9781422280515

Sugar and Sweeteners

processed sugar, also known as sucrose. Sucrose comes from processing sugarcane and sugar beets. Every time you eat a piece of cake, crack open a can of cola, or chew on a wad of bubble gum, you are consuming sucrose. Simple sugars are also found in milk and fruit. You might have heard of someone avoiding dairy products because he or she is “lactose intolerant”; lactose is actually a form of sugar. Meanwhile, fructose is fruit sugar. Honey, maple syrup, apples, grapes, and melons are good sources of fructose. Plants produce sugar through photosynthesis, the process by which they and other organisms turn carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates using light from the sun and chlorophyll . A lternative S weeteners While sugar in the right amounts is necessary for life, consuming too much of it can cause a variety of health problems, ranging from diabetes to obesity (see chapter three). That is why science—and nature to some extent—has come up with alternative sweeteners, including saccharine, acesulfame potassium, cyclamate, among others.

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Death by Sweetness

In 2015, researchers at Tufts University in Boston estimated that consuming sugary drinks led to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths

each year. It was the first time scientists investigated and quantified the global impact of sugar-sweetened beverages. The scientists said consuming sugary drinks, including soda, fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened iced teas, among others, leads to an increase in diabetes, heart disease, and cancers. Mexico had the highest rate of deaths that could be attributed to sugary drinks, with 405 deaths per 1 million adults, while the United States came in second, with a death rate of 125 per 1 million adults. ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

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