin to provide blood sugar in order to grow within the body. The more the insulin that the body has, the better the cancer survives. Some types of cancers work to increase the influence of insulin on the cell. Other cancers strive on the high insulin levels, which are formed within metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes and obesity.

“ I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can, because I believe ultimately it’s something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer.” says Thompson,

“Sugar scares me.”

In 1984, Canadian physicians published the cancer rates of the last 30 years of Western Inuit and Central Artic. There was a very low rate of cancer among their people. The statistics showed no proof of an Inuit patient with cancer before 1966. Since then, there has been a large shift in their diet, which incorporated more of the Western lifestyle. The rates of cancers and diabetes have substantially increased. In the “Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer” 2007 report, the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research concluded that there is a link between the Western Diet and cancer.

Craig Thompson, the president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, believes that pre-cancerous cells would never develop these mutations if they did not extreme amounts on insulin and high blood sugar levels. Studies show that eighty percent of cancers are from the mutations or environmental factors that feed off the insulin in the tumor cells. Cancer researchers are continuously working to invent a drug that suppressed the insulin, which feeds the cancer growth. If sugar causes insulin resistance then evidently sugar is related to the cause of cancer.

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Kelly Brownell, Yale psychologist, believes obesity is caused from the cheap fatty foods, large portions and persuasive food advertising. Food packaging evolved greatly when they figured out that it was easier to brand a new product, give it a new fancy name and have it be a hit then an old food. This allowed companies to create new markets and have the lead before most competitors caught up. Mark Bittman, New York Times food writer, points out that animals and junk food is the largest marketed products. Both, he insists, we do not need in our lives to survive.

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Advertising has learned how to fool the public into believing that something can be healthy even if it is not. For instance, Activia bases their campaign on the probiotics as helping the digestive system. This is in fact true, but what they fail to mention is that every tiny cup, contains 7-20 grams of sugar. The yogurt is healthy for the digestive system but sugar cannot be digested properly. This means that their yogurt is actually harming the body when the signified to the user is that they are making the right choice by selecting yogurt. The food label system needs to be reworked. Most of the time they are showing the wrong information and leaving out the essential information.

Make sure the serving size is correct to the amount you are eating. Calories are not the most important but they should be low

Limit these nutrients. Always choose low sugars vs. low fats Sugars should be at zero or under 4 grams. 1 Tablespoon = 4 grams. High protein is good You want a high percentage. 5% is low.

Grocery stores need to do a better job of regulating ingredients with foods that are in their store. Perhaps creating a sticker system by the grocery stores that could be on approved health and environmentally friendly products. There is much confusion as to how to properly read the nutritional label on the back of a packaged product. The largest stress seems to be on the caloric intake. This is perhaps derived by the calories always being promoted on the fronts of the packages. Sixty-three percent of Americans try to read a nutritional label. Out of those to attempt, sixty-six percent admit that they cannot understand the label.

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Focusing on higher authorities like the government or food industry is a large battle. The food industry wants to create cheap products that are going to make them the most money and appeal to the most consumers. The government only moderate amount of power over the food industry. There are a lot of connections, and long-term relationships within the two types of authorities, which allow for little change. For instance, when the government advised on cutting down on the consumption of red meat, there was uproar from the red meat industry. After a large amount of controversy, the government came out and changed their statement by saying it is okay to consume certain kinds of red meat. The authorities and industry could potentially change if they are losing money or consumers. The consumers need to make the decisions as to what we should be consuming since the food industry has made detrimental decisions that have affected our health.

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Pre-teens are starting to separate their thoughts from that of their parents. This is crucial timing for them to develop their knowledge, opinions and become more in touch with themselves. This age demographic focuses a lot on trends, technology, their peers, celebrities, sex, and music; making them one of the largest influential age demographic. Focusing on this demographic has more of a viral effect because of the large influence that they have on each other.

Adults pave the road for the next generations. Adults should be targeted because they are the ones that are feeding, educating and influencing the future generations. Children form the majority of their habits and memories at young ages. Parents, teachers and role model adults have a great impact on how a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brain is molded. When the role model has healthy and active practices, a child will observe these. Incorporating healthy lifestyles can directly influence the people around them.

TIME & MONEY CONSTRAINTS Time and money constraints are a large problem when it comes to the Western diet. Many people find it hard to make time to grocery shop or prepare a nutritious meal. This is why most people resort to quick meal alternatives such as frozen or packaged foods. The public needs to realize that when they are eating these innutritious quick meals, they could end up having less time when they are hospitalized or infected with diet related diseases. When it comes to budgeting for food, many do not have the money or choose not to spend it on food. The fast food industry has tapped into promoting deals of the week. These deals tend to be much cheaper to feed a family then to choose something nutritious. Sometimes people have no choice but to choose an unhealthy option due to these constraints. The important thing that most people are missing is that they will end up spending more money in the end on their health if they continue buying cheap unhealthy foods. Time and money constraints may be a difficult obstacle to master but it is all about priorities and trying to visualize the future of their health. Sometimes a grocery store an also be intimidating. If they hired food ambassadors to give nutritional, cooking, time and budget advice while leading one around the store create less of an overwhelming experience.

INSIGHTS COOL FACTOR Learning from smoking campaigns will act as a form of research. Smoking ended up becoming popular because it gave off an “in” vibe. Most people picked up the habit because it worked in their daily routines, their friends were doing it or it made them appear attractive. Edward Burnay’s was one of the first consumer psychologists to promote smoking in this form. Hearing something from your peers is much more rewarding and worthy in most people’s minds. When someone discovers something, this makes him or her feel smart, ahead of the crowd and essentially create more confidence in themselves. The human natural instinct rejects being told what to do unless they are being told by others that they respect or admire. In a survey of the general public, it showed that they would be more incline to lead a healthier lifestyle if more of their friends were doing it. We have seen that the fear or fact tactics in the anti-smoking campaigns have made a little dent in the public. These approaches speak to different target markets and age demographics.

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PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

DIET- RELATED DISEASES This focuses on the fear that has resonated with the idea of immortality. The majority of the time most people have a large disconnect with the food that they eat and the health of their organs and body functions. The public needs to find a way to bridge that gap. If people could imagine or see what certain foods do to their insides, it perhaps would change their diet. This could speak to those who do not care about the weight. There has been a large trend in thinking that having a lot of fat is funny, or accepted. If they do not care about the physical part, they could perhaps care about how long they will live due to how they are feeding their organs. This would get around the saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;out of sight, out of mind.â&#x20AC;?

The majority of the general public develops an interest in health or fitness due to physical appearance. This can either spike by sudden weight gain and the pressures of society. Weight is not the most important part of health and fitness but our society seems to be focused on it. Focusing on weight has been a trend for many decades. There is a large misconception that those who are thin are healthy and those that those who weigh more are less healthy. This is in fact one of the largest incorrect misconceptions. There needs to be less stress on the physical appearance and more on the health of the body. There should be a trend in having pretty insides.

EDUCATION Society needs to be better educated on how to properly read nutrition labels. In a personal survey, the results showed that many do not know what to look for when reading the labels. There is a large lack in the education of nutrition and exercise. Only a few generations ago, there was mandatory cooking classes, gym throughout the school career, and education on health. The education system has now made these optional courses, which has created a large effect on our society. This education needs to be implemented all throughout a school career due to the fact that people are getting lazier and unhealthier. In my survey, there were quite a few people who did not know how to cook at all. Some people admitted that they only eat processed foods due to the fact that the education for them was lacking. Creating different types of systems in the education board to promote health and fitness is a good solution. Similar to a football team, schools could implement cooking teams and competitions. Prizes could include the implementation of the winning dish to be featured for a month in the school cafeteria. This could perhaps help change the unhealthy selection of foods that fill a cafeteria. There are options of creating a school cooking channel that promotes healthy eating by giving tips and information from their peers.

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There are many types of campaigns that would speak to the public. The campaign could try to create a type of trend within society. The younger generations love to follow the newest trends. Perhaps creating a fashionable trend within society would influence more people. There are many different approaches within a campaign that could potentially be successful such as using scare tactics, showing the effects of what we are doing do our bodies, our childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bodies and eventually our population. Knowledge is powerful, many are not aware of the content of what they are eating. Creating an awareness campaign could reach to many people who have no idea of the detrimental products that they are consuming. Any approach to a campaign has to be intriguing, captivating and create a viral effect to truly be successful.

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Seventy-five percent of the public has a television in their room. The majority of obese or overweight people spend most of their past time watching the television. Food advertisers have observed this and have targeted these people. They know that if certain foods appear in the public’s favorite shows, that consumer will buy the product more often. The commercials and product placement triggers cravings within the consumer, pushing conscious or subconscious purchases. There is a large lack of healthy foods that are advertising on the television. The Western society has lost willpower and eats more when bored. It is statistically proven that one eats more when in from on the television. When the consumer is not focused on the food that they are eating, they tend to eat more. There needs to be a large shift is what types of foods are in product placements and commercial advertisements. When conducting a survey on through Facebook, there seemed to be a lot of response. This was an indicator to me that many people have time while they are online. When talking about health and

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fitness, encouraging people to spend more time online, would be the last thing that you would want to do. There are over 800 million Facebook users and half of that are on Facebook daily. There seems to be a missed community on this platform for encouraging health and nutrition. On my Facebook home feed, at least a few times per week, a photo appears with a food or beverage that that person has prepared. There seems to be a trend of this happening amongst peers. There have been many responses requesting the recipe if the user had not included it. Once I asked for those to share any health information, there were plenty of people that reached out to me. It would be interesting to develop a Facebook community that could make it “cool” to post healthy recipes and pictures, health and nutrition videos, create contests to stimulate interest, provide tips, facts and information. Education is important but when it is delivered from authorities and from facts, it is quite difficult to create a “cool” factor. This community would allow for peers to share information in one place instead of randomly finding it in feeds or on their wall.

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Parker, Hilary. “A Sweet Problem: Princeton Researchers Find That High-fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerably More Weight Gain.” Princeton University. © 2011 The Trustees of Princeton University ·. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. <http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/ archive/S26/91/22K07/>. Parsons, Cherilyn. “Sugar: It Could Be Worse Than You Think?” Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/sugar_ it_could_be_worse_than_you_think/>. Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food. New York: Penguin, 2008. Sept. 2011. Dr. Scott. “What Sugar Does to Your Brain | OlsonND.com.” OlsonND. Copyright © 2011 OlsonND.com. Web. 21 Oct. 2011. <http://olsonnd.com/what-sugar-does-to-your-brain/>. “Sugars and Health.” Canadian Sugar Institute. © Canadian Sugar Institute. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. <http://www.sugar.ca/english/consumers/sugarfactsmyths.cfm> Taubes, Gary. “Before Sugar, We Were Talking about Cholesterol.” Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories. © 2011 Gary Taubes. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://garytaubes. com/2011/04/before-sugar-were-talking-about-cholesterol/>. Truman, Harry. “5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You.” Dr Hyman’s Website — Functional Medicine, Books & Supplements. © 2011 Dr.Hyman. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. <http://drhyman.com/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you-5050/>. Wanjek, Christopher. “Why Obese People’s Brains Cave to Cravings.” LiveScience. Copyright © 2011 TechMediaNetwork.com. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.livescience. com/16119-obese-people-brains-food-cravings.html>. Weeks, Carly. “Sweet Heavens: Statscan Finds Average Canadian Eats 26 Tsp of Sugar a Day - The Globe and Mail.” The Globe and Mail. © Copyright 2011 The Globe and Mail Inc. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/ health-news/sweet-heavens-statscan-finds-average-canadian-eats-26-tsp-of-sugar-a-day/ article2174438/>. “Weight Management - Weight Loss and Healthy Dieting Tips - Weight Management.”Body & Health. © 1996 - 2011 MediResource Inc. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/channel_condition_info_details.asp?channel_id=1055>. Wolf, Robb. The Paleo Solution Book. Victory Belt, 2010. Print. 11 Oct. 2011.