During the lunch hour rush Tshepiso Mokgethi* jumps into his car and drives to the nearest mall in search of something to eat.
Most eateries are packed but he queues at a fast food outlet where he orders a quarter of oily chicken, chips lathered with sauce and a large soft drink.
He wolves down the food in his car before speeding back to the office. After work he meets his friends for ‘after work drinks’ and as they chat, they dig into generous portions of beef ribs, chicken chops etc, and wash them down with round after round of beer.
At home, he rarely has time to cook, preferring to fix himself frozen foods that need to be fried or micro waved.
“It takes just fifteen minutes; better than slaving away for hours on end,” he points out.
Breakfast is often fancy cereal chomped at lightening speed. In between that, he indulges in treats like crisps, chocolates and other niciecities when he has friends over to watch soccer games.
Once a guy of average weight , he admits that in the past few years he has gone from having the extra podge of flab, to gaining weight in a way that “shows comfort and happiness” to being downright obese.
Obesity is defined as having more fat on the body. Being overweight on the other hand is having a higher weight mass. The two are often interlinked.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in ten adults are obese globally, while 34% can be classified as obese.
The deadly combination and proliferation of nutrient poor junk food, sedentary lifestyles and no affordability of wholesome fresh foods may seem like the sole reason in the case of an increase in obesity world wide.
In the past three or more decades, food was abundant and people ate generously. However, cases of obesity are increasing in the past two decades.
Why? Researchers have fingered added sugar in food, particularly processed foods, as the main culprit in widening girths, protruding bellies, podgy thighs, buxom rears, puffed out chests, man boobs, double chins, flabby faces and spilling guts.
They say it’s not only gluttony and sloth that contribute to an increase in the number of people ballooning in size, but also the choice of foods.
What many people aren’t aware of is that some foods, especially processed foods, have a lot of hidden added sugars. Also, the tasty treats that we refer to as “sin food” when consumed too frequently, cause havoc. But does sugar really have that much bearing on our health and weight?
Researchers claim sugar consumption drives fat storage setting a vicious cycle of overeating. Fructose especially, is said to be quite harmful.
Another dangerous sugar is a component of sucrose and fructose corn syrup, which is often high in processed foods.
Here’s the theory: Sugar causes insulin resistance in the liver more than other edibles. The pancreas then has to release more insulin to satisfy the liver’s needs.
High insulin levels interfere with the brain’s receipt of signals from the leptin hormone which is secreted by fat cells.
Nowadays we consume a lot of processed foods, most of which are high in salts and sugars, to give them a palatable taste, and make them more filling.
However, the convenience and tastiness of these foods may be costing us good health as they not only contribute to ever expanding waistlines but also an assortment of illnesses and conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, heart disorders, possible stoke, bone problems, back aches etc.
Link between poverty/poor economic status and obesity
Although it might sound like an oxymoron, there’s increasing link between poverty and obesity.
Energy-dense foods composed of refined grains, added sugars and fats often represent the best option to the lowest-income consumer. However, while these food stuffs seem affordable, they aren’t healthy. Furthermore, adults who suffer financial hardship are susceptible to psychological distress which may lead to emotional eating, which is common among women.
Worse still, junk food is easily available, promoted and cheaper, although it’s high in sodium, sugar but low in fibre.
Less sugar better health
While sugar is known to be a simple fat with little to no nutrients, it seems it may be more harmful than previously assumed, what with some medical researchers and nutritionists arguing that it should be classified as a drug like cocaine.
Physiological and neuro-chemical studies have shown that consumption of sugar has serious health implications. Those on the frontlines of the research argue that high sugar intake qualifies as addiction.
Many health journals have raised debate over whether sugar could be classified as addictive, and whether obesity should be added to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders as a form of substance (food) abuse/addiction.
Those who perceive sugar as a pro-addiction claim that palatable food and drugs like cocaine stimulate the same regions of the brain; trigger dopamine.
And in both cases, feelings of well-being and euphoria are short-lived. In cases of sugar consumption, that’s what normally known as a “sugar crash” when after a high and excess energy, the energy levels decrease drastically.
The researchers argue that sugar is not only devoid of nutrients but is highly addictive and detrimental to people’s health.
One South African nutritionist, Vanessa Ascenao, has come out guns blazing cautioning that it’s important for sugar to be classified as a drug.
“Science has proven that sugar has devastating toll on our health and it is highly addictive. Words like sugar “highs”, sugar “cravings” are descriptive of the effects of drugs ÔÇô the highs and cravings,” she said. The South African Department of Health is considering a sugar tax to encourage less consumption of sugar.
A statement on this course of action reads: “We are facing a health pandemic as a recent survey exposed. Diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart disease, osteoarthritis, reproduction issues and depression are shockingly on the rise. Unhealthy lifestyles which include diets laden with sugar and nutrient depleted foods are at the core of this health crisis. Taxation on these foods (substances) is a part of government’s broader plan to ensure healthy food and lifestyles.”
Although Ascenao has noted that sugar tax is not a panacea to the country’s poor state of health, tax could spotlight the dangers of sugar in foods as well as artificial sweeteners, which are just as bad.
She suggests that sugar in its simplistic form must be acquired from grown foods like fruits, and advises that a healthy diet should be inclusive of more vegetables, fruits, grains, lots of water and less processed foods.
A group of high profile scientists and doctors have come together to launch a global campaign with a mandate to influence the reduction in amounts of sugar in foods and drinks, as measures to half the numbers of obesity and diabetes rates.
Action on Sugar as the campaign is called, is modeled on successful Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), and will be aimed at helping the public avoid products “full of hidden sugars” and encourage manufacturers to reduce sugar ingredients.
Their target is a 20-30% reduction in sugar. It claims that reduction of “hidden sugars” could reverse or half the obesity epidemic, and also have a significant impact in the reduction of chronic disease. The chairman of Action on Sugar, Graham MacGregor (who is also Professor of cardiovascular at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine) has said that it’s time to tackle the obesity epidemic worldwide, and highlighting the dangers of sugar consumption is an excellent start, as is bringing manufacturers and health departments of governments to the party.
Instigators of this action campaign include the acclaimed author of Fat Chance: The Bitter truth about Sugar, Dr. Robert Lustig, who in the book argues that sugar has devastating effects not only on weight but also mental health (e.g. depression) and aggravates ageing and it’s signs (wrinkles etc).
The Action of Sugar has presented examples like that tomato sauce has four teaspoons of sugar, a 330 ml can of soda has nine teaspoons of sugar, while a chocolate bar and flavoured yoghurt have six teaspoons of sugar each. Considering the high intakes of sugar by children, the Action on Sugar has brandished sugar the “alcohol of childhood”, noting that it puts children at risk of diabetes and fatty liver disease as they get older. Industry players have however argued that sugar forms carbohydrates which we need in our diets, and that we should cut calories by eating less in general, not specifically targeting sugar.
On the other hand, Aseem Malthotra a renowned cardiologist has in a series of interviews disagreed with this stance and rather claims that studies suggest that sugar increases the risk of diabetes regardless of whether one is overweight or not, adding that the body doesn’t need sugar, contrary to common perception.
Just as those struggling to maintain sobriety are advised to avoid bars and ex-smokers must replace smoking with another activity, sugar addicts are encouraged to modify their behaviours (eating less in general) and habits (consuming less sugar.
Why add four teaspoons of sugar to tea where one or none would do?). Like all other things, perhaps the key is moderate consumption. Currently medical researchers fear that obesity will overtake tobacco use as the biggest risk factor for disease by 2016 if no action is taken on the “sugar phenomena”.
