Did you notice: Food is significantly sweeter now than it was 10 years ago?

Research shows that cookies produced in 2019 have 9% more sugar than 2007. The amount of chemical sugar in packaged foods has even increased by 36% in that same time period.

Peel a cake in 2022, do you find it sweeter than the same cake in 2010? The same goes for beverages, our soft drinks are significantly sweeter today than they were a decade ago.

And although manufacturers of confectionery, soft drinks and packaged foods say they have limited the amount of sugar in their products, what is used to replace sugar is artificial sweeteners, or artificial sweeteners. called chemical sugar.

These sugars are hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than sugar. So, just a small amount of chemical sugar can make food much sweeter.

Peel a cake in 2022, do you find it sweeter than the same cake in 2010?

In a new study published in the journal Public Heath Nutrition, scientists examined the amount of sugar and chemical sugar found in packaged products over a period of more than a decade, from 2007 to 2019.

The results show that the amount of chemical sugar a person consumes in drinks has increased by 36% now compared to more than a decade ago. During the same time period, the amount of sugar we consume also increased by 9%.

Obviously, human foods are significantly sweeter, and they will have inevitable consequences for our health.

As humans, we crave sweets

There's nothing to be surprised or guilty about if you're also a sweet tooth. That's because we all are: Deep down in our human genetic code, we evolved from apes that love to eat bananas, suck on honey, and gnaw on wild fruit.

The sugars in those foods provided our ancestors with the energy to function. And their sweetness is a guarantee that this food is not poisonous. Now, if you get lost in the forest and find a fruit with a sour or bitter taste, the subconscious from our ancient ancestors will tell us not to eat it.

The sugars in those foods provided our ancestors with the energy to function. And their sweetness is a guarantee that this food is not poisonous.

However, every story needs a context. The fact that people like sweets is good for our ancestors, in a world where sugary foods are hard to come by. For example, wild honey, for example, you have to face the risk of falling from cliffs or being stung by bees just in exchange for a few liters of glucose divided equally among the whole tribe.

The modern world is different. Sugar is now all around us, in every kind of food and drink. People today can eat sugar as much as they want, because they are easy to find and the price is very cheap.

Living in such a world surrounded by sweets, humanity is getting fatter as a result. A large part of our population is facing the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Living in a world surrounded by sweets, humanity is getting fatter and fatter.

Sugar has been condemned as a drug of the new age, because it also stimulates our brains to release dopamine, which will make them crave more sugar and become addicted.

Faced with consumer health concerns, food manufacturers have begun to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners that contain little or no calories at all.

Their idea is simply that if you don't put calories into your body, you won't get fat. If you don't gain weight, you won't be afraid of diabetes or heart disease. On the flip side, artificial sweeteners are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar.

So, just a small amount of these chemicals is enough to satisfy a person's craving for sweets.

But will everything go as smoothly as planned? Are artificial sweeteners better than sugar? And would a world with more artificial sweeteners be better?

Are artificial sweeteners better than sugar?

Poor countries eat more sugar, rich countries turn to artificial sweeteners

Using global market sales data, a team of scientists from Deakin University, Australia conducted a study assessing the amount of sugar and artificial sweeteners added to foods and beverages. packed between 2007 and 2019.

The results show that there is a shift in the food industry when in rich countries, manufacturers tend to reduce the amount of sugar in their products and increase the content of artificial sweeteners.

In contrast, low- and middle-income countries are increasing the amount of sugar in their soft drinks and packaged foods by up to 50%.

This trend is explained by the saturation of packaged food and beverage markets in high-income countries. This has caused major food and beverage corporations to expand their markets into lower-income countries.

In addition, governments in rich countries are also taking action to limit sugar consumption. They tax sugar in packaged products and soft drinks, the more sugar there is, the higher the tax is on the product.

Sugar-free products can avoid sugar taxes in developed countries.

Many educational, communication and advertising campaigns to reduce sugar consumption were also conducted, causing manufacturers to eventually turn to artificial sweeteners to satisfy new customer needs.

This has inadvertently created a double standard, when foods that are less sweet, lower in calories and appear healthier are sold in richer countries, with quality health systems, with high tolerance. more health problems caused by sugar.

In contrast, low- and middle-income countries such as China, India, and the Asia-Pacific region are seeing an increase in sugar consumption, leading to problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. diabetes.

Sugar is bad for health, but is artificial sweetener better?

The switch from sugar to artificial sweeteners is now so common that the World Health Organization is developing guidelines for the use of sugar-free sweeteners. However, standing between the lines, whether artificial sweeteners can be considered a more reasonable alternative to sugar, the scientific evidence is still unclear.

Some studies have questioned the weight loss effects of artificial sweeteners, even though they contain no calories. That's because calories aren't the only factor that can affect weight fluctuations.

Artificial sweeteners that help reduce calories do not lead to weight loss.

In a report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, scientists analyzed a total of 37 studies on artificial sweeteners, and found that they did not actually help users lose weight.

A total of more than 400,000 people participated in the study's follow-up programs for about 10 years. Seven studies were randomized controlled trials, a gold standard in scientific research.

To explain why calorie-reducing artificial sweeteners don't lead to weight loss, scientists have several hypotheses. Some people think that these chemicals affect the microbiome in the digestive system, thereby affecting the absorption of nutrients.

Regularly eating or drinking sugar substitutes still makes us crave sweets more. People can also be conceited that because they don't consume calories, they have the right to eat as much artificial sweetener as they want.

Some researchers believe that artificial sweeteners interfere with the body's way of metabolizing sugar. In short, calories don't seem to be the only issue when it comes to sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Artificial sweeteners will make you gain weight, even though they have no calories.

Artificial sweeteners still increase diabetes risk

When we talk about diabetes we talk about eating too many sweets. But do you know what is the connection between them? That is the phenomenon of insulin rise and fall and glucose intolerance.

When we eat sweets, sugar enters the bloodstream and causes blood sugar to rise. To solve this condition, the pancreas must secrete a hormone called insulin to push sugar into the cells, helping to lower blood sugar.

But when you eat too much sugar and eat it too often, the insulin eventually gets greasy, and the pancreas has to secrete more insulin to push the same amount of sugar from the bloodstream into the cells.

After all, the amount of insulin secreted is never enough to handle the excess glucose in the blood. Your blood sugar will be high no matter how hard your pancreas is working. This is diabetes.

A few recent studies have shown that the consumption of artificial sweeteners that are pseudo-sugar still creates an insulin-like pattern of rise and fall, causing the body to gradually lose its ability to tolerate glucose.

Consuming artificially sweetened beverages still prompts your pancreas to produce a fat-storage response, even if you're not taking in calories from sugar.

Basically when you consume sugar, your taste buds send an alert to the pancreas, which wants to say: "Hey, calories are taking in! Get ready to release insulin!". Then, insulin is secreted to help break down sugars, providing immediate energy if the body is in need of energy. If the body doesn't need it, it turns the sugar into fat cells for storage.

Now, when you put artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, a similar reaction is produced. So consuming artificially sweetened beverages still prompts your pancreas to create a fat storage response, even if you don't take in calories from sugar.

Above all, constantly triggering the insulin response eventually leads to breakdown. Your body starts to get oily with this response, causing the pancreas to secrete more and more insulin. That's basically what happens in type 2 diabetics and you'll gain weight because of fat storage.

From sweet to super sweet

To be fair, artificial sweeteners only benefit people who already have obesity, diabetes, or metabolic syndromes that need to be on a sugar-free diet. They may switch from a high-sugar diet to an artificial sweetener to reduce the negative effects of their craving for sweet taste.

As for those who choose food from the beginning, such as children who start drinking sugar-free soft drinks, the chemicals in them will negatively affect human health, from the first time they continue to drink. touch.

Some studies show that sugar-free soft drinks can increase the risk of metabolic syndrome by 36%, which includes high blood pressure, excess blood sugar, belly fat and bad cholesterol.

The super-sweetness of artificial sweeteners compared to white sugar.

Another big concern is that artificial sweeteners are very sweet. For example, Aspartame, an artificial sweetener sold under the Equal label, can be 180 times sweeter than sugar. This ratio of Acesulfame-K, sold under the Sweet One label, is 200 times. Sweet' L Now's contains 300 times Saccharrin. Splenda contains Sucralose 600 times. In particular, Advantame is an artificial sweetener that is 20,000 times sweeter than sugar.

The super-sweetness of these substances reduces the sensitivity of taste receptors to sweetness. As a result, you will see other foods, such as fruit, become paler later on.

After that, you won't find the satisfaction of eating natural sugar anymore. Instead, you will continue to look to them, products containing artificial sweeteners or sugar to satisfy your taste buds.

This is of particular interest to children, who are still developing their lifelong taste preferences. This also explains why research published in the journal Public Heath Nutrition found that people's foods are increasingly becoming sweeter.

When children start consuming artificial sweeteners, these sweet flavors will influence consumption habits and health in later life.

In addition, the study authors said that artificial sweeteners are also a source of environmental pollution because they cannot be removed from the water effectively. In other words, when you drink a can of sugar-free soda and excrete them into the environment, the artificial sweeteners are almost impossible to get rid of as they run through the wastewater pipeline to the factory.

As a result, these chemicals exist in very large residues in the environment. Moreover, with the high use in fast food, artificial sweeteners also indirectly heat the planet because the fast food industry is famous for wasting a lot of water and energy, and releasing it into the environment. Many plastic materials cannot be recycled.

Given these concerns, the new study authors warn: "We need to closely monitor the increasing sweetness of foods and beverages. Along with that, monitor the use of sugars and sweeteners. zero-calories is on the rise. This trend is likely to shape both our taste preferences, food choices, future health and the planet on which we live."