Too Much Sugar

[James]

I read this statistic today (somewhere) and was shocked!

In 1700, the average person consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year. In 1800, the average person consumed about 18 pounds of sugar per year. In 1900, individual consumption had risen to 90 pounds of sugar per year. In 2009, more than 50 percent of all Americans consume one-half pound of sugar PER DAY—translating to a whopping 180 pounds of sugar per year!

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[Antony]

James,

Amazing finding.

Do you have the data of average lifetime of people corresponding to those periods?

As for me, I start my day with two sticks (two teaspoons) of sugars in my Nespresso coffee. Then, I might have a can of Coca-Cola (375ml), which the label says 40g of sugar per can. The rest depends on what I eat during the day.

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[Don_HH2K]

The statistic sounds insane, but I'd believe it. I live in a college dorm, and I see everybody eating all manner of chocolatey/sugary foods and downing energy drinks like Amp and Rockstar all day. But I do have to wonder if it counts 'outlier' days where your sugar intake typically skyrockets - it's not Christmas or Thanksgiving every day.

My regular intake is 64g per day, plus whatever I get from dinner. It sounds high to me, but according to the FDA you need at least 275 grams of carbohydrates that aren't from fiber, so all things considered I guess it's not too bad. Then again, it's the FDA, so for all we know there's politics involved with the food vendors.

If you considered the artificial sweeteners in Diet Mountain Dew, though, I might be closer to the figure.

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[James]

It's a bit disconcerting to say the least. If you look at the sugar content of a lot of processed foods and high fructose corn syrup, it adds up pretty quickly.

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[Mandrake]

The recommended daily consumption of sugar here is 90g -> 100g (~0.25 pounds). Lots of sauces and condiments and even stuff like milk contain a lot of sugar, so it's not hard to reach that amount. It's really easy to go way over if you drink sugary drinks like Red Bull or Coke or eat confectionery all the time.

I know someone at work who religiously drinks six cans of coke a day along with at least one can of Red Bull. He must be on a permanent sugar rush.

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[Antony]

I only drank energy drinks during university exam study periods. Sometimes just coffee at late hours would do the job.

Sugar and fat are not that bad for healthy diet. However, suitable amount is the key.

Last week on Sunrise, a 'milk expert' recommending getting low fat or even soy milk in place of regular milk (except for toddler). She even stated that regular (full cream) milk has absolutely no use at all (except for toddlers). It was a completely b*llsh*t!
Tiny bit of fat in the milk won't do people much harm. Further, if you do cooking, particularly in pastry, you need full cream milk.

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[James]

I agree on the milk and cream issue, Antony. Soy is no substitute for real milk. Granted, we drink 2% but it still has some cream as opposed to 1% of skim which is just white water as far as I'm concerned. I know a few years ago the so-called experts were against coffee and eggs. Now both are fine provided you consume them to excess.

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[Antony]

Just to add some interesting fact I discovered.

In Laurent's cooking school, in the first few weeks of each term, we can guarantee see students bring 'Lite' or 'Low Fat' milk instead of (full cream) milk. Some would even substitute (real/regular) butter with margarine or soft butter (fake butter) for cooking.

Firstly, those low-fat (or so called 'healthy' by these so called experts) alternatives simply won't work. (Except when you use them directly, e.g. drink directly, or adding to coffee, or spreading over bread.)

The thing I want to point out is... I can guarantee that those who brought the low-fat alternatives (wrong type for the recipes) are mostly skinny girls (at least 90% are). And I meant already very skinny in today's standard.

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