Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction. When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar enters our blood and affects parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a particularly strong effect. In this way, it is in fact an addictive drug, which doctors suggest we all should cut down on.
"It seems like every time I study an illness and search for the first cause, I find my way back to sugar," says scientist Richard Johnson. One-third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure, and up to 347 million adults have diabetes (糖尿病) . Why? "Sugar, we believe is one of the culprits, if not the major reason," says Johnson.
Our bodies are designed to survive on very little sugar. Early humans often had very little food so our bodies learned to be very efficient in storing sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy stored when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once saved us may now be killing us.
So what is the solution? It's: obvious that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today's world, it's extremely difficult to avoid. From breakfast cereals (谷物) to after-dinner desserts, our foods are increasingly filled with it.
But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are replacing sugary desserts with healthier food like fruit. Other schools are growing their own food in gardens, or building facilities like walking tracks so students and others in the community can exercise.
