How Sweet It Is: The Bitter Taste of America’s Sugar Addiction

Last week my husband and I were taking a walk through London’s Battersea Park. Trying, and failing miserably to survive the heat wave, we left for our walk bright and early. Eschewing breakfast in favor of the morning cool, we took a break at what promised to be a cart offering fresh juices and cold, icy cups of blended fruit. As we slurped our slushies, he remarked on how much less sweet they were than anything we would get at home. It tasted like, well, blended fruit. How novel. 

Later in the month, we were in Victoria, BC, when we came upon a farmers market. He bought an oatmeal raisin cookie and again, commented on its lack of sugary sweetness. What was up with the Brits and the Canadians? After a month of travels, I needed to know if this was just a coincidence, or was there a larger picture at work here.

Let’s start with the basics. How much sugar should we be consuming? Well, according to the WHO (World Health Organization), we should aim for consuming no more than 50 grams of sugar per day per person. And according to the American Heart Association, our consumption is closer to double or even triple that amount, with teens being the biggest culprits, consuming as much as 140 grams of the sweet stuff each day. Surprisingly, Germany is a close second, and coming in at the bottom with the lowest sugar intake are: South Korea, Chad, Norway, China, and Italy. Some of these countries’ lack of excess is due to scarcity and economic instability (sugar is just too expensive to be consumed in large quantities) and others are from lifestyle choices. Dessert, for example, is not consumed regularly in Italy. When we were there in the spring, we had a few locals tell us that gelato is a treat to be enjoyed only during the warm summer months. And pasta portions are much smaller than ours (100-200 grams per versus our 300-400 grams) and are usually served with vegetables and a protein which slows down how our body processes the sugars.

But it isn’t just the added sugars we need to be wary of. It is the hidden sugars that are the biggest culprit. My teenage daughter got me hooked on Starbuck’s Strawberry Acai Refreshers until I realized that even with my customized light lemonade, my Grande had 22 grams of sugar in it! Almost half of the WHO’s daily recommendation in one drink. Other foods to watch out for are salad dressings, pasta sauce, condiments, sliced bread, instant oatmeal and cereals (yes, even the “healthy” ones). Subway’s sandwich bread has such a high sugar content, a high court in Ireland deemed it a “cake.”

However, it wasn’t always like this. In the 1980s, U.S. agriculture subsidies made corn very inexpensive which prompted many food and beverage companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi to switch from using cane sugar (a more expensive ingredient) to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Conversely, the EU placed stricter limitations on its usage and taxed the production of HFCS for decades, resulting in far less usage and more regulation. 

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Americans consume around 55 pounds of HFCS per person per year.

One of the many problems with this level of consumption is the destructive cycle it creates. Eating sugar activates the brain’s pleasure sensors, similar to cocaine use. It triggers a massive flood of dopamine into our system which makes us crave more – explaining why willpower alone doesn’t do the trick for everyone. When I was in graduate school, I met a woman who was a former crack addict. She told me that kicking sugar was harder than quitting crack.

Our evolutionary purpose for sugar cravings started from the right place. Our ancestors craved sweet foods like ripe berries because ingesting them signaled to our body that it was safe in a world of frequent scarcity. Eat these berries, it seemed to tell us, they are fresh, are a source of energy, are calorically dense, in season and here for the picking. Today, we no longer have the internal mechanism to switch this signal off. We see berries, a candy bar, or a Frappuccino and our sensors react the same. It isn’t need or scarcity, it is want and desire that are driving our next mobile order. 

But not all sugars are created equal. Fruit, for example, is our friend. Eat the whole fruit – the fiber, the skin, and the flesh. But when you drink fruit juice – it can get tricky. I have read reports that a glass of orange juice creates a glucose spike similar to that of a glass of Coke.

So what can we do? The first thing is to remember that sugar is a tricky companion. It doesn’t suppress the hunger hormone (ghrelin) or stimulate the fullness hormone (leptin) the way complex carbohydrates do, so this leaves our brain feeling like it is still hungry, even if it just had a 2000 calorie hot fudge sundae. This is what can lead to overeating.

Beyond diabetes, overconsumption of sugar can lead to myriad health concerns. As the liver is the primary organ that processes fructose, when it is overloaded it can lead to Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. That’s fun. And there is a massive link between high sugar consumption and heart disease. If that isn’t enough, when sugar enters the blood stream it binds to collagen and elastin causing premature skin aging and even acne breakouts. Yikes. 

If you have a true sweet tooth, cutting down on your sugar consumption can seem daunting. To help you get on your way, here are a few tips on how to get started.

– Swap out all sugary beverages. Frappucino is out and iced green tea is in! Easiest thing to start with. 

– Use some spices to add flavor instead of going for the sugar. Cinnamon on top of a latte instead of sugar.

– Make-your-own everything when possible. Overnight oats, yoghurt parfait, salad dressings, BBQ sauce, you name it. It is always better for you when you know what you are really eating. Restaurants and food manufacturers mostly just want their products to taste good so you buy them again. That often means lots of added sugar and salt.

– When you have a sugar craving ask yourself if you drank enough water today, or ate enough protein. Sugar cravings, especially if they are frequent, could signal an imbalance in your body, be it sleep deprivation, a gut imbalance/yeast overgrowth, stress, depression, or magnesium deficiency.

– Never eat sweets on an empty stomach. If you have a craving, tell yourself you can have “it” but only after you eat a meal or a well-balanced snack, give yourself at least 30 minutes after you eat and then see if you still want it. You might surprise yourself.

When you are next tempted, just ask yourself one thing. Are you eating the sugar, or is it eating you?