Assignment 2: Carbs and Obesity

Read the entry on the carbohydrate controversy. Listen to the Podcast between 14-32 minutes. Read the opposing view at Science Daily. Then answer the questions below in a coherent and cohesive essay. Be sure to address each point and post in the comments for this posting by April 5.

  • Weigh in on your opinion in this debate and refer to specific arguments from the podcast and the Science Daily article
  • Do you feel that having excessive amounts of sugary products is deleterious towards your well-being?
  • Do you think taxation will make a difference in the habits of consumers that will effectively reduce obesity?
  • What are the alternatives to taxation that would/could be implemented instead of a “soda tax”?
  • What are your opinions regarding food subsidies and the abundance of low cost food of questionable “quality”?
    • Compare a high quality and balanced meal versus a “McMeal”

39 thoughts on “Assignment 2: Carbs and Obesity

  1. March 14, 2012

    Shayna Blauner Palace
    Professor Seto
    Assignment 2

    Dr. Robert Lustig made some very interesting points with regards to the severity of the added sugars that are in our foods put by the food industry for longer shelf-live and palatability. He stated that the natural sugars in the foods is not what is toxic but rather the added sugars that we cannot even see on the food labels. On a food label you see the total number of sugars, but not what type of sugar from the 6 types are in the product. He stated that the goal is to have a healthy liver and not for the pancreas to have to make so much insulin for the liver to do its job correctly. Many chronic metabolic disorders such as Diabetes II, Obesity, and Hypertension are really caused from all this extra insulin being created in our bodies and a large part of this problem is all the added sugars we are consuming in our foods on a daily basis.

    I would have to agree with the opinion that excessive amounts of sugars are toxic for our well-being. I feel there are so many more people coming down with metabolic disorders than they used too. Diabetes, obesity, and hypertension are so prevalent in our society today. The food industry is a profit making industry and that is their number one priority. So, if it tastes better to add artificial sugar they will do so, even if is harmful for their consumers which they still do not attest too. There is something to the people who go to farmers markets and organic grocery stores. Most of these people look healthy and not obese and state that they have more energy.

    I don’t think taxation alone will help to reduce obesity. I know there are many people working on changing the food provided in public schools to more healthier options, but we should also implement that when a child’s percentile in weight is in the obesity range, the physician must immediately write a referral to a nutritionist for the child and parents to get educated on better eating habits and it should be completely covered by insurance.

    I also think that the government needs to provide guidelines for people on food stamps. The money given should only be allowed for healthy foods such as milk, eggs, fruit, and vegetables like the guidelines given to people on WIC. Also, if you compare buying canned food to fresh food, you might be shocked at the outcome. It is not even cheaper to buy the canned/boxed food and natural fresh food is much tastier and of course healthier.

    As with any fast food outlet, the fat and calories can add up quickly to undermine good nutrition. For example in McDonald’s, a Big Mac provides 540 calories, which is equivalent to 27 percent of the recommended calorie intake based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet. A Quarter Pounder contains 410 calories and a Double-Quarter Pounder with Cheese packs 740 calories.

    The term “balanced meal,” means that the meal meets your nutritional needs. To achieve a balanced diet, you must eat a variety of foods from each of the food groups. When I plan dinner, I usually plan on a protein such as fish, chicken or meat, a vegetable such as broccoli, peas, carrots, and a starch which is usually potatoes or rice. I also try to introduce new fruits and vegetables to my children so that they can learn about healthier choices for when they are older.

    • That’s an interesting take on “food subsidies”. I was actually referring to the government subsidies that encourage the farming of specific crops in an effort to de-politicize food. But where you went with that is also very useful to discuss.

  2. Violetta Shebshayevich
    Professor Seto
    Assignment 2

    In the Science Daily article the researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital reviewed more than 40 published studies on whether the fructose molecule itself causes weight gain. Researches were trying to determine if the fructose is being unfairly blamed for the obesity epidemic or people eat and drink too many calories? Based on the article, there was no answer to that question because more studies need to be done. In my opinion, I agree that more studies should be done. According to the definition, “Fructose is a simple monosaccharide found in many plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion” This is the fact and no one can argue about that. Obesity is an excess proportion of total body fat. This is another fact that no one can argue about. I think that people who are obese should eat as less fructose as possible, until doctors or scientists will be able to answer if fructose is the blame for obesity. Obese people should also be more educated on what that can do and what they cannot do. I think that public schools, libraries, colleges should have more information and brochures available about causes of obesity. A friend of mine is obese and she also has diabetes. She is not very familiar that obesity can lead to death and she continues to eat food that contains fructose. She does not exercise. She is not motivated to improve her health because of lack of information about side effects. It is a big problem for our society. Politics should even sign a law that people with obesity cannot enter “all you can eat buffets”. While businesses making money selling products that contain fructose, millions of people die from obesity.

    In the article “Carbs are evil?” Dr. Robert Lustiq argues if fruits are good or bad for us. Fruits contain sugar fructose which is a pentose sugar. Dr. Lustiq thinks that too much sugar (glucose, fructose, and disaccharide sucrose) is the major disease risk in the United States. I believe that having excessive amounts of sugar is not good for our well being. However, fruits are good for us because they are vitamins. It’s bad to eat too much of anything. It is also bad to eat only fruits. We need a variety of food. As long as we have a healthy diet that has a big variety of healthy foods and we are within our calorie goal range, the amount of sugar in fruit shouldn’t negatively affect us. Fruits are great for our healthy energy kick.

    I think that taxation will make a difference in the habits of consumers to reduce obesity, but not effectively. There was taxation in the state of New York on cigarettes already. However, I always watch in the news that many people still smoke and die from smoking. I am a substance abuse counselor and I have been in many groups of people who are addicted to chemical dependency. People who are obese are addicted to food the same way as drug addict’s are addicted to narcotics or alcohol. I believe that if a person is not ready psychologically to quit or to improve well being, no one will be able to help this person. A person should be motivated first. If a person is motivated, the society should step over and offer help only for those who are highly motivated. With the tax increase on soda or sugar products, the state will make money, but people will remain the same way.

    The alternatives to taxation that can be implemented instead of a “soda tax” are developing more programs in communities to teach adults and children about risk factors of obese. Obesity is a very serious disease and not many people realize how serious it can be. Obese people have a 4-fold higher incidence rate of high blood pressure, 8-fold for diabetes, 10-fold for hyperlipidemia, and 2.5-fold for fatty liver. If the government will decide to increase more taxes on soda, I think it will be fair if all the money from this tax program will go to educational purposes. People themselves should be more educated. The government will not close plants and factories that produce unhealthy food. It is people’s responsibility to take good care of themselves. I never buy soda, I never have soda in my refrigerator, and I will never pay money for something that will make me obese. Not many people think this way, and they really should.

    My opinion regarding food subsidies and the quality of low cost food depends on what kind of food. Balanced meal plan is good because it gives us enough food from each main food groups. It also makes meal planning easy by keeping track of what people eat for a healthy and balanced diet. I attended a series of free workshops from Cornell University. It was offered in our community for free. They taught us about balanced meal and healthy food pyramid. For 2 months I had to attend classes and I was very happy that I found out about this great program in my neighborhood offered from Cornell University. There should be more programs available for public like this one that I attended. I never go to Mc Donald’s. I am against McMeal no matter how healthy it is nowadays. It might be healthier than other sandwiches at Mc Donald’s, but I believe that it is for lazy people who cannot cook at home. People who buy McMeal usually end up buying french fries and soda as well. It is psychological trick as soon as a person enters McDonalds. Even McDonalds has calories chart, I think that people should go over there once in a while; otherwise it will become a habit that might lead to obesity.

    • Education is always a good way to inform people about how their habits relate to their health. However, when you have programs to do so, they require money. Don’t you believe that a soda tax is about gaining revenue to set up such programs? As for your friend with diabetes. Is it type 2? Dr. Lustig argues that the moderation of all sugars in the diet would eradicate type 2 diabetes. This is the type associated with obesity. I disagree with the idea that obese individuals are addicted to food. I know of people who are obese, not just from overeating, but mostly because of the types of food they ingest coupled to their sedentary lives.

  3. -I do not believe that a soda tax will be a gaining revenue to set up educational program. I meant that it would be nice if the money from increased taxes will go into such programs.
    -A message about how dangerous the obesity is should be spread all over communities. I am not sure what type of diabetes my friend has. I wrote that obese individuals are addicted to food by the example of the same friend. She is obese and it seems to me that she is addicted to food. I believe in psychology it is called “obsessive compulsive food obsession”. I agree with you, absolutely, people are obese because of the type of food they eat.

  4. I agree that sugar is like alcohol, they both damage an important organ, the liver; it is also a bit addictive. If your liver is in a good condition so would you. With a large amount of sugar intake it could leave to several diseases, such as type two diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and such. I believe that what is being done to the product should be posted on the box. Also don’t just put the good things in a big print and all the bad things in little fine prints that no one can see or reads.

    I agree with Dr. Robert Lustig to a point that fructose could lead to obesity. Majority of people would say eating a lot of fruits is good for you; but what isn’t understood is that fruits contain natural sugar known as “fructose”. Fruits contain a lot of calories from that sugar, which wouldn’t actually help reducing obesity. Don’t get me wrong fruits are good for you, it produces vitamins and minerals, but you can’t have too little nor too many of it. Another thing with fruits is that it gets a daily chemical spray for pesticides, which when entered in the body could damage various things. Too many of any type food is bad for you. Every real food is good for you its just that you have to limit yourself on what you consume.

    Taxation is a start on helping to decrease obesity. If a products price goes up, it would be limited to a house hold for being too expensive; for example as stated in the podcast honey is a bit expensive so not a lot of people use it. But instead when you walk in the grocery store you would see all these unhealthy packaging with a $.99c loaded with sugar/sodium and much more bad things. Then looking at something healthy it would cost double or more; and people would rather buying the lower cost product because majority people are on a fixed budget and can afford all the expensive healthy food. Not everyone read the food labels when shopping for food. Reading food labels is a must if not you don’t know what your consuming into your body. For example did you know the Hostess Twinkie contains pork. Taxation may help to reduce obesity to a point, but some people would actually pay for it because the are already addicted to it. Just how cigarettes are taxed, it reduced it but did not stop it.

    Instead of soda tax, I think people should pay more attention to the product they are spending their money on and eating. They should limit their portion of what the consume. There’s things out there that can help you. On the Andriod and Apple market there’s an app “my fitness pal” it help you keep track of what you eat, amount of sugar, sodium, carbs, protein, and much more. It is an easy and free way to keep track of your daily diet. Prices for healthy food should be lowered; it’s just unbelievable what’s being done to the food we consume. Some schools provide nutrition classes but the other story to that is if anyone actually pays attention in it. Corn Syrup should be band !

    Food subsidies provide farmers with extra cash, so that they could compete with the very low prices in the market. Also to keep the farming area and keep crops growing. It provides more farm food so the there could be good quality of food in the market; mostly corn and wheat. Event though the government give farmers that allowance, some take advantage of it and still provide bad product. With chemicals sprayed on them to make it bigger and grow faster so they could make more money.

    A high quality and balance mean is eating something that’s real and that is the right consumption needed. A mcmeal is something that is REALLY unhealthy but taste good. It is proven by eating a mcmeal daily can hurt your body, there’s a documentary video “Supersize Me”. Eating a mcmeal your eating “mystery meat” you don’t know what or how they make it; if its pink slime, or a mixture of different meat. They are loaded with saturated fat, sodium and sugar which a lot of any of bad. A McDonald sandwich contain about 500-1000 calories and that’s without fries and soda. Their chicken nuggets are made with old soggy chicken breast and unwanted parts. Do they care about you health, I doubt it, all they care about is making more profit so they would sell anything to use. Each time you consume an overdose of sugar/salt/carbs etc and mostly JUNK FOOD your taking a step closer to your death bed.

  5. Dr. Robert Lustig made some very interesting points about natural sugars found in fruits which are beneficial to us as long as we do not intake to much of that one thing. He also spoke about how added sugars found in food products are placed there to increase the shelf-life of the products but can also be very harmful to us over a period of time. He stated that the natural sugars in foods are not toxic but it is the sugars that we do not see in manufactured products that are deleterious to our health. Being that our pancreas produces insulin to balance the total amount of sugar in our blood, the intake of added sugars often makes it difficult to do so as the pancreas has to create even more insulin to balance the amount of sugar intake. Many chronic metabolic disorders such as Diabetes II, Obesity, and Hypertension, often occur due to the vast amount of insulin being produced by our body to combat the intake of all the added sugars from the products we consumed.

    I definitely agree that consuming to many sugars is bad for one’s health and that it is the cause of so many health concerns in the United States. I believe that most manufacturers simple say that they have the general publics interest at heart but they only use such tactics to gain more profit. If their products have good reviews, companies often mass produce them in order to make greater sales and at the cost of the consumers well-being. Being that they cause many disorders my best guess would be to stay away from such products.

    One can argue both sides on the taxation of added sugar products, but personally I believe that taxation on added sugar products will not affect the rate at which people consume those products. Since people have become so addicted to the products it is often the situation like that of a drug and an addict. It’s hard to stop using these products and eventually live a healthy life without the using them. I think that the only way to stop obesity is for one to see a nutritionist and to follow the proper nutritional guidelines in order to life healthy.

    I also think that the government should regulate and have a guideline on the use of food stamps. If such is approved then people who get this aid will have no choice but to buy the healthy foods that will not necessarily extend their lives but at least allow them to have a better one. As it stands canned and boxed foods are way more expensive than if one were to purchase fresh foods. Not only the price and the quality in taste are also very different.

    I believe that fast food restaurants are often the source of high calorie diets and also make for a very unbalanced diet. Such food restaurant chains like burger king often serve at least 25% of the 2000 calorie diet in a single meal. These fast food companies often lower the cost of food in order to get more customers but at the same time, the meals pack way more calories.

    The term balanced meal means that one is supposed to obtain proportional amounts of the recommended nutritional values from each of the food groups. In the case of a McMeal one does not usually get a balanced meal but a more “fatty” one. I personally do not think that they are healthy which is why I stopped eating fast foods. They do not contribute positively to your health and therefore I think they should be stopped.

  6. Again, it comes down to making money and not caring about consequences on people’s health. What else is new? I do agree with what Dr.Lustig in many ways. Sugar is like alcohol,drugs,etc,….. you can become addicted. There are many foods related to obesity and diseases . Added sugars and all the processed foods that many people consume on a daily basis are the causes of these health issues which include obesity.

    Soda is one of the foods that affect your health if you abuse it and even if you really don’t. The average American drinks 57gallons of soda a year. Think about the amount of added sugars in their body and the poor condition of their liver 🙁 We need to eat real food more often if not all the time! Another big problem is that sugar is available everywhere and at anytime ” maladaptive situation” and people lost the meaning of what should a normal level of sugar consumption be. The federal government subsidizes products made out of corn which becomes high in fructose and ultimately is very unhealthy for anyone. Many people don’t care about what they are feeding their body, their children’s body, and don’t understand what they are really eating. The meaning of eating healthy can be very hard to understand after years of the same diet. Also, I believe that people put to much trust on their government, but at the end of the day, the government is a BUSINESS. The government doesn’t always have your best interest. The prove is here, “let’s reduce the food cost and use a subsidy that we know will be creating many health issues…even death at times for children, adults, and the elderly”.

    I do believe that the consummation of excessive amount of sugary product will definitely harm you at some point in your life. The big issue is that those products have very often added sugar and are processed foods.

    There is more to obesity than just eating sugars. Sugars contribute to it if you abuse them, but it is not the only reason. Eating in fast food places and outside on regular bases is a big problem in today’s society. Many families don’t cook as often as they should. Some don’t cook at all (no fresh fruits and vegetables). It is not about taste, but more about filling your stomach. The fact that many don’t exercise does not help your health issues. Some elementary school don’t even have physical education schools.

    I think that a tax can make a positive difference, like it did with smokers. Even so, you will always have people who will continue with their routine no matter what the consequences are and some who may realize that life is to short, and should not be played with. The government needs to make the major change in improving the foods that people depend on everyday! People will buy what is available in stores, there will be no other options! Schools needs to stop giving the young kids access to junk foods ( machines, and even cafeterias,…). I remember growing up eating in the cafeteria, and we had so many healthy options. The food was really delicious: fish, purees, soups, rice,pasta, pizza, grilled chicken, veal, fresh fruit salads…etc. My young sister who goes to school told me that they still serve that good food. It sets up an example of healthy and good foods habits.

    People and children’s health should be the government’s priority! Food subsidies and processed foods are destroying people’s lives slowly but surely. The government is more concerned about how much money will be saved and made than what should really matter!Lives!

    It is scary to see all the food options in our days.The label will state words that you never heard off, there are no explanations,or even clues of the meanings. I believe that people often try new products because they are attracted to the picture on the product, and the low price. Like many of us, they try to save money, they have the opportunity to do so by buying a new product no matter what the ingredients are.

    I have two young daughters and I try to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for the whole family no matter what my budget is. They actually remind me to buy them at times. The parents have to set the example for sure.

    A meal composed of a small cheeseburger (4oz), a medium french fries,a 16 oz soda, and a hot fudge sundae will sum to 1160 of unhealthy calories. You can eat instead: spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, turkey meatballs, broccoli, tossed green, salad, Italian dressing, and ice cream for only a total of 655 healthy calories. As a beverage, you can drink water or juices with no added sugar. We are not talking about TGIF’s portions.

    People should pay more attention to the foods they eat. They should buy more fresh fruits, veggies ,drink less sodas , and eat less (or no) processed foods.
    I believe that if the federal government decides to stop subsidizing products to save money, we will see a positive difference in health in the American society.

    I

  7. SAAD RASHID
    Professor: SETO
    Assignment 2

    Dr. Robert Lustig makes many great point on how sugar can have an effect on us in many ways. if it doesn’t effect us right know it will defiantly effect us as we get older. there are many things that can happen to us from sugar like obesity, diabetes, heart problems and many more diseases. sugar is like a drug, once you start injecting it, you will get addictive to it. he also talks about how all the junk food that we eat have lots of sugar and even the fruits that we eat can be harmful to us, if we intake lots of it in a short period of time, which i totally agree with because if you eat the same thing every day it can have many harmful effects on your body and also fruits are always better than the junk food because fruits have many proteins and vitamins.

    The only reason why people buy lots of junk food is because it is easy to get and cheap to get, making it more expensive will encourage other foods to be eaten.
    one of the reasons people do not choose healthier foods today is because of money, the cheaper it is the better it is. If taxes are placed on fast foods to make them more expensive, then people will go out for healthier foods as they are less expensive. therefore eating healthier foods will affect less people with obesity.

    Soda is one of society’s favorite drinks. Each year, billions and trillions of gallons of soda are sold in the United States alone to men, women and children. many experts believe drinking soda may have serious health consequences.Soda is very high in sugar and calories. it can decay your teeth.

    I think the soda tax is outrageous. There is no reason for the government to be trying to control behavior of what we put in our bodies with taxes. We need to cut taxes not come up with new ones but i do think it should have a warning label so that parents and regular people can think twice before buying it.

    i think one of the main reason why people buy low cost of food is because of there income and how rich and how poor they are, maybe that’s the only thing they can afford to buy for them self’s and for there family’s.Cheap food is all around us. The market is flooded with it. Sad to say but cheap food is also poor quality food. the poor quality food that theses poor people buy are things like “Mcmeal” which is full of oil and fats. they just want to save money they don’t want a healthy lifestyle.

    • Do you feel that it is outrageous for other taxes to exist. Take taxes on tobacco. This is something that is clearly harmful. There are warning labels on tobacco products, yet there is an abundance of use. Part of the money from tobacco taxation goes on to fund programs like SCHIP to provide health insurance to families with children. The use of tobacco products obviously increases illnesses like cancer that create a heavy burden on our healthcare infrastructure. These tobacco taxes are meant to offset this as well as alter behavior. As we see, the warning labels combined with the high cost of tobacco products does very little to alter consumer behavior. You indicate that it is “outrageous” to levy taxes on sugary foods but also believe that increased costs could push people towards healthier food items that can compete at cost parity. How do you feel that the cost of unhealthy food could be increased if not by taxation or by removal of subsidies on specific crop types that create an influx of products like corn syrup into the consumer market? In the case of food, there are alternative foods — the healthier ones. While the alternative to tobacco products is the cessation of use. So maybe having a clear alternative is enough to alter consumer behavior upon cost parity?

      • i totally agree with you professor but i think once one brand of sodas prices go up, all the other beverages prices go up which makes the people not buy any thing with high prices and it also creates inflation. so i think there should be no tax on food and beverages at all. as of tobacco i think there should more tax and the prices should go even more up because that’s something that harms your body and can kill you any time.

  8. Christopher Ramsaroop
    Professor Seto
    Assignment 2

    I honestly think that Dr. Lustig made some very important points about how Sugars can can have an effect to many people in so many different ways. I do agree with his statements that too much sugar is a major source of disease risk in this country. Even if it was fructose (which is found in fruits) can be very harmful if you take too much of it. The sugar you intake can damage the Liver just like how Alcohol can. According to the Podcast, the government hides what sugar you’re actually intaking when you buy products at the supermarket. They have the sugars on the food labels but you’re not allowed to know which sugar is actually on the label out of the 6 because the Government wanted the Food industry to combine the sugars together. I agree that we should know what’s being put into our food. All food isn’t bad even if it’s sugary ones which I agree with Lustig, it’s what we do with it if we keep taking it in a short period of time which is the problem. The Reward center of the Brain is affected by Sugar. So once we eat sugar we’ll be addicted to it just like a Drug. The main goal Dr. Lustig is to have a healthy liver so that the pancreas doesn’t need to make insulin in order for the liver to do its job properly. So we won’t have any more diseases.

    I feel that having excessive amounts of sugar products is deleterious to our wellbeing but to a certain extent. There are some athletes that actually need a lot of sugar in order for them to go out and have the energy to complete their tasks and burn the sugar. But on the other hand, there are just people who just eat so much food and have so much sugar intake and don’t do anything to get rid of it so it turns to fat when it’s not used and causes much more metabolic disorders such as Diabetes and Obesity. The food industry doesn’t do anything about it either. They do whatever they want just so they can get the money (even if it means harming the people). They can add as much sugar as they can to products and as longs as it doesn’t taste bad, they’ll throw it at the world. Since they also keep secrets from us using the food labels we’re literally falling into their hands. Even if the product were to be good for us it would still harm us one way or another.

    I feel that taxation can be a good thing as well as not. For one thing, there’s been taxes on Tobacco and all other kinds of drugs and I still see people smoking every single day. The government can raise the taxes but people still would be able to buy the product regardless the price. Increasing the Tax on these Sugar Products would just result in the Government getting more money while we lose ours. Taxation can as well be a good thing at least. Sooner or later we won’t be able to afford the Products since it’ll be too expensive for us to buy and probably people would start buying more healthier products since it’ll be cheaper.

    An alternative can be that the Parents need to be able to communicate to their young children or at least feed them right until they’re a certain age in order for them to learn the consequences of eating too much sugar. They can be able to feed the children some sugar but it would only be after the child accomplished something. The Government should also be telling us to use the money we get from them and put it to good use such as buying Healthy Products. The T.V’s shouldn’t lie to us either saying false advertisements on Products that are “supposedly” good for us but really aren’t. The government should make Healthy T.V Advertisements and show us how bad eating so much Foods that contain a lot of Sugar is for us just like how they make the Effects of Smoking.

    I feel that Healthy food doesn’t come from a can. Canned goods aren’t really that good for us because the Food Companies add specific things to the products in order for it to not Spoil and it can cost more. Healthy food is what is Freshly grown in Farms/Fields that are actually brought to the Supermarkets as is and taken care of and is actually cheaper. Things can be added to the foods in order to make it last a lifetime. Take Mc.Donalds for instance. In the Movie “Super Size Me” it compares Mc.Donald’s Burgers/Fries to Regular Homemade Burger/Fries. The Homemade fries and burger expired after a few days but the Mc.Donalds one lasted for Months. This shows how much chemicals were used in order for it to Stay Fresh.

    A Normal Calorie Diet is 2,000 Calories a Day. In any fast food place. you’ll break the 2,000 Calorie intake in a matter of just one visit in the day. Mc.Donald’s is an example of that. The Big Mac alone is just 540 Calories. that’s already a Quarter of your Calories needed in order to have a Good Diet. On top of that you have any size Fries or Drink and it’ll add on. Perhaps just one meal at Mc.Donald’s and you’ll have over 2,000 calories already in you. Even if you get just a Salad in Mc.Donald’s you won’t want to eat it plain so you get Chicken with it as well as a Salad Dressing. that’s 170 Calories JUST for the Salad Dressing (Depending which you get) and depending up to the Chicken it’s already between 140-450 Calories)

    A Balanced Meal is basically one that Meets the 2,000 Calorie mark but it lasts you the whole day, unlike the Mc.Meal which reaches it in one sitting. Breakfast is probably the best time to eat the most calories since you need the energy to process things in your head and get through the day with little to no fatigue. Lunch and Dinner is probably where you even out the Servings to meet that 2,000 calorie mark. The thing is, it’ll have to be healthy items such as Fish, Chicken, Vegetables, Some Carbs with Pasta or Rice. As long as you reach the 2,000 calorie range the Nutritional way, it’s Healthy.

  9. Ashley T.
    Prof. Seto
    Bio1101-7900
    Extra-Credit #2

    Within the last few years there has definitely been more attention on the issue of whether or not high fructose corn syrup is to blame for the health issues that are of major concern today which includes obesity. Dr. Lustig has brought up some interesting takes on the topic with his view on how added sugar in beverages and foods is contributing to the health problems that have been on the rise. The Science Daily article on the other hand takes on a different point from the one Dr. Lustig makes. The article is essentially talking about how high fructose corn syrup should not be blamed for weight gain because there is no hard evidence or there is lack of sufficient evidence that would support this. Having read and listened to both views, I’m leaning a bit more towards Dr. Lustig’s argument because he made some solid points although the Science Daily article did manage to bring up some decent points.
    When listening to the NPR podcast I was really shocked to hear that the average American consumes 57 gallons of soda a year. I learned a lot from listening to the podcast. I would have never known that extra added sugar like fructose could be toxic just like alcohol and how consuming plenty of fiber could help with your liver’s sugar absorption. Listening to this podcast has made me a believer that these added sugars do play a role in metabolic syndromes such as hyper insulin anemia, obesity, hypertension, type II diabetes, fatty liver disease,etc. It’s insane how the FDA allows for these companies to group all the sugars together instead of having them mention the specific sugar that is used in the food or beverage.
    However, the Science Daily article describes a whole other view. The article is saying that fructose shouldn’t be held at fault just yet for excess weight gain. In the article they mention how there were some trials conducted where people were divided into two groups one group which would eat only pure fructose carbohydrates and the other which ate non-fructose carbohydrates. The result was that the fructose group did not gain any weight. Nonetheless as Dr. Lustig mentioned in the NPR podcast; normal weight people could still have metabolic syndrome problems. So as far as the results go just because they did not gain weight still doesn’t mean that they won’t have any face any future problems with illnesses related to added sugar consumption. The article did also bring up another study in which the results were just the opposite and those who did consume fructose as part of their daily diet actually gained weight compared to those who did not.
    Dr. John Sievenpiper says that the issue of overweight or obesity has to do with overconsumption of calories in general and not just the overconsumption of fructose. The studies that were done with the participants used free crystalline fructose and not high fructose corn syrup which is the type of fructose that has been mainly held responsible for the rise in the obesity epidemic.
    Dr. Lustig proposed a possible solution that would help reduce the consumption of sodas which contain a huge amount of added sugars. His proposition was to have a soda tax implemented. It sounds pretty good ideally because the purpose would be to try and discourage people from purchasing and consuming these sugar packed beverages, but realistically it seems kind of impossible. There would be too many people against the implementation of this tax and it doesn’t look plausible. I do however feel like Dr. Lustig’s idea about these food and beverage companies labeling the ingredients better and by that I mean them being more specific with what kinds of sugar(s) are in the food or beverage.
    I’m not exactly sure how I feel about food subsidies, but I know that an abundance of low cost food has definitely made some contribution to the rise in obesity and other related health issues. Fast food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King offer meals for extremely low prices which would obviously draw in people. This is especially true in low-income areas where people might not have the resources to be able to afford or don’t have the accessibility to fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables that have the essential things in maintaining a healthy balanced diet like fiber. This makes them turn to what foods they can afford which might not be the healthiest with all the unnatural harmful processed ingredients loaded in added sugar that go into making these “convenient meals”, but it is ultimately what they can afford and what is easiest for them access.

  10. Fitzpatrick Phillips
    Professor: Jseto
    Assignment 2

    After listening to the arguments towards sugary products that have added sugar ontop of them, on both sides, I believe Dr. Robert Lustig is more in the right. Adding sugar ontop of already sugary products, namely the “danger” sugar that is fructose, it causes the liver to work harder than it naturally should and, in combination with fats, can lead to multiple diseases as well as obesity. He claims that there should be a tax on these abnormally sugary products as a form of production of the general consumer. This makes complete sense and is something that should be considered.

    An excessive amount of sugary products is something that has plagued America, especially it’s youth, for many years. From soda, to candy, to cookies to cupcakes and gum, there is added sugar in all directions one can turn in a super market. Since a lot of the unhealthy food is cheap, its easy for one to stock up and eat several of these foods in a single sitting, multiple times a day. This will all accumulate over time leading to problems in the body. It is definitely contributing to diseases like diabetes and such.

    Unfortunately, something as simple as taxation wont be nearly enough. As mentioned in the podcast, at first, nobody thought $12 for a pack of cigarettes would fly but they’re still flying off the shelves. If anything, taxation would just hurt the consumer in the process In having more expenses to deal with. It is a good idea, but not an idea that would have much effect in the long run. McDonalds, Burgerking and other fast food restaurants raise their prices by the month and that only encourages people to buying their products.

    Instead of taxing soda, candy and other stuff, or rather, “on-top” of taxing them, there should be a clear distinction of which types of sugar go into the processed food. There is no current distinction as sugar is all lumped together as one entity. Included with this idea is the idea of education. I honestly had no idea about any of this until I read the articles and listened to the podcast. I plan to watch my sugar intake even more now – imagine the effect on younger children. I’m sure they really won’t care, but providing simple explanations to people of all ages would definitely help. All of these efforts combined would definitely make a difference.

    The comparison of unhealthy foods being inexpensive and the healthy foods being expensive is something I’ve been grumbling about for many years. Its ridiculous but understandable from a business point of view. Cheaper ingredients that simply taste good will fly off the shelves while more healthy and “less-good tasting” foods will simply sit there and this is something that will continue to go on as long as the prices are kept as they are. For example, look at how much food you get when you order a #1 at McDonalds. You get a BigMac, Large Fries and a Large Soda all for around $6. To get the same amount of food at, say, Subway, you would have to shell out nearly $8.

    Dr. Robert Lustig’s arguments should definitely be taken to consideration. If his ideas of taxation seem unreasonable, others should be working with him in hopes to make America and the rest of the world a healthier and more educated – as America exports many of its processed foods to the rest of the world.

  11. My opinion on the debate on fructose, remain strong. I agree with Dr.Sievenpiper in the Science Daily when he said, fructose may not be to blame for obesity. It may just be calories from any food source. “Overconsumption is the issue.” personally I feel that overconsumption of any food over time is bad for the body. Dr. Lustig on the podcast also focuses on the consumption of the food, what we eat, the amount and how we eat it, and I agree with that. I also agree with the Science Daily article about not having enough studies done. Dr. Lustig also mentions about not enough education for the public to understand the amount of sugar in all food.
    I do feel that having excessive amounts of sugary and other products will have harmful affect towards my well being. I don’t think taxation will make a big difference in the habits of consumers, that will effectively reduce obesity. I don’t agree with Dr.Lustig idea about “regulate soda” it will not solve the problem. We should work on helping the consumer realize how much sugar is in the product they consume, educate the public, that is the alternative to taxation. Low cost food is usually very low in nutrients. It is hard for people to keep a healthy diet because high quality foods are costly. It is easy for someone to walk into a store and buy a bottle soda and a bag of chips, it is quick and easy because it easily available.
    In conclusion I deeply feel that they need to put better labels on all the products they sell. We as consumers need to educate ourselves about sugar in our foods. For me it seems that its all about the packaging and selling and making money, for the food industry.

  12. Marcela Ortiz
    Professor J. Seto

    After reading the article, Carbs are evil? and listening to the podcast I couldn’t agree more with Dr. Lustig. His mission to reduce the intake of processed food and soda, all stem from the fact that Americans are on a very short road to disaster. Dr. Lustig is suggesting that the abundance of sugar is so great, it is too easily consumed. As Americans we are now averaging in 57 gallons of soda a year. That equals 600 cans of soda, only half sugar free. Sugar being so hard on the liver, eventually effects the levels of insulin in your body. High insulin levels cause disease such as heart disease, fatty disease, type 2 diabetes and much more. The only way to put these diseases in reverse is to reduce intake. However, this isn’t easy to do. From personal experience, I have two cousins, Michael and Matthew both, of which I can say with the utmost sincerity, are addicted to soda. Their parents head over to BJ’s once a month and stock up on soda, up until recently they would both consume about 20 cans of soda each (maybe more), per day. This would make me sick to my stomach watching them go to the fridge constantly to open up a new can of what i consider pure sugar. It got to the point where they had to have a special garbage placed in each of their rooms solely for the purpose of trashing the soda cans. Sugar can definitely become a dependent and an addiction.

    Along with soda, theres another problem. Processed food, everyday I walk past some of the biggest “drug dealers” of all time. Looking around, McDonalds, Burger King, Popeyes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, Sonic, serving our country food that can eventually cause disease, or even lead to death. A big problem is that the cost for processed food is low, as opposed to an organic meal in a nice restaurant is too expensive for the average American, who happens to also be too lazy to cook a healthy meal. According to Dr. Lustig, sugar and processed food should be seen as toxic and considered abused. Therefore, the question we ask ourselves, how do we reduce the consumption of soda and processed food? Lustig is proposing we start with a “Soda Tax”. Of course this will infuriate people who love soda, but in the end it is for a great cause. However, as much as I’d like to think it would make a great difference there is a chance it wont. Cigarettes are now up to $12.50, and people are still smoking a pack a day. One pack of Newport cigarettes a day, for one month equals $350. That equals $4,200 a year, money that could be put towards a vacation. If soda becomes highly taxed to prevent people from buying it, I would think that it would just cause people to go around the taxes, in an illegal fashion. People can go to a corner deli and ask the clerk for what people call a “loosey”, basically one individual cigarette for about $1.00 each. This way they don’t have to buy the full pack of cigarettes, but they still get their fix. There is chance people will take advantage of this soda tax to make so extra cash on the side, as silly as it may sound it must be considered.

    Even worse than a $12.50 pack of cigarettes is going to McDonald’s and seeing the dollar menu. People are so intrigued to go to fast food places, for various reasons, its a fast meal that will give you a feeling a being full, most are open late unlike restaurants containing healthy food, and since most Americans are not making much money to begin with the food the much cheaper and can be afforded by people even in the poorest class. Give a bum $2.00 and you’ve given him a whole meal at McDonalds. Just like cigarettes, eating processed food everyday will eventually lead to a disease that will in fact kill you. Listening to the podcast, a listener called in and made a point that sounded considerable. The woman stated that instead of a tax, instead of labeling what is in the processed food, there should be more informative labeling. If people picked up a Big Mac box from McDonalds and its described exactly how it was made and what exactly is in a Big Mac, it is safe to say people would give it a second thought. Informative labeling has the chance of turning people off to processed foods, if it is worded correctly. By correct wording, the information on the label should be descriptive and accurate and should not be “sugar coated” in anyway.

    In the podcast we were told that in earlier times natural sugar from fruits was given to us during a specific time of year, which was when they were in season. We would consume as much fruit as we could, to store up sugar which we would use for energy. This was an adaptive trait of humans, because fruit was only harvested at a certain time of year. We would have to plump up in the spring and get ready for winter, when we wouldn’t have sugar available to us. Now sugar is available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    If people were to take it a step further and explore all different kinds of recipes that are in fact affordable and are made to be less time consuming maybe people would consider rolling down the vegetable isle instead of the frozen food section, where there is also an abundance of processed food. Easy to make healthy dishes should be advertised, bill boards, commercials, poster on the train, in colleges, and so forth. Free cooking classes would be beneficial as well, colleges should inform students about healthy cooking they can do in the comfort of their own dorm. There are so many things we could do to advertise healthy food. When I was a senior in high school, my health teacher gave me an experiment. I wasn’t allowed to drink anything but water for a month straight. I gave it a shot, and for 30 days I drank nothing but water, and to this day I can not even drink a full can of soda at times. That is when I buy soda, which these days is a rarity. Coming from an ex -grape soda lover. I can honestly say it changed me and my diet, I have thanked that teacher on numerous occasions.

  13. You can’t force someone to be healthy If they don’t want to help them self first. Dr. Robert Lustig made some very interesting points about sugar, the risk and consequences of sugar how It affects the liver, not just the liver itself but the body as a whole. Sugar affects the liver which can be very unhealthy. It can cause diabetes, heart disease, obesity etc. It causes energy balance problems at the liver and If mitochondria gets overloaded it converts to liver fat, thats when you get sick.
    I don’t think taxation will make a big difference being that there was a taxation in NY State already on cigarettes. Thousands of people still smoke and are dying everyday. People are going to still continue to buy sugary foods even If the government put a tax on it. It may reduce the cost a little but not as much as the government may think. Maybe they should ban school vending machines, which will help the obesity rate for young children. Or even advertise more of what sugary goods does to the body. The taxing sugary goods is basically giving the government more money because people are still going to purchase these goods. Banning vending machines, advertising what fructose sugar does to the liver, developing programs to teach young children the risk of obesity can be sue alternatives to taxation. Dr Lusting argues that too much sugar glucose, fructose and disaccharide sucrose is the major source of disease risk in this country and it all stems to obesity. He explained how fructose (added sugar) creates a toxic side affect in our liver driving chronic metabolic diseases. To be honest I am not a healthy eater myself. I think that there are many targets to unhealthy foods, Mc Donald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King. You can find most of these franchises any where you walk to or drive to. The abundance of low-cost food is a one complete reason that causes all these types of diseases. Dr. Lusting made some interesting points and people should take them into consideration. We can’t make the health rate decline unless people start taking action to better them self.

  14. Daozhong Zhang
    Section: 7900
    Professor J. Seto
    Assignment #2
    After reading this article “Crab are evil?”, I would not agree with Dr. Lustig’s points because eating too many sugar often causes high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. Dr. Lustig indicates that sugar is not equal to fat. I believe that eating too many sugary beverage is unhealthy choicem because people should have a healthier choice to avoid obesity and diabetes. The reason people making unhealthy choices on their food are because of the expenses or cost of the foods. Those unhealthy choices are especially seen in many area of low-income neighborhoods/ families.
    I think eating too many sugary beverage are the most disccussed problem in this society. Therefore, it led to all kinds of diseases. According to the article “No Food Stamps for Sodas” by Thomas Farley, NYC health commissioner, New York Times 10/7/10 i had read in my english class, the author indicates that America provided food stamps for people to buy food since 1964, but the government banned all kins of sugary beverage and other unhealthy food. Such as soda cigarettes, beer, wine, liquor sodas. This food stamps was provided to the poor families or the people in need of food. The government also wants to keep people healthy.
    I think increase the cost of sugary beverage sold or taxation will reduce the chance of getting diseases in this society. Most of people buying sugary food are because these foods are cheap. Junk food is the major problem that causes of people’s healthy problem, this warning is especially for teenagers in America. I disagreed with Dr. Lustig, but the government should also focus on nutrition and exercise program for its citizens. Eating unhealthy is one problem, neither without exercise is another problem in people’s lives.
    Another thing about the food subsidies are more than 60% of people that eats a lot of sugary beverages. therfore, most of the people end up with obesity, diabetes, and other kinds of diseases. To be able to eat healthy in daily life, you have to limit lots of sugary food. Such as soda, junk food, cakes, snd other sugary beverages.

  15. R. Calvente
    Professor J. Seto

    After listening to the podcast and reading the article “Carbs are Evil?” I definitely do agree with Dr. Robert Lustig. It is not the sugar that is going to kill us slowly it is the amount of sugar we intake in every serving of food. I think his idea of trying to figure out how we could decrease the amount of sugar we take in when we eat proccessed food or drink soda is a very smart one. Dr. Lustig made made several points to make his readers/listeners aware of the harm that sugar can do to your body. He mentioned diabetes, heart disesase, obesity and he even went as far to explain of the work and abuse your liver goes through just to keep up with lets say the sugar in your body. While knowing that this was a serious topic i never took the time to think about how serious it really is. We as people really need to start taking better care or ourselves. Do I think having excessive amounts of sugar affect my well being? Yes I do! Sugar is sugar no matter what way or form you put it. Could it have a positive affect on my life? Yes it can when eating fruits, but the amount of sugar you take in could be very harmful for your body as i discussed before. The lady that called in on the podcast made a very good point that labels should be bigger and show exactly how much added sugar and calories are being added when food is proecessed.

    But once again we must remember that factories that process food are a business and at the end of the day they want their money. They will add as much sugar or whatever else is bad for you to make the food taste better so it sells. Its your choice if your going to fall into their trap or think smart.

    I dont think taxation will make a difference in the habits of consumers because if they cant get the “best thing” they will go for the next thing under it. I say this because lets say companies raise the prices and tax on name brand sodas, such as sprite, pepsi, coke ect..people who go shopping will still buy soda, they will just go for what is not name brand but it said to taste like the original. And before you know it when your paying and you see how much your “cheap soda” is you’ll realize that your paying what you would usually pay for your lets say sprite. So at the end of the day it would be a win win situation still. The business will get their money and the customer leaves happy. And who knows the cheap soda probably would contain the same amount if not more sugar than the expensive one. So no i do not think taxing would make any difference at all. Another example is cigarettes. They raised the price on cigarettes and yet people still buy them so it was a waste.

    Trying to raise more awarness of how harmful the amount of sugar in your diet is to your health would be more effective than trying to just raise taxes on items. People need to be more educated on their decisions and how it could help them in the long run. Schools should try and decrease the amount of soda and candy they sell to students and instead offer more health classes so we can better understand what we are doing to our bodies.

    In comparison of healthy foods vs. low cost food, its only natural that anyone would go with whats cheaper. Everyone is trying to save money where they can. But i think if people really took the time to see what was going into the low cost food they would have a change of heart. its easier to go to the grocerry store and run to the freezer section and get a bunch of things for cheap that doesnt require alot of work to prepare. Whereas going into the vegetable section and actually having to take the time out to pick out the ones that ripe and require more maintenance. People are just lazy and often want to be in and out as quick as they can. Going to mcdonalds you could have your food ready for you in about 5-7 minutes, going to the grocery store it would take you atleast an hour to get your stuff ready and thats what people fear.

    In conclusion i think more awareness should be raised on what sugar intake can do to your body. I also think better labels for food should be made so you know EXACTLY what you are getting for your dollar.

  16. Jose Paredes
    Section:7904
    Bio1101

    The Science Daily article seems to be incomplete. Some facts are stated in the experiment but they neglect the concrete data to either accept what is being said in the article. On the other hand, Dr Lustig talks about the abundance of sugar being bad for a person. As we learned in class, sugars are usually used for immediate energy .If not used it would be turned into glycogen and/or fat. What I believe that the entire article forgot to mention is that sugar is not the only culprit.

    Calories usually take account to what the person intakes. Ideally, one must eat 2000 kcal to maintain the weight and functions of the body in homeostasis throughout the body. Too much of one thing is not good for you. For example if one were to eat food that contain too much sodium, it would probably lead them to get hypertension. Sugar does play a part but it is a minuet piece of the puzzle.

    Excessive amounts of sugar while damage your teeth and will help you gain some weight. Childhood obesity is on the rise in the 21st century. This is primarily to an increase of sugary products in the market as well as other things. With obesity, you get a million other problems like diabetes, hyper/hypotension, etc. One should take a small amount of sugar per day.

    Taxation will have no to little influence on consumers. No, unfortunately the best example for this would be cigarettes. Despite being $10 a pack, people still buy it because “they need it”. Raising price might deter some but eventually they will be back.
    A possible solution would be to tax the manufacturers and make strict guidelines for what can be produced for consumption. With this people would somewhat be forced to eat what ever was produced by these companies.

    Low cost food would taste good because of the sugar and fat within them but it is usually deleterious to ones health. In my household, we usually get things from the farmers market and usually spend around $80 worth of products. If you do the comparison, you’ll see that the low-cost dollar menu burger will save you money but will slowly kill you. That burger is probably loaded with so many calories and usually a person has to have more than one burger. I remember being a situation where I had about $3 dollar to survive for the week. I choose the Ramen noodle soup that was highly loaded with sodium. During harsh times, people usually have to choose between rent or food (as you can tell, that week wasn’t my greatest).

  17. Zarif Hampton
    Section:7904
    Professor: J.Seto

    After listening to Dr. Robert Lusting and reading the article “Carbs are Evil” I must agree with him. It’s not the sugar it self that’s bad it’s the amount we consume daily that’s harmful to our body and can lead to things like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and other common diseases.
    Yes, i agree that having excessive amounts of sugary products is deleterious towards our well-being when not taking in moderation. But these company will add more sugar to their product so it will taste better thus increasing their sell. So in that case it’s best u prepare your own food so u dont have to worrry about how much sugar is in your food because you already know.
    No i dont because just like they tax cigarette it still didn’t change the number of smoker so i dont think it going to change the number of food consumer.
    I think people should be made more of aware of the harm sugar can do instead of just a list of calories thats in the food and if a child is on the verge of obesity a doctor should implent some form of diet.
    I think that people should shop more at places like farmer markets so they can eat more fresh vegetable and fruit so they dont have to worry about these issue anymore. But now and days the average person go for the low cost food just because its cheaper regardless the risk if people knew how serios it was the wouldn’t mind spending a few extra dollars.Another reason is the fact that people just get what they can afford. For the people who eat fast food they eat it because it faster and better than cooking for there self. It not that they dont want a balanced meal it just that they might not have the time to make one.

  18. I believe Dr. Robert Lustig’s article gave a lot to talk about and also a lot to think about. When we take in these massive amounts of sugar on a daily basis we don’t think about these types of things. I think we try to get the sugars we need but when we do we don’t put them to good use. Not putting them to good use can ultimately lead to all these health problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
    In the “Science Daily” it states that “Fructose may not be the blame foe obesity, it may just be calories from any food source. Overconsumption is the issue.” I half way agree with this because people tend to overeat without even noticing. This means that more sugar is added to our diet, whereas if people didn’t overeat they might be consuming only the sugars they actually need and will be able to put them to good use. The study “Science Daily” made is not a solid study, I think, because not only are people’s metabolism different but also people don’t necessarily have to eat the same foods to gain or lose weight. Different types of foods can also contribute to this. Some foods have more fructose than others, some might taste as though they do have the same types of fructose and can be completely different types of food, but one might just have more fructose than the other.
    I don’t think targeting only “soda tax” would actually solve or change anything completely. I think labels should say what exact kinds of sugars a product contains. Also, instead of “soda tax” there should just be a tax on unhealthy food altogether. In doing this unhealthy food would become more expensive but we would not only be aware of how unhealthy it is but we wouldn’t want to buy it anymore. Consumers wouldn’t want to buy expensive foods because it is expensive not because it is unhealthy. Unhealthy foods would create a policy of “eat at your own risk” because two ways companies have helped is by changing the labels and writing the exact sugars a product contain and raising prices. The government should also limit the amount of unhealthy foods people who receive food stamps can consume. It should mostly provide healthy foods. It seems the government is giving money to people to help them become obese and then the government itself wants to complain as to why the percent rate of obesity in America is increasing. Also, doctors who feel a patient is obese or on the verge of becoming obese should refer the patient to a nutritionist. High quality food which considered “healthy” because of its freshness and containing less amounts of sugar should be cheaper. The quality of low costing food means having abundant amounts of sugar and cheaper. I think it should be the other way around. Healthy foods should be cheaper to “promote” being healthy. If unhealthy food was to be expensive, people wouldn’t buy it as much as would have no choice but to get healthy.
    We can’t really blame obesity or any other type of health problems on unhealthy sugar products completely because as consumers, we should care more about what we eat. Although, Dr. Lustig did state that there is more sugar then the actual label states, it shouldn’t matter because if we had a balanced diet it should balance itself out. These sugars overtime can increase ultimately and be deleterious to our over-all wellbeing. At first one may not notice these sugars being stored as fats until we get “muffin tops” by the time we get that we would be lazy and not put these sugar which turn into fats into good use. Not putting them to good use like exercising or getting on a healthy diet can lead to obesity then by this time is when one realizes the want to lose weight but by then it would become even harder a might take a while to get on a healthy track again. So as consumers one must also take the blame and not put it completely on the products we consume.

  19. Weight is something really important in our lives. Many of us
    don’t realize how important it is. Weight doesn’t only contribute
    carbohydrate it also consists in many other things such as the sugar
    you consume. Having too much sugar is not bad, but what makes it seem
    bad is when our body doesn’t release the sugar by energy. If all the
    sugar accumulates in your body it becomes fat. In which many problems
    can appear, such as obesity and diabetes. These chronic diseases can
    be prevented by having the knowledge of a healthy daily basis. Sugar
    (glucose), fructose and the disaccharide sucrose are the major source
    of diseases risk in the USA. All of this can be prevented if our
    society helps each other and business start selling more nutritionist
    food instead of JUNK food. The food prices in the United States are
    very low yes, but I have observed that junk foods are very low prices
    and healthy foods are more expensive especially when it comes to
    ORGANIC foods. This maybe another reason for obesity and chronic
    diseases, people don’t want to spend so much money on healthy food so,
    they rather eat the cheaper which are the junk food. But also many
    people would rather spend money on expensive clothing and sneakers
    than buying on healthy food. I mean why material is more important
    than food, our lives always goes first no matter what.
    I believe that having excessive amount of sugary products is not
    good for our well-being. In the article “Carbs are Evil”, Dr. Robert
    argues that is a fruit has fructose. Fructose is the pentose sugar
    that is found in nature. I believe that fruit fructose is healthier
    sugar than the food containing excessive amount of sugars. Fruits
    contain vitamins and can help us in different ways. If a person has a
    healthy daily food containing fructose and exercising at least three
    times a week, they are good to go. In order to prevent sugar to become
    fat, our bodies have to burn the sugar out.
    Taxation has nothing to do with obesity. Having more tax on
    soda and sugary would not stop consumers to buy it. Increasing
    cigarettes has not stop smokers from smoking, and now there are places
    were only smokers can go in and smoke making them more special in my
    opinion. Drugs are expensive and have not stop drugs user from buying
    it, even thou is illegal to use and sell. Taxation would not be a good
    idea in my opinion, because it is like an addition, when you need it
    you must get it. I have friends that when they are thirsty instead of
    buying a bottle of water they buy a can of soda. Sometimes they buy
    another one because, in realty soda don’t take your thirst out it make
    you more thirsty.
    I think that instead of having more tax on sodas and sugary food,
    the government should make new rules. Food stamp is the main reason
    for people to buy soda, because they are getting it for free. Food
    stamps were made to buy food no junk food. So, junk food should not be
    used for food stamps. The soda company should reduce the sugar at
    least 70% from each bottle, liter or cans. Having poster picture of
    how junk food becomes fat in our body in every place may help so the
    consumer have the knowledge what is making them fat and to feel nasty.
    Having more commercials on how sugary food can lead you on chronic
    disease. The government should have more nutritionist doctors out
    there for free, for people with low income. But most of the entire
    person has to be dedicated and have the knowledge of their body.
    I believe that food subsidies and the quality of low cost food,
    depends on the food. Subsides food is when the government pays farmers
    to manage the supply of agricultural products. The subsidies foods
    are more expensive for the reason that is “fresh” and “natural”. But
    this country is based on money. So, instead of the product being
    natural as growing by nature, the farmers add chemicals so, it can
    grow faster to be able to sell and make double the money. Even thou
    the products are fresh there chemicals are not good for us. I would
    rather eat the subsided food than the low cost food, because at least
    I know is fresh. While the low cost food contains a lot more chemical,
    sodium and more things on it so, the food can last longer.
    A balanced meal consists on proportional amount of the food
    groups. It contains fruits, vegetables, proteins and a very small
    portion of fat. Having a good breakfast can help your metabolism and
    it can help you eat mall healthy meal throughout the day. Mcmeals,
    have all this food group but is still not healthy. With a half of the
    meat on a Mcmeal you would complete the protein and the fat of a day.
    In other words with a Mcmeal you would complete the balance meal of
    maybe two days, while you are skipping breakfast, lunch or dinner.
    After eating a Mcmeal, you would end up hungry again later on, so
    eating again would add up the double of calories. So is better to eat
    a balance meal step by step, so at the same time would be able to burn
    does calories during the day.

  20. Ysamal Acosta
    BIO1101
    SECTION 7900

    Weight is something really important in our lives. Many of us
    don’t realize how important it is. Weight doesn’t only contribute
    carbohydrate it also consists in many other things such as the sugar
    you consume. Having too much sugar is not bad, but what makes it seem
    bad is when our body doesn’t release the sugar by energy. If all the
    sugar accumulates in your body it becomes fat. In which many problems
    can appear, such as obesity and diabetes. These chronic diseases can
    be prevented by having the knowledge of a healthy daily basis. Sugar
    (glucose), fructose and the disaccharide sucrose are the major source
    of diseases risk in the USA. All of this can be prevented if our
    society helps each other and business start selling more nutritionist
    food instead of JUNK food. The food prices in the United States are
    very low yes, but I have observed that junk foods are very low prices
    and healthy foods are more expensive especially when it comes to
    ORGANIC foods. This maybe another reason for obesity and chronic
    diseases, people don’t want to spend so much money on healthy food so,
    they rather eat the cheaper which are the junk food. But also many
    people would rather spend money on expensive clothing and sneakers
    than buying on healthy food. I mean why material is more important
    than food, our lives always goes first no matter what.

    I believe that having excessive amount of sugary products is not
    good for our well-being. In the article “Carbs are Evil”, Dr. Robert
    argues that is a fruit has fructose. Fructose is the pentose sugar
    that is found in nature. I believe that fruit fructose is healthier
    sugar than the food containing excessive amount of sugars. Fruits
    contain vitamins and can help us in different ways. If a person has a
    healthy daily food containing fructose and exercising at least three
    times a week, they are good to go. In order to prevent sugar to become
    fat, our bodies have to burn the sugar out.

    Taxation has nothing to do with obesity. Having more tax on
    soda and sugary would not stop consumers to buy it. Increasing
    cigarettes has not stop smokers from smoking, and now there are places
    were only smokers can go in and smoke making them more special in my
    opinion. Drugs are expensive and have not stop drugs user from buying
    it, even thou is illegal to use and sell. Taxation would not be a good
    idea in my opinion, because it is like an addition, when you need it
    you must get it. I have friends that when they are thirsty instead of
    buying a bottle of water they buy a can of soda. Sometimes they buy
    another one because, in realty soda don’t take your thirst out it make
    you more thirsty.

    I think that instead of having more tax on sodas and sugary food,
    the government should make new rules. Food stamp is the main reason
    for people to buy soda, because they are getting it for free. Food
    stamps were made to buy food no junk food. So, junk food should not be
    used for food stamps. The soda company should reduce the sugar at
    least 70% from each bottle, liter or cans. Having poster picture of
    how junk food becomes fat in our body in every place may help so the
    consumer have the knowledge what is making them fat and to feel nasty.
    Having more commercials on how sugary food can lead you on chronic
    disease. The government should have more nutritionist doctors out
    there for free, for people with low income. But most of the entire
    person has to be dedicated and have the knowledge of their body.

    I believe that food subsidies and the quality of low cost food,
    depends on the food. Subsides food is when the government pays farmers
    to manage the supply of agricultural products. The subsidies foods
    are more expensive for the reason that is “fresh” and “natural”. But
    this country is based on money. So, instead of the product being
    natural as growing by nature, the farmers add chemicals so, it can
    grow faster to be able to sell and make double the money. Even thou
    the products are fresh there chemicals are not good for us. I would
    rather eat the subsided food than the low cost food, because at least
    I know is fresh. While the low cost food contains a lot more chemical,
    sodium and more things on it so, the food can last longer.

    A balanced meal consists on proportional amount of the food
    groups. It contains fruits, vegetables, proteins and a very small
    portion of fat. Having a good breakfast can help your metabolism and
    it can help you eat mall healthy meal throughout the day. Mcmeals,
    have all this food group but is still not healthy. With a half of the
    meat on a Mcmeal you would complete the protein and the fat of a day.
    In other words with a Mcmeal you would complete the balance meal of
    maybe two days, while you are skipping breakfast, lunch or dinner.
    After eating a Mcmeal, you would end up hungry again later on, so
    eating again would add up the double of calories. So is better to eat
    a balance meal step by step, so at the same time would be able to burn
    does calories during the day.

  21. Diaz, Evelyn
    Section 7904

    Dr. Robert Lustig said, “Eat real food”. We should be eating only the food that comes from nature without adding ingredients or taking the original properties of it, so no preservatives, no hormones, no colorants, no sugars added, and the list would continue, and we will have to move to a farm or buy everything organic and be rich. I was not raised in the US and I don’t like to eat what most people eat here. I believe we need carbohydrates, especially for people who like playing sports. The food industry hides some of the ingredients in the food, but even if they don’t hide them consumers would still eat them. We as customers have the right and the responsibility of discerning what we really want to put in our bodies. Dr. Lustig said dietary fiber is really important because it helps to delay the absorption of sugar so the liver has a chance to catch up and the pancreas doesn’t need to create much insulin; this also will help us to clean our system and make the digestion process faster.

    There are some people who go for those extreme diets with no sugars. If I go on such a diet I would surely disappear from the earth. I don’t abuse sugars so I don’t know how this could affect me. When I was a kid I wanted to drink sodas, but I remember my mother saying no many times. I still don’t drink soda, but I am sure it is not only sugars that are harming people. It was scary to hear that an American drinks an average of 57 gallons soda per year (600 cans). I have read that soda can contribute to osteoporosis and many other diseases, but even knowing the consequences of abusing carbohydrates, people wouldn’t stop their bad habits.

    I work in a supermarket, and taxing the soda is not the answer or solution for customers. Many customers with low income around US get food stamps and most of their groceries are unhealthy. Sadly, I see what people eat daily. People know what they should be eating, because they often make excuses for their purchases as if embarrassed of their groceries. Some people buy food with taxes and it doesn’t affect their unhealthy habits. Parents do not have time for cooking for their children, so they search for other options. It is easy for them to buy prepared, processed and frozen foods. I met a woman at the doctor’s office last week who was with her son who was about 300 pounds, and she told me that this was his first visit to the doctor. Customers don’t need to be scientists or nutritionists to know what it is good for their bodies or their future generations. I do not believe obesity is only ignorance about healthy habits; it is also been neglected, and lack of motivation for changes. Most likely, in order to break the cycle of obesity people need to make changes. The woman at the doctor’s office was an irresponsible parent for her son’s situation it seems that he never had exercise, and he had eating disorders.

    At the store I work we have customers that receive food stamps and WIC checks from the government that helps them to get their groceries for free. I asked a customer why she didn’t include more fiber in her child’s diet if she was receiving food for free. I know fiber rich foods are usually more expensive, and her answer was that she doesn’t want to make her child miserable eating fiber. It is not lack of information about what it is good for us, but a lack of effort. The food industry will continue selling us groceries either healthy or unhealthy, but the customers have the right to choose what they want to eat. Government definitely needs to change the food stamps regulations. This will help to reduce a percent of the obese people in the US, and people would be enforced to consume more cereals, dairy, and produce than junk foods.

    Food Industry generates more unhealthy foods, because customers use their freedom wrongly when they are purchasing, and it ends more demanding than the healthy ones. The food industry is capable of informing, and helping customers to start eating better, but I also believe that it would be difficult to change the eating habits of most people since they are used to eat the way they do. Do I really believe that there is a completely solution to eradicate obesity? It is sadly, and the answer it is no, but one nice way to motivate people in eating better it is by exercising, and this is for people who are not in the worst conditions, and also the US Government changing the food stamps regulations to help a part of the population.

  22. In our everyday lives, all human beings deal with weight problems. Whether you are skinny or over weight. A person is always self conscious about their body. Dr.Robert made a strong point abut the amount of sugar in every serving of food that we take everyday. Some people don’t even bother knowing how many calories there is in every food or drink. consuming lots of sugars can lead to different types of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and etc. As mention in the article, “glucose, fructose and the disaccharide sucrose– is the major source of disease risk in this country.” The level of obesity is very high in many countries cause people lack on being on a diet for a better health.

    I think taxation will definitely make a huge difference on the percentage of obesity. A lot of consumers will buy “sugars” way less than what they normally buy. But, that doesn’t mean it will stop them from buying “sugars”. There are plenty of low quality brands. If you was to enter a local discount store you will see plenty of copies of high quality brands products. And these low quality brands might even have more sugars than any original brand product. There are more ways to inform the society about how harmful sugar can be than by adding taxes to sugar.

    A McMeal cannot be compared to any high quality meal because McDonald’s food is not real food. It can cause more damage to your body than a regular high quality burger. For example, you can’t compare a McMeal filet sandwich with a real piece of filet fish.

  23. I do believe that sugar is a problem in the United States. I do believe that a lot of sugar is not a good thing and it’s very unhealthy. It’s unhealthy for kids, adults and seniors. Sugar causes so many problems and people don’t even see. They do not want to see it because they know it’s true. Some people are in denial, just like alcoholics and drug abusers. I agree with the speaker of the interview, because what he is saying is true. When I look at the back of these soda bottles, I see up to 64 grams of sugar, and I automatically put it back on the shelf. That’s way too much sugar. It doesn’t tell me which sugar is in the soda, but for the number to be that high is dangerous.

    I do believe that sugar is unhealthy. Too much of something is never good no matter what it is, including sugar. If I were to have large amounts of sugar every day I would be signing up for diabetes. My pancreas would not be able to process all of the sugar I am consuming. Additionally, I would feel rather overwhelmed. Take “5 Hour Energy” for example. Why do you think it’s called 5 Hour Energy? It has enough sugar in that one little bottle to last you about 5 hours. Who would want to buy that? The same thing applies to Red Bull, too many Red Bulls can kill you.

    Taxation would not make a difference. People will still buy all these sodas and snacks. The same way people in NYC are paying about twelve to thirteen dollars for a pack of cigarettes. To us non-smokers it makes no sense, but to them there is nothing wrong with it. That is the same way obese or regular people see sugar. They don’t see anything wrong with it. They will buy it no matter what the price. Some of their bodies are so immune to it, it’s like a drug.

    An alternative that they can use besides taxation is making a commercial like the tobacco commercials. Sometimes these commercials are so harsh you have to change the channel. Show these people what a lot of sugar does to the liver and pancreas using pictures. Even if that gets the point across we can request to reduce the sugar content of these sodas.

    I believe that the consumption of low cost food is too easy. The United States isn’t strict enough on rules like that. All the United States cares about is money. As long as can make a profit off of it, is will be sold. The United States does not really care about its people. If we did, the rate of obesity wouldn’t be as high as it is. The sad part is there are some kids out there who haven’t started their “real lives yet” and weigh almost 200 pounds. In McDonald’s, a meal would cost about five to eight dollars. The whole meal includes a drink, fries and a sandwich or side order. The whole meal is about 2000-3000 calories. That is the recommended daily intake of calories for an entire day. This is in their breakfast menu and lunch menu. So imagine if a person goes there twice a day to eat. That is already twice the recommended daily consumption. Subway sandwiches alone are Five dollars or more. Why is it so expensive? Because it’s healthier. Same situation with organic foods, organic food is not cheap. It is expensive because they would not rather sell you that, they rather shove unhealthy cheap food down your throat. This all may sound horrible, but this is the world and society that we live in.

  24. Ricardo Johnson
    Section: 7904

    You don’t need to be a scientist to figure out that an excess of anything is bad for you. So I agree with Dr. Lustig when he said that “sugar is a luxury (of yesteryear) that should be moderated. It is also quite apparent that sugar similar to alcohol has an addictive feature which used in excessive amounts becomes deleterious towards our well-being because it damages our livers so much that our pancreas have to produce an great amount of insulin to counter act the excess sugar. This results in chronic metabolic disorders such as Diabetes II, and obesity. So is this to say that the cause of obesity is sugar, I think not. As Dr. John Sievenpiper mention” one calorie is simply the same as another, and when we consume too many calories we gain weight “so it’s not what you eat per say but how much you consume. So why do people consume so much sugar? Well as mention in the pod cast, food products in the US are relative cheap and the foods that are overly consume are the ones that are high in fructose sugar which is what give foods such as Sodas that sweet taste. The sad thing about this is that the toxic sugars in these products are not natural sugars but are 6 types of added sugars that we cannot see on the food labels, which are added by food companies for longer shelf life and better taste. Naturally as Dr. Lustig suggest why not propose taxation on these sugary products. Since one of the US major sugar consumption is soda, he advocates for a “Soda tax” to recoup revenue used to combat illnesses brought on by obesity. Which in my opinion is a really good idea but as seen with the raising of the price for a box of cigarette this will deter consumers temporarily. I think all consumers want to maximize their money. So they are not willing to substitute between the taste and cost of the product that is where I think the problem lies. I don’t think it is an obsession with the product so if the soda price is raise Consumers would switch to other products and I think Food Companies would try to capitalize on that opportunity to invent cheaper drinks without sacrificing the taste. I think the best solution is to make people more aware of the dangers of high sugar consumption and what is healthy eating such as a Balance meal rich in not only carbohydrates, but protein, vegetables, gains, fat etc. Consumers have to play their own part by recognizing the error of their ways, you can provide solutions but unless you can tell you need help in the first place your efforts will be wasted.

  25. I personally do not agree with Dr. Robert Lustig, as a society we tend to blame the Food and Drug Administration for a majority of our consumption of; sugars, carbohydrates or calories.
    I do feel that consuming excessive amounts of sugary products is hazardous for an individual’s well being. Human beings tend to consistently indulge on sugars. An abundance of sugar in your body can cause; Diabetes, obesity, and heart disease among many other diseases. It would be effortless for the American society to blame the Food and Drug administration for our massive intake of sugars, however I believe that we have a great deal of responsibility also. It is our obligation to monitor the amount of sugary substances or soluble we consume daily. As a society we should be aware and accustomed to the corruption of our government. We cannot believe the credibility of what they say, or print on the label of a candy bar verses a nutrition bar. The primary objective of the Food and Drug Administration (government) is to make a profit off of the American consumers.
    I do not believe that taxation will make a difference in the habits of American consumers. Many Americans are accustomed to a high sugar percentage in their food, considering that their is sugar in an abundance of food that we consume. Taxation may drive their sugar need to a higher percentage. Obesity is not only driven by a high intake of sugar, it is also affected by exercise. Dr. Lustig stated during his broadcast that our food is “flooded with fructose”. He believes that this extremity of sugar has created a “toxic side affect in our livers”. Lustig may have proved a valid point, however he is putting an excessive blame on the FDA. I believe that individuals should take 60 percent responsibility for their food intake, it is our right to practice a healthy life style which includes personally regulating your; sugar, carbs and calorie intake. The most significant step of all is exercising.
    I believe that communities can start their own programs to administer the proper facts needed of their food intake. As a society we should take a stand against the government, and become responsible and aware of our consumptions. Blaming the FDA, as Dr. Lustig is doing does not benefit our health. We have found out the truth, however the FDA will not cease their decisions to purposely add extra sugar(s) to our food.
    I believe that low cost foods are have the same nutrition or harmful toxicity as high cost foods. Individuals pay higher prices for the brands imprinted on their food. Growing up I was taught to be a “smart shopper”, paying a higher price does not mean you are receiving “better nutrition”. I believe that educating children with nutrition classes are significant. From junior high to high school, health classes were given, for a portion of the semester I had to monitor on my sugar intake also the amount of exercise I performed. Taking these classes allowed me to become a healthier person because I was aware of food I ate that hindered my health.
    In my opinion a balanced meal includes, an equal amount of nutrition from all elements of the food pyramid. I believe that Dr.Lustig is focused on how harmful sugar is, he is not focusing on the fact that we need sugar to survive. He is scaring individuals into believing that no form of sugar is beneficial for you.

    • I disagree with your assertion of the role of the FDA. You state that their role is to make a profit. The FDA is a regulatory body in the government. They are also responsible for making recommendations about nutrition. You even cited the now out-of-date food pyramid which has been replaced by the food circle. Dr. Lustig’s statements are directed at the regulatory AND the formulation of the “optimal diet” represented by the food circle. While drugs are very clearly regulated by this body, food is less so. Unfortunately, those involved in formulating the food circle are consultants of large food industry companies that have a vested interest in promoting their food products. The food pyramid re-appropriated the amount of grains and legumes. Before the pyramid, there were the 4 food groups that were developed shortly after WWII or so. When we look at how these recommendations have changed over time, it makes you wonder how exactly these changes came about. It becomes muddied when you remember that those who make suggestions do make money from those recommendations. however, they do not aid the government in making profit or necessarily contribute so much to food safety as much as other organizations like USDA do. Perhaps you are over-reading Lustig’s statements. He never said to have a sugar free diet. He promotes moderation and does indicate it is necessary to survive. I also believe you confuse “high cost food” with “high quality food (that coincidentally cost more)”.

  26. Bertha Gonzalez 7900

    In my opinion there is not one specific side to blame for the increasing numbers of obese citizens in the United States. But, it is very possible that the reason why we gain more and more weight is due to the excess calories we consume. Yes, sugar can get stored as fat if not used immediately but that is when the consumption of calories is taken into account. The more we eat and the more excess calories we have in our diets, the more weight we will gain. It might not be based on fructose but on the amounts of calories we consume.

    I feel that having too much sugar in our diets is definitely toxic. But, again, that’s the case with almost everything. Too much fat is also bad for us. We should eat food in moderation. As Dr.Listig explained, sugar can be as damaging to the liver as alcohol. Anything in excess can cause harm to our body. For instance, even though we need vitamin D from the sun, but too much sun exposure can cause skin cancer. This is the same with sugar, we need sugar in our diets, but if we overload our body with sugar we can harm it.

    I think that taxation would reduce obesity to a certain extent because it will only raise the price of the products and people might end up not buying the products. However, people might find other ways of getting the products. They can find alternatives that have the same effect on their bodies. Just like with gas prices, the prices are very high but we still consume it no matter how expensive or how damaging it might be for the environment.

    I think that a better way of promoting a cutting down on sugar on products or the consumers might be to show more graphics contents. There have been many subway advertisements about sugar in sodas. These types of advertisements can aware people of what can happen to their bodies. Also, nutrition labels should be bigger and posted in front of the product box. Making citizens aware about what they are consuming might make them think twice about what they are consuming. There are a number of alternatives to “soda tax” that can be implemented, but there are only a few who have the will to promote them. Many are there just for the money; egocentric society.

    I believe that having a surplus is better than not having enough food. Nevertheless, the quality of food is very important. If we feed ourselves junk, we will be junk. We are what we eat. The fact that we have so many options to buy inexpensive foods makes it very hard for us to eat healthy. There are temptations in every corner. If we eat fresh food like roasted potatoes and grilled chicken breast we will be eating a meal high in nutritional content and low in calories. But, if we look at the fast and inexpensive food like McDonalds meals, in just one meal we could be eating an entire day worth of calories.

  27. Gregory Pierre
    Section: 7904

    It doesn’t take a scientist to know that excess amount of anything isn’t going contribute to your overall health. I agree with Dr. Robert Lustig that people who struggle with obesity should begin to eat natural foods instead of artificial man made foods that contain excess amounts of sugar and other process junk. If fructose is found in fruits, vegetables, and honey than it is unlikely that these certain food groups cause weight gain.

    But yes I do agree that an abundant amount of artificial sugary foods can be detrimental to a persons health putting them at health risk for heart diseases & diabetes. Even regulating fructose can’t significantly change the mentality of the average American diets. This epidemic in particular effects family of low income, because when those household try to meet ends they’re concerns are whats cheap and affordable, and whats cheap and affordable are processed food that contain a lot of calories such as Mc Donald’s and other fast food chains. For example why should I go to the grocery store to buy tomatoes, lettuces, and cumbers to make a salad which is time consuming when I can go to Burger King quickly and go to the drive through and buy a cheeseburger from off the dollar menu saving time and energy. Whatever tastes deliciouses and gives us instant gratification is what consumers want.

    These fast food companies and other food companies care little about the consumers health. Revenue and sales are their number one priority and they do little to inform their customers the risk of eating these foods. With commercials, magazines, and social media website these food companies can now advertise their products faster. An alternative for taxation is what the caller had suggested, labeling the amount of sugar on the front of the product rather than on the side or on the back. If these companies can advertise new food products with bigger letters and other gimmicks than they can label the amount of fructose the consumer will take, but at the end of the day if its going to hurt us finically than it is unlikely we’ll see the government mandate the amount of sugar.

  28. I absolutely agree with Dr. Robert Lustig. People do not realize the amount of sugar that is added into the things we consume. The fact of the matter which he clearly stated is that we consume too much processed foods. Hence the reason why regular food is cheap and organic food is expensive. It costs to stay alive and stay healthy. The opposing arguments didn’t really have much to argue about because the only performed small studies on this matter.

    I also believe that having an excess amount of sugar is very harmful to us. In the case where the mitochondria has to over work, I can only imagine how harmful this can be over time. The fact that he added that consuming sugars can be an addiction is also possible true. People tend to feed their sweet tooth when in need.

    I do believe taxing will help the situation. Why? Just as it did with cigarettes. I personally have many friends that smoke cigarettes and since the prices have gone up so much, they find it hard to keep pulling out money to buy them.

    They can try and educate people more though. Just like they did with commercails on tobacco. They made these really nasty commercials about how smoking tobacco can really cause serious harm to your health. I think people really took that into consideration and the fact that prices went up to high and a lot of people just cut down on it.

    As far as a balanced meal goes, I would say to stick with a nutritional chart or the food pyramid. I myself don’t follow any type of food diets. I strongly believe in eating organic foods though. All these additives and processed foods just kill us faster. It like I said, it cost money to stay healthy and stay alive though.

  29. Yesin Kowshik
    Professor Dr Seto

    These two arguments both present very interesting points. After having read both it I felt troubled because I could not pick a proper side. So I spoke to some friends regarding this topic and these questions. 

    All the friends I surveyed shared my opinion. Having excessive amounts of sugar is deleterious to ones health. As Dr Lustig states in his article “too much sugars –glucose, fructose and the disaccharide sucrose– is the major source of disease risk in this country. It all stems from obesity.” I agree with this statement. Too much of anything is bad. Whether it is good to begin with or not. Because our body repeatedly undergoes homeostasis,   It tries to maintain a certain pH or temperature. But when this homeostasis method is continually buffered, it is disturbed and it cannot do its job properly, in this case resulting in obesity due to too much sugars. 

    As for the matter of taxes, Dr. Lustig states “Food prices in the United States are relatively low,” he is absolutely correct. Because the prices of these foods are so low, people buy and eat in bulk (not to mention the discounts that are available for items purchased in bulk). However, my theory with Dr. Lustig differs because I believe that imposing any taxes on food items, will not only affect people’s diets, it could kill a certain human population. When imposing taxes, the poverty level must be checked for a particular area. If taxes increase the price of food, would it affect the access to the foods. Also, cigarettes and drinking alcohol are both HIGHLY taxed, this has yet to stop smokers from smoking and drinkers from drinking. 

    Some turn arounds I think should be implemented is education. Don’t tax people, if you do they complain, and don’t understand. So the idea and concept is to have them understand; this is bad for you, this is not. Then people understand the reasoning behind it. And with reasoning, comes proper allocation of time, energy, and funding. Which in this case works to out advantage of preventing people from doing what we know is wrong. 

    I believe that you get what you pay for, with limited exceptions. If I am planning on purchasing a television, and I see that in store A they have a particular brand for X amount, and in store B they have a different brand for significantly less, I would be skeptical of the performance of the latter TV. Similarly, I believe that when you are paying less, you cut on the quality (again with limited exceptions).

    As for the high quality balanced meal versus the McMeal, the differences are obvious and need not be repeated. The McMeal would cost a fraction of what the balanced meal costs. This illustrates my previous point well, about pricing, the quality is more simply when you pay more. This is why you see more diseases and obesity in low lying poor communities, as opposed to the thriving rich communities. 

    This is just my take on things, if anyone has any opposing views I will more than gladly be willing to prove my point is correct. 

    -Yesin Kowshik
    Biology
    7900

  30. Juan Calderon 7900
    American food corporations are to blame for the amount of obese people in the United States. They choose money and success over the well being of the population.They constantly market to children instilling bad eating habits for the rest of their lives.
    I don’t believe a “soda tax” will work because Americans have been bred to conform;just look at how successful tobacco taxes are.The obesity rate might lower just a bit in a span of twenty years but it would probably be to late for millions of Americans. The solution is to have the FDA make stricter rules concerning the amount harmful ingredients in our foods.We aren’t in the 1950s, we don’t need such a high amount of preservatives in our food since transportation of food is a lot quicker. The only way obesity rate is going to drop is when the government starts taking action; Unfortunately they are making to much money from these private corporations.They will only stop these corporations when they start losing money.

    Low quality food is cheaper because of the amount of time it lasts unlike healthier organic food. I believe the obesity rate will fall once healthier foods start becoming cheaper because of higher demand. Even then to much healthy food can also be unhealthy. Good eating habits are key.

  31. Both sides of this debate can be supported well with evidence. I’m in favor of what Dr. Robert Lustig talked about. Added sugars is becoming toxic such as alcohol. we are consuming 450 extra calories of added sugars a day! Thats 3150 extra calories a week! Dr. Robert Lustig stated that its not the food thats bad nut what we do to the food. The addition of sugar and the removal of fiber. Our main goal is to keep our liver healthy. When we fail to do this it can lead to many chronic metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. the reason why we consume so many added sugars is because we are not properly informed on product labels. Even with the labels where it says sugars it could be one of the following six glucose, galactose, fructose, maltose, lactose, or sucrose. Food supply is so glutted with fructose. Food industry purposes of pallet ability and shelf life. All this is causing a toxic side effect on our lives.
    Having excessive amounts of sugary products is a great problem in todays society. I dont think that many people realize how big of a problem this is becoming. Most importantly i dont think people know the products they’re buying every time they visit the grocery store. The food industry doesn’t care about ones health their main goal is profit.
    taxation will help to decrease the obesity rate. If products become more expensive a majority of the people will notice the change. Although it doesn’t mean people will stop buying these products. When you like a product it becomes an addiction you have to have it.The products that are cheaper usually have more added sugars which is also a problem because most people buy the cheapest they can find.
    alternatives to taxation could be providing educational efforts. in the podcast it mentions that there are no educational efforts being done. i think all schools should provide nutrition classes. These classes could really help kids understand how important nutrition is and all the dangers and diseases one could get from malnutrition.
    Having a balanced meal meaning having the appropriate portions from each food group is very important when planning your every day meals. choosing fresh products and vegetables is important as well. you dont want to buy poor quality food. Mcmeal never convinces me no matter how healthy they say it is now a days in commercials and everything. if you go to mcdonalds they have the number of calories in each meal. Mcdonalds should be the last option to eat at. its actually cheaper to buy fresh ingredients and cook something fresh.

  32. For those research, sugar is an unnatural substance produced by industrial processes (sugar cane or sugar beets) , which is refining down to pure sucrose, after stripping away all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes and other beneficial nutrients.
    A can of soda contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar, check this links http://www.livestrong.com/article/283136-how-many-teaspoons-of-sugar-are-there-in-a-can-of-coke/.
    I do agree with Dr. Robert Lusting’s opinon, charge for “Soda tax”. If you do want to eat those “Sweet”, then pay for extra tax, because those money will go to support medicaid patient to improve their health, actually those benefit for everyone. I will suggest that try to eat healthy for our body. Such as eating fruits to instead of snacks, creating fitness plan or a personlized nutrition, speak to your doctor or university health center if you are seeing your weight or blood sugar avergae starting to climb.

  33. Yesin Kowshik
    Professor Dr Seto
    May 4, 2012
    Biology 7900

    In my opinion, this was a very interesting research project. Taking a cell from an individual and keeping it alive this long, and leading to advancements in finding a Polio vaccine is amazing. The voices heard in the podcast makes the entire thing seem like a joke.

    As a legal studies major, I am always told about the importance of ethics. I personally believe that ethics is important in any field you practice in, whether you are in the legal field or the medical field. Having been sent to the corpse to obtain more cells without any type of permission is totally unethical. Likewise, taking cells from a biopsy for personal research without consent is similarly unethical.

    I believe that Henrietta’s social status as a woman, at the time, and her racial background contributed to the easy taking of the cells from her body without consent. If you were a woman during Henrietta’s time, you had it bad enough, but when you take her race into account, it put her more lower in social status. This allowed the cells to be taken from her without proper consent.

    It is true that John’s Hopkin’s research did not make any money. However, this is not excuse to not have given the Henrietta’s family a stipend. This is something I strongly disagree with. Even though Hopkin’s aided greatly to the fields of Science and Medicine, he would have received much funding to aid in his research. Some of this money should have gone to the family just as a show of gratitude. Additionally, he gained greatly in fame and popularity within the scientific community. Some of his regards should have gone to the family.

    Moore v. Regents of the University of California is a perfect example of the issue of property rights in one’s own body parts. I believe that it is fair for an individual to receive stipends for their own body parts, however the “California Supreme Court ruled that Moore had no right to any share of the profits realized from the commercialization of anything developed from his discarded body parts.” In this case the body parts were discarded, therefore, the rights were given up. This case is different from the Henrietta’s situation. Henrietta’s was alive and never gave up any of her body parts.

  34. Claudia Franco
    Bio 1101-7900

    I believe that what Dr.Robert Lustig talked about was very interesting. He points out how food industries add extra sugars to our foods, without caring about the health of the consumers. A lot of sugar in our bodies can cause us diseases such as high pleasure, high cholesterol, and obesity. The USDA (The United State Department of Agriculture), regulates the food safety and agricultural concerns; however, there are some industries which do not follow the policies of the USDA. Furthermore, there are food industries which use de-politicize foods which are also bad for the consumer. To much of something is bad, but referring to food it is better to eat an adequate amount of each thing as how the food pyramid points out.

    In my opinion, I believe that having to much sugars in our bodies is bad; however being sedentary is also bad for us. A good health depends on eating well and do exercises. It is terrible to know that the highest population which suffer from obesity all over the world are Americans. This problem is cause by industries such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, which care only about to sell their products; but don they do not care about the healthiness of their consumers. Our children are becoming more “Heavy users” as how McDonald’s points out. All depends about us to control our eating basis. A good way to start eating healthy is to look at the 2000 calorie daily diet basis as how the 2005 food pyramid show us.

    Taxation will not make any difference in the habits of consumers. There are still people who doesn’t care paying more for something that they like to eat. For example energy drinks such as Red Bull, 5 Energy drink, and Monster make their costumers believe that their product are healthy for them which they are not. This kind of beverages contains a lot amount of sugars, people believe that because this beverages makes us feel hipper; with more energy that means that this thing are working; which in the other hand what they are doing is killing us inside. Consumers do not realized at the moment the damage that this beverages are causing them; they realized it when it is already to late to take action on this.

    My opinion regarding food subsidies and the abundance of low cost food is that
    because healthy food cost more than a McMeal, that is one of the reason why people decided to buy food in McDonald’s. How most of the people know organic foods are not cheap, they cost more than a regular McMeal. My suggestion is that if the USDA and the FDA starting to regulate more the amount of calories that companies provides to their products, the amount of obesity in USA will reduced. In conclusion, it all depends on us in what we eat. We are what we eat.

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