A 24 ounce bottle of one of the leading brands of Cola soft drinks contains, according to the Nutrition Facts on the label, 300 calories, and 82 grams of sugar. This is in addition to significant caffeine content.
The combination of sugar and caffeine has been demonstrated to be very addictive so many people consume much more than 24 ounces each day. In fact, by far the most popular size of cola at the fountain is the 32 ounce size, with many purchasing the 44 ounce size. If one consumes just 24 ounces per day for 365 days out of the year they will be consuming approximately 1/7th of their annual calorie requirement from a total of 65.93 pounds of refined sugar (cane, beet, or high fructose corn sugar) per year from this one dietary source. (The 32 ounce version would be roughly 88 pounds per year.)
When this is added to the other sources of refined sugar in the average U.S. diet we consume approximately 83 pounds of added sugar per person per year. This is in addition to the substantial intake of natural sugar we consume, and the sugar that our bodies metabolize from the starch and other components of our diet. Many of us consume significantly more than that of course, and there is significant debate as to how detrimental that is, and many questions remain unanswered.
The Health Impact of Refined Sugar
Several facts are indisputable; Consumption of processed sugar is a relatively recent addition to the human diet in terms of mans history. Other unarguable facts are:
- 1. overweight and obesity are major health problems in our culture.
- 2. The incidence of adult onset diabetes is increasing rapidly in the general population.
- 3. The age at which adult onset diabetes is being seen is decreasing.
- 4. There are some ethnic minorities where the incidence is well past the epidemic level.
I have spent much of the last 3 years among the Native American populations of 2 reservations. One of the most striking things observed during that experience has been the number of cases of diabetes, and the frequency of dialysis centers. Fifty years ago diabetes was almost unknown among these people, and refined sugar was a very occasional thing, that is no longer the case.
Why is Sugar in So Many Foods?
Sugar is a relatively cheap component for the food manufacturer or processor with the world price varying in a fairly narrow range in the $0.28-$0.35 per pound range. The next time you pick up some dried fruit, cereal, juice cocktail, or canned fruit notice in the ingredients section where sugar is. In many products it will be the second ingredient, and in some cases has turned what could have been a healthy food item into a questionable and potentially harmful item to consume.
For example, dried fruit, which should be a good healthy food category, is often 50% sugar. The no sugar added fruit may be $4 to $9 per pound, while added sugar is very cheap. Thus there is a huge profit margin to buying sugar for a fraction of a dollar and selling it for several dollars per pound.
Ridding Your System of Sugar
As I have aged, I have noticed that the way my body metabolizes sugar has changed and is changing. Part of that may be because I have not been careful to limit my sugar intake throughout my life. Now, in my late 60’s a little too much sugar, even a high starch intake will result in lower digestive discomfort and gas, and if I consume this type of a diet for very many days I will experience muscle aches, night sweats from my head, and my pillow will begin to smell like Juicy Fruit Gum.
Limiting my consumption of sugar and high starch foods for a couple of day will make the sweats and muscle aches diminish and after a week they will be gone. Sustained physical exercise will alleviate the symptoms rapidly.
If you have muscle or skeletal aches and pains, or hyper-sensitive skin try the things suggested in this series of articles, including the limiting of sugar consumption and see if your condition does not improve. I am convinced that in most cases they will and in many cases the improvement will be dramatic.