The findings of the first detailed global research on the impact of sugar-sweetened drinks on public health only reinstate what has long been suspected by doctors, dieticians and nutritionists. There has always been reason to believe that sugar, not fat, is the “devil’s food”. The latest study summarises the danger aptly in numbers by pointing out that close to 2 lakh people die annually from consumption of sweetened beverages — sodas, fruit drinks, energy drinks, or even homemade sugary drinks.
Adding sugar to everyday food is not new but how widespread the hazard has become is clear from how industry prolongs the shelf-life of virtually every food product by adding sugar, which also makes food more palatable to larger sections of the population. A meta-analysis of what sugar does to people across the world is just becoming clear and this first global warning must be taken very seriously if the resultant disease and disability is not to take a greater toll.
Research has shown that sugar creates an appetite for itself by a hormonal mechanism, which ordinary people cannot battle just by willpower. This cyclical phenomenon of a self-sustaining hunger for sugar is what entraps a majority of the world population, including in the poorest countries. Those campaigning strongly against added sugar in every type of food are hoping to convince the world that there is no health benefit, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, which by the sheer convenience of intake represent the biggest threat. Sugar is an independent health risk factor.
The sooner we realise it, the better our chance of eating and drinking healthy.
