Sugars

Who doesn't love sugar? Everybody likes some kind of sugar. As I read through the pages and pages of Marion Nestle's interesting and informative book that is titled What to Eat, my attention was captivated by the section called "Sugar(s)". Something that my mom seems to always tell me is that I need to improve my eating habits, especially the amount of sugar I sometimes eat. I tend to take sweet tooth to a whole new level. Although their isn't usually sugary food kept in my pantry or fridge on a regular basis, if their happens to be a special occasion where their is, the sugary food never lasts long. To me, the most interesting subsections of the chapter about sugars were "Sugars in Supermarkets" and "Making Sugar(s) Look Healthy".

"Sugars in Supermarkets" covers Nestles findings on the abundance of sugary foods that your are able to find in an average supermarket or grocery store. As the author evaluated and analyze Tops Market in Ithaca, she discovered that 25% of the store's shelve were stocked with sugary items, excluding the bakery, refrigerated section, and freezer sections of the store (Nestle 323). The authors findings made me realize that it's impossible to avoid sugary foods completely and that it is very easy access to them, which makes them even more tempting to Americans all over the country.

The other relatable section on sugars was "Making Sugar(s) Look Healthy". This section covered the how companies will hide the amounts of added sugars behind things like added vitamins (Nestle 325). Nestle says, "Adding vitamins to sugary foods blurs the distinctions among food categories, and moves desserts into the nutritional mainstream" (Nestle 326). This inspired me to look in my pantry and fridge to look at the sugars in different foods that I often eat: Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and Tree Top Fruit Snacks.

I often will grab a granola bar as I rush out the door before school or when I just want a quick snack. One thing that the granola bar packaging says is "100% Whole Grain" but it fails to mention any other nutritional facts on the front. As I read through the information on the ingredients of the granola bar, I first looked at the amount of sugar. In this 24 gram granola bar, their is 8 grams of sugar! After I discovered the astonishing fact that one-third of this whole grain snack is sugar, I decided to look at the ingredients list. Their is an abundance of sugar throughout the list of ingredients. 

After my shocking discovery about my so-called healthy granola bars, I had to look into the same information on Tree Top Fruit Snacks, which I always put in my lunch and grab for quick snacks. On the fruit snack's packaging, their are multiple different facts about the health benefits of the fruit snacks. But as you read the "fine print" of the packaging, you will discover that each 26 gram package contains 14 grams of sugar! That's more than 50%! As I looked into the ingredients list a number of them were sugars. 

In the end, what Nestle said about how companies mask the amount of sugars in their product behind things like nutrients and minerals was a valid statement. I was able to prove her findings true by applying them to the things I assessed about foods that I often consume. This section made me realize that its very easy to consume heavy amounts of sugar but you can also moderate the consumption by altering your diet. 

Question: What's your favorite sugary food? Do you think it's healthy to eat that food every single day?

Works Cited: Nestle, Marion. What to Eat. New York: North Point, 2006. Print.