This week Pepsi Co. , the owners of soft drinks like Pepsi issued a new "challenge" to itself and others like it by announcing it would not only be limiting its soft drink in schools during school hours but made a watershed decision by removing its soft drinks totally within or near educational institutions. This has surprisingly pushed the envelope that much further for Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper to do the same. This comes on the heels of food maker Kraft Foods that has stated it will remove the fat content calorically of its products by at least 10%! Could a "culture of wellness" actually be around the corner? One can only hope, but don't get too overly excited,though!
We know from studies that high school boys consume approximately 72 pounds of sugar a year from diet drinks alone from drinking "just" 2 cans of soda a day! The operative word here is "sugar". Although soft drink companies have agreed to limit "sugar" has anyone bothered to see whats on the back of a can of a soft drink? One might consider having to have a college degree in biochemistry to interpret the rather ambiguous word "sugar" after reading it.
Sugar, we typically think of as an energy component the body needs or it will die. Most of us would be right to think that on face value. But, this type of sugar we very often typically think of glucose comes in various forms from natural foods stuffs that the cell breaks down from proteins, fats and carbohydrates. When one says sugar we are also talking about other classifications of it from simple sugars like other monosaccharides including trioses, tetroses, pentoses, and hexoses. Then there is good ole' table sugar called sucrose and other diasaccharides found in honey, maltose and diary products. Will the soft drink companies deny that these too are "sugars" and not just glucose or dextrose it's alter ego often used today as an ingredient? If not will they consider substituting with them?
What about other oligosaccharides and polysaccharides? Will soft drink companies either bait-and-switch us just with other types of carbohydrates that are also sugars , but aren't considered such as much? Most of us are thinking that sugar is just glucose or table sugar and that anything else is just a "zero calorie" product that has no potential harmful effects-not so quick!
We haven't heard the last of it because the approval of other "sugar alternatives" exist that are some 600- 800 times sweeter than sugar! Recently we have seen how aspartame has come into vogue in numerous artificial sweetners. Studies are now indicating that neurological disorders from brain cancers, seizures and behavior related problems and metabolic disorders like PKU may be related to this sweetner which is in numerous soft drinks.
Sucralose which is big in sweetners like Splenda also are making a splash. Sucralose was found accidentally when chemist were trying to make an insecticide through there chlorine and acetylation process. Chlorine is a known carcinogen! Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than table sugar, 3 times sweeter than saccharin and 2 times sweeter than aspartame.
Today Sucralose is mixed with several other artificial sweetners such as aspartame and acesulfane K. These combinations of sweetners can cause weight gain, insomnia, sexual dysfunctions, increase rate of cancer, Lupus, and diabetes.
THE GREATEST THREAT & SECRET INGREDIENT IN SODAS
Today we are all up in an uproar about "sugar" such as glucose(dextrose) and sucrose(table sugar) when the real culprit may be actually HFCS(high fructose corn syrup). This "sugar" is known to be the primary cause today of pediatric obesity, overweight, diabetes, liver disease and high blood pressure. Because of it, pediatric authorities are asking parents to be aware of its uses in soft drinks, snacks, cereals and especially after school and Saturday morning childrens' top list of foods. A whole new generation of diseased livers will enter the healthcare system just in time for healthcare reform to kick in(whenever it does)! The situation is critical now.
Reading the back of soda and food labels has become cumbersome and we are not use to doing it when we go grocery shopping. The kids are tugging on us and we have just come back from the commute. Everyone is hungry and the drive back home to prepare to make "little Johnny and Jenny" a processed balone, mayo, chips and soda is all you can do to please them and have some peace and quiet.
But, shouldn't we be asking why "little Johnny and Jenny" can't sit still and are squirming so much all day ? Why are we seeing more diagnosis today of Attention Defecit(ADD/ADHD) or hyperactivity? Is it purely coincidence?
Before we go singing the praises of any company that's bottom line is driven by the profit margin of sugar and who is about to "remove" " subistitute" or just replace its products in another locals ; let's re-examine what may be merely sugary "semantics" what is lingusitically "mombo jombo and jibber jabber". Let's separate food fact from food fat. We need to individually read more labels do more searches on maltodextrin, saccharin, aspartame, sucarlose and HFCS! What is that stuff anyway? If the food companies and soft drink companies don't consider these as "sugars" also , then what then is a sugar and what can they put in as a non-sugar "sugar" subsititute? What about the artificial food dyes, coloring and artificial flavoring? Can a "sugar shell game" that is used to sweeten up our lives be doing something else more harmful?
NEW AND BETTER ALTERNATIVES
Perhaps using natural sweet from nature in fruits as additives in everything we like is a place to start from with our desserts, beverages, cereals and snacks. The more natural and organic the source the better.Don't go shopping hungry all the time and if the kids go with you for shopping, pre-plan with a shopping list. Let them be a part of making the list creation and reward them with fruits more often. Consider Carob, soy, fruit bars and fruit smoothies. Make up "out-of-the world" snacks like organic peanut butter banana sandwiches. The kids will think you are the coolest mom or dad with something "outta sight" like that! The American Dental Association has now endorsed xylitol as a sweet alternative to "sugar" mainly because of the dental issues involved. But, a much more promising alternative may be the natural organic sweetner from the leaves of plants from the Amazon called Stevia.
As more products will no doubt be introduced as "sugar" to the market, what is a sugar or a "sugar" will need to be looked at more. Your guess is as good as your health! Try asking the questions and reading the labels more. If that's not enough write to the food companies and ask specifically. If the makers won't tell you , then you must "make" them!
Learn more about eating healthier and considering healthier sweet choices in life at http://www.tgx360.com/
Dr. Marcus Wells, MD, MPH is a previous Clinical Associate from the National Institutes of Health at the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute(NIH/NHLBI). He has served in the Health & Human Services(HHS), Public Health Service(PHS) and Commissioned Corp. Dr. Wells holds a master's degree in Public Health from Emory University.
We know from studies that high school boys consume approximately 72 pounds of sugar a year from diet drinks alone from drinking "just" 2 cans of soda a day! The operative word here is "sugar". Although soft drink companies have agreed to limit "sugar" has anyone bothered to see whats on the back of a can of a soft drink? One might consider having to have a college degree in biochemistry to interpret the rather ambiguous word "sugar" after reading it.
Sugar, we typically think of as an energy component the body needs or it will die. Most of us would be right to think that on face value. But, this type of sugar we very often typically think of glucose comes in various forms from natural foods stuffs that the cell breaks down from proteins, fats and carbohydrates. When one says sugar we are also talking about other classifications of it from simple sugars like other monosaccharides including trioses, tetroses, pentoses, and hexoses. Then there is good ole' table sugar called sucrose and other diasaccharides found in honey, maltose and diary products. Will the soft drink companies deny that these too are "sugars" and not just glucose or dextrose it's alter ego often used today as an ingredient? If not will they consider substituting with them?
What about other oligosaccharides and polysaccharides? Will soft drink companies either bait-and-switch us just with other types of carbohydrates that are also sugars , but aren't considered such as much? Most of us are thinking that sugar is just glucose or table sugar and that anything else is just a "zero calorie" product that has no potential harmful effects-not so quick!
We haven't heard the last of it because the approval of other "sugar alternatives" exist that are some 600- 800 times sweeter than sugar! Recently we have seen how aspartame has come into vogue in numerous artificial sweetners. Studies are now indicating that neurological disorders from brain cancers, seizures and behavior related problems and metabolic disorders like PKU may be related to this sweetner which is in numerous soft drinks.
Sucralose which is big in sweetners like Splenda also are making a splash. Sucralose was found accidentally when chemist were trying to make an insecticide through there chlorine and acetylation process. Chlorine is a known carcinogen! Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than table sugar, 3 times sweeter than saccharin and 2 times sweeter than aspartame.
Today Sucralose is mixed with several other artificial sweetners such as aspartame and acesulfane K. These combinations of sweetners can cause weight gain, insomnia, sexual dysfunctions, increase rate of cancer, Lupus, and diabetes.
THE GREATEST THREAT & SECRET INGREDIENT IN SODAS
Today we are all up in an uproar about "sugar" such as glucose(dextrose) and sucrose(table sugar) when the real culprit may be actually HFCS(high fructose corn syrup). This "sugar" is known to be the primary cause today of pediatric obesity, overweight, diabetes, liver disease and high blood pressure. Because of it, pediatric authorities are asking parents to be aware of its uses in soft drinks, snacks, cereals and especially after school and Saturday morning childrens' top list of foods. A whole new generation of diseased livers will enter the healthcare system just in time for healthcare reform to kick in(whenever it does)! The situation is critical now.
Reading the back of soda and food labels has become cumbersome and we are not use to doing it when we go grocery shopping. The kids are tugging on us and we have just come back from the commute. Everyone is hungry and the drive back home to prepare to make "little Johnny and Jenny" a processed balone, mayo, chips and soda is all you can do to please them and have some peace and quiet.
But, shouldn't we be asking why "little Johnny and Jenny" can't sit still and are squirming so much all day ? Why are we seeing more diagnosis today of Attention Defecit(ADD/ADHD) or hyperactivity? Is it purely coincidence?
Before we go singing the praises of any company that's bottom line is driven by the profit margin of sugar and who is about to "remove" " subistitute" or just replace its products in another locals ; let's re-examine what may be merely sugary "semantics" what is lingusitically "mombo jombo and jibber jabber". Let's separate food fact from food fat. We need to individually read more labels do more searches on maltodextrin, saccharin, aspartame, sucarlose and HFCS! What is that stuff anyway? If the food companies and soft drink companies don't consider these as "sugars" also , then what then is a sugar and what can they put in as a non-sugar "sugar" subsititute? What about the artificial food dyes, coloring and artificial flavoring? Can a "sugar shell game" that is used to sweeten up our lives be doing something else more harmful?
NEW AND BETTER ALTERNATIVES
Perhaps using natural sweet from nature in fruits as additives in everything we like is a place to start from with our desserts, beverages, cereals and snacks. The more natural and organic the source the better.Don't go shopping hungry all the time and if the kids go with you for shopping, pre-plan with a shopping list. Let them be a part of making the list creation and reward them with fruits more often. Consider Carob, soy, fruit bars and fruit smoothies. Make up "out-of-the world" snacks like organic peanut butter banana sandwiches. The kids will think you are the coolest mom or dad with something "outta sight" like that! The American Dental Association has now endorsed xylitol as a sweet alternative to "sugar" mainly because of the dental issues involved. But, a much more promising alternative may be the natural organic sweetner from the leaves of plants from the Amazon called Stevia.
As more products will no doubt be introduced as "sugar" to the market, what is a sugar or a "sugar" will need to be looked at more. Your guess is as good as your health! Try asking the questions and reading the labels more. If that's not enough write to the food companies and ask specifically. If the makers won't tell you , then you must "make" them!
Learn more about eating healthier and considering healthier sweet choices in life at http://www.tgx360.com/
Dr. Marcus Wells, MD, MPH is a previous Clinical Associate from the National Institutes of Health at the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute(NIH/NHLBI). He has served in the Health & Human Services(HHS), Public Health Service(PHS) and Commissioned Corp. Dr. Wells holds a master's degree in Public Health from Emory University.
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