The effervescence of effete extravagance and effecacious Woo Hoo!

Pick your poison.

Woo Hoo!

A Sugar High!

Did you known drinking soda aka/pop can shorten your life by 12 minutes. Is that all? ….I would have guessed it to be longer.

Anyway.

Opt for sugar water, instead. Water + Sugar= Sugar Water. Some of the most popular:

Sprite, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Fanta, Crush, Root Beer, Barqs too. 7Up. ginger Ale, Sunkist, Pibb. Froot Shoot. Mr. Pibb.

Heads Up.

7 Up

What are the side effects?

Intended or otherwise.

Nutritionally Yum. Yum. Physically Numb. Numb? Hard to tell after the crash.

Bubbles, Bubbles and more bubbles.😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️🤢🤢🤢🤢

Makes my throat itch.

Million dollar industry.

Billion dollar industry.

We mix ‘‘em up, gulp ‘‘em down and when the crash occurs is any body’s guess.Add more sweetness, fruit, squeeze fruit for the buzz, the high, the sugar high.

Okay class!

A pop quiz.

No fair phoning your father, your dad, tu padre, papa.

You are on your own on this.

No fair googling the definition of nutrition at this point.

Best rely on your personal experience.

Of consumption.

Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.😉

Most grams of pop/soda sugar award goes to: Mountain Dew.

In honor of dictionary week.

The other good book.

Heart is a muscle.

Exercise it and you will be ok.

But not if you are weighed down by pounds of sugar. According to the American Heart Association, the average adult (which as a teen, you are not yet) ingests 77 grams of the sweet stuff each day from several different sources, which comes to about 60 pounds of added sugar per year.

60 pounds of added sugar per year.

OMG.

The culprit of the majority of the excess—Sugar in a liquid form comprises about 47% of all our added sugar intake. Soft drinks, aka “Pop” is responsible for 25% of that.(int)

Yum Yum. Numb. Numb.

Why the worry?

Sugar hides. Sometimes in insidious spaces and places. According to the CDC Centers for Disease Control, Americans approximately 130,000,000, of them struggle with diabetes or prediabetes—A health issue of all of our concern.

Really.

Makes the news story about beer a few weeks ago seem like small potatoes.

Which is another sneaky refuge of sugar……More on that later.

Back to the Dew. Mountain Dew has a whopping 77 grams per 20 ounce bottle —that is MORE than 18 teaspoons of added sugar.

🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄😵‍💫

Over the lips, through the gums, look out stomach here it comes!

Keep it up, drinking the stuff, and you’ll be humming and possibly gumming your way to the dentist asap.

Add to the list so called “energy drinks”—Monster (ironic name) Rockstar. Which add caffeine to the mix, and you will be shooting for the stars.

Fake sugar. Artificial. Sweeteners..Contrary to what you may think, NOT good for you.

The list is long.

Of fake ones.

Stevia

Asparteme

Sucralose

Saccharin

Acesulfume K

Xylitol

Alitame

Cyclamate

Dulcin

To name a few.

Why does this matter?

To you.

To me.

To us.

It gives the term “paying it forward” a whole new meaning.

If you cannot pronounce it, probably should not consume it. The problem arises because today’s vice can quickly become tomorrow’s “dog”. Artificial or fake sugars can have unexpected effects on gut and metabolic health, and can promote food cravings and insulin resistance. (wk)

So. ironically. It is better to consume the regular stuff. Called.

Sugar.

But not 18 teaspoons in one sitting🤢🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄😵‍💫

Yum. Yum. Numb. Numb.

You don’t know what you don’t know. And oftentimes the energy it requires to read the fine print is too great. Or is hidden among the disclaimers and ingredients. Or the unpronounceable names:

Sugar is the generic name. For sweet tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. There are simple ones. There are compound ones, complex ones. Simple sugars also called monosaccharides😳, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. (No. Not a character from a bad dinosaur movie). Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double sugars, are molecules made of two bonded monosaccharides😵‍💫. Common examples are sucrose (glucose and fructose), lactose glucose and galactose), and maltose (two molecules of glucose).

In the body, compound sugars are hydrolysis into simple sugars.

Further. Longer chains of sugars, monosaccharides (>2) are not regarded as sugars, and are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. 😳😵‍💫.

🪴🌱🌿🌴🌳🌵🍀☘️🍃

Where oh where is sugar found?

Plants. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants.

Who knew?

The bees.

Honey and fruits are abundant natural sources of simple sugars. Makes sense. Sucrose is especially concentrated in sugarcane and sugar beet, making them ideal. For extraction to make refined sugar.

Best there, than in your mouthful of teeth. (Before too much consumption of the sweetness leads to personal tooth extraction😔) In 2003 WHO reported that “Sugars are undoubtedly the most important dietary factor in the development of caries. AKA/ breakdown, whole in the tooth. Inflammation, tooth loss, infection, abscess.” (wk)

Ouch.

All for having no will power, no “Just say No” to down” a 22 ounces of 18 teaspoons of sugar. Doesn’t sound too worth it to me. But. We don’t know what we don’t know.

Right? Wrong. Simple sugars in food are bacteria’s primary energy source.

You are sugar’s energy source. How do you like them apples (which also have natural sugar)—but have been known to be good teeth cleaners. 😬 Sugar Zap—Your energy level in the form of your sleep/wake cycle, ability to pay attention in class, the ability to focus on the task at hand.

Most recent figures have put world production of the two plant crops at about two billion tonnes. Thank you sugarcane and sugar beet.

We think.

Back to Mountain Dew. Back to Pepsi or Coke.

What to do. What to do.

Moderation.

Everything is best when consumed in moderation. Especially that which crosses the sweet screen of the awesome device held 24/7 in the palm of your hand.

Because even the the WHO may attempt to steer the conversation of sugary benefits and detriments in a particular direction. No compass in the world will help to fix it—after it is too late.

Anything that causes a buzz too soon, probably will cause a buzz too soon. Is not good for the heart. Short term happiness can quickly lead to long term misery.

No. I am not a fun hater.

No. I am not attempting the ultimate buzz kill.

But the next time you reach for sugar water. Maybe think twice. Stop. Read the label. Educate yourself. The dictionary is a wonderful book of knowledge.