A Bittersweet Study
As an end of the year project, my science teacher asked us to create a "Super Product." The boundaries? Research a science topic of your choice, cite at least three sources, and make the presentation of the information very creative. To be quite honest, I was thrilled. A science project, on anything I wanted? Can you guess what I chose? Yes, reader. Nutrition. It is always and forever nutrition. The project I created was in two parts; one simply concerned general nutrition, and the other focused in on sugar. General nutrition info was written on slices of paper pizza (in ode to the lunch ladies and gentlemen) and placed in a pizza box, while the sugar project was actually a study I conducted. Is it free from flaw? Most definitely not. Is it something a simple school girl fashioned? Most certainly! Did I have to enter nutritional information on my Kindle Fire by hand with glitchy WIFI? Ugh. Don't even get me started. The worst four hours of my life.
However, the results of my Bittersweet Study were worth the work. I wanted to see what my friends, typical American teenagers, ate in a day. How much sugar did they gobble up on average? If you are interested in the data of the study, I recommend that you read on!
A Bittersweet Study
By Maya Epstein
It is common knowledge that sugar is bad for humankind. However, the sweet stuff tends to pop up even in the most unexpected of places. The delicacy is certainly not helping in the epidemic of childhood obesity; according to the article “Obesity in Children,” “One third of children in the U. S. is overweight or obese, and this number is continuing to rise...placing them at risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes later in life. They are also more prone to develop stress, sadness, and low self-esteem.” Absolutely, the majority of people love their sweets, from the after-dinner mug brownies to gajar halwa. That being said, sugar crops up in other places, too; it lurks in the fruits we eat, processed foods (such as refined flours, energy bars, and yogurts) that we enjoy, and in our meals. In fact, the Noodles World Kitchen website shows that a regular pad thai, a seemingly healthy-ish, gluten-free option, contains 30 grams of sugar! The American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons a day for the general sugar consumer; therefore, 7.2 teaspoons of sugar in one regular bowl of Noodles Pad Thai would completely max out one’s allowance for the day. To evaluate the amount of sugar consumed by the average American teenager, I conducted a study. Ten of my classmates, all between ages 13 and 14, but diverse in ethnicity and biological gender, were asked to fill out a complete food journal for the day of May 14, 2018. After collecting this information, I calculated the nutritional information for all of their combined sustenance on the Very Well Fit Nutritional Calculator. Then, I averaged the amount of sugar per person. The results were shocking.
Anika C, Dillon P, Janhavi K, Marley B, Megan T, Jack O, Ezekiel, Dylan T, Orezi O, and Madeleine H were the test subjects within my Bittersweet Study. They recorded all of the food they consumed on Monday, May 14, 2018, from a cup of milk at breakfast to a bowl of peas later in the evening. In total, they consumed 30,214 calories, with 952.5 grams of fat, 4,331.5 grams of carbohydrates, and 1,196 grams of protein. As for the total sugar? It added up to 1,497.5 grams. For one, this is a ton of sugar. On the other hand, they consumed more sugar, which is an empty and unnecessary calorie, than protein, which is vital for essential bodily functions. When this 1,497.5 grams of sugar was divided among the ten test subjects, it was discovered that each consumed, on average, about 149.75 grams of sugar. This translates to 19.1 teaspoons a person, nearly 3.183 times more than they should be eating, maximum! I would also like to point out that May 14, 2018 held no special significance. It was merely an ordinary day for the test subjects. With this in mind, I invite you to consider what a holiday’s amount of sugar may look like. It is a scary thought, isn’t it?
And sadly, this is not a rare number. One may go so far as to call the 19.1 grams of sugar a day typical for the average American teenager. Ignorance and youth are often preyed upon by producers, and adolescents happen to be both. For this reason, it is crucial that we begin to take our diets into our own hands. Instead of choosing toothsome treats, try opting for fruits lower in sugar, such as strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries. If you are partial to baking, consider using an alternative sweetener, like stevia, monk fruit, or erythritol. All three of these options are naturally occuring, and have no caloric impact on your body. Stop letting sugar be in charge of the ways in which your body ingests and digests food. It is time for us to stand up to the food industry and regain our health.
And with that, my friends, I suggest you reevaluate your sugar intake!
Carpe Diem,
Maya
Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash, Photo by Madison Kaminski on Unsplash,
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash, Photo by Madison Kaminski on Unsplash,
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
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