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The Sweet Deception: How Sugar Exploits Our Natural Instincts


Recently, I was roaming along with my children in my car. We saw some monkeys in the roadside trees. My kids were fascinated by how the monkeys were finding and eating fruits from the trees and also from the waste bins on the roadside. As we watched, I discussed with my children how human beings lived in jungles and searched for food for millions of years, just like these monkeys. 

After some time, we discovered a mulberry tree and started eating the delicious, sweet, and nutritious mulberries. However, some people who were also on a picnic offered us a cup of dessert from a famous bakery. I tasted the dessert and found it to be far more delicious (because it was extraordinarily sweet). The mulberries that we picked from the tree were far more nutritious than the sugar-loaded dessert, but we found the dessert to be more delicious. 

Human beings have lived as hunters and gatherers in jungles and semi-jungle areas for millions of years. Whether we see it from a religious or scientific (evolutionary) perspective, it is evident that human beings have not lived an urban (unnatural) lifestyle for most of their history. The urban lifestyle is only 50 or 100 years old,  but the natural lifestyle is millions of years old. Human bodies and brains are adapted to a natural lifestyle, where sweet fruits were a rare commodity, and there was no factory-produced sugar.  

Our bodies learned over millions of years that sweet things (like ripe fruits) have high amounts of nutrients. However, the factory-produced sugar is a clear deception to this instinct of liking sweet foods. We find sugar-loaded foods to be delicious because of the instinct (of liking sweet fruits) that we developed over a long period, but these sugary foods are not as nutritious as naturally occurring ripe fruits. In fact, sugary drinks and foods are dangerous for our health.

Therefore, we are being fooled by the sugary junk food. Large corporations are specifically exploiting our instinct for liking sweet foods. Sugary foods are delicious but not necessarily nutritious, and we shouldn't be fooled. 

As we continue to indulge in these sugar-laden treats, it's important to remind ourselves of the deception caused by sugar. We must be aware of the long-term health consequences of consuming excessive amounts of sugar and make conscious decisions to limit our intake.  By doing so, we can maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid falling victim to the sweet deception that sugar presents. So, let's not be misled by our instincts and strive to make better food choices for ourselves and our families.

In the eye-opening DW documentary, "Obesity and corporate greed " the global obesity epidemic and its underlying causes are brought to light. The film explores how the sugar industry, corporate greed, and misinformation have contributed to the alarming rise in obesity and related health problems, revealing the extent to which we are being deceived by our very own instincts. 

The documentary emphasizes how sugar activates our brain's reward system, releasing feel-good chemicals like dopamine, making it hard to resist sugar-laden foods. This natural response has been exploited by the food industry, which profits from selling highly processed, sugar-filled products that are both cheap to produce and addictive. 

One of the most critical issues addressed in the film is the aggressive marketing tactics employed by large corporations, particularly targeting children. These tactics contribute to the formation of unhealthy eating habits from a young age, perpetuating the cycle of obesity and related health problems. As a result, by 2030, it is estimated that half the world will be obese or overweight. 

The film also uncovers the flawed theory that has been promoted by the food industry for decades: the idea that simply exercising more can counteract the negative effects of excessive sugar consumption. In reality, this theory has been debunked by scientific research, which shows that exercise plays a minor role in weight control. 

As we continue to navigate our modern, sugar-filled world, it is crucial to be aware of the sugar tactics employed by the food industry and the impact of sugar on our health. To combat this sweet deception, we must make better food choices for ourselves and our families, focusing on whole, minimally processed foods, and advocating for policies that prioritize public health over corporate profits.  


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