Read the following article and complete the attached activity and questions.
Sugar Shocker
WHAT THE SWEET STUFF IS REALLY DOING TO YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR BODY
Drinking a milkshake makes you feel good – really good. Researcher Eric Stice has proof. In his lab at the Oregon Research Institute, he gave chocolate shakes to more than 100 teenagers and then took images of their brains using MRI technology. The result: After teens drank the shakes, the “reward center” of the brain--- the part that floods the body with feel –good chemicals—lit up like a Christmas tree. The more sugar the shakes contained, the more this pleasure center glowed. Turns out, it’s the same brain region activated by highly addictive drugs like cocaine.
The study revealed other evidence that sugar acts like a drug. It showed that kids who typically ate a lot of ice cream had less reward center activation after drinking the shakes than kids who didn’t, suggesting that the more sugar you eat, the more you need to produce those same happy feelings.
Going cold turkey from sugar may even trigger withdrawal. When lab rats are given a lot of sugar and then suddenly deprived of it, their teeth chatter, their paws tremble and some even get aggressive.
So is it really possible to get hooked on the sweet stuff? Health experts warn that sugar addiction is not only a real problem – it’s also a scary health crisis. It can permanently damage your body. “When you consume sugar in high doses, it acts as a toxin in your liver,” says RobertLustig, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.
Here’s why: When you chug down a 20 ounce bottle of soda or demolish a bag of candy, you send a giant load of fructose straight to your liver (fructose is a product of almost every sweetener , including white sugar, honey, and high fructose corn syrup).
Some of the fructose then gets converted to fat, which can accumulate in your liver – a similar physiological process that happens to heavy- drinkers after years of consuming alcohol. “Over the long term, sugar can cause scarring and cirrhosis, a liver disease that never goes away,” says Lustig.
Sure, small amounts of sugar are safe. Trouble is, most people consume dangerously high quantities. Teens take in more than anyone else – we’re talking triple the recommended amount. The World Health Organization suggests no more than 8 teaspoons a day for guys and just 6 teaspoons for girls (slightly more if you’re really active). But most teens blow right past those digits by 8 a.m. with a big bowl of sweetened cereal. By days end, many of you have gobbled down more than 28 teaspoons of sugar. That’s like eating 19 five-pound bags of sugar in a year!
GOOD NEWS:
You can retrain your taste buds. Cut back on sugar and you’ll notice that you need less sweetness to feel satisfied. It only takes about 4 weeks to see a big difference, says Marcia Pelchat, a sensory scientist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
Here’s how:
DUMP LIQUID SWEETS – OR SCALE BACK. If you drink a soda every day, switch to every other day. Dilute a quarter cup of juice with sparkling water and ice.
GO NATURAL. When in doubt, reach for an apple or orange. A whole piece of fruit not only has the intense natural sweetness to nix your cravings, but it also has fiber, which will keep you full and satisfied.
SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE.
Mix half your sugary morning with half unsweetenedo’s. Ditto for flavored yogurt with plain. It will still taste sweet , but you will get 50 percent less sugar.
FIGURE OUT WHAT’S EATING YOU. Are you reaching for sweets because you are bored, stressed or tired? Text your friend, watch a funny video, or take a long walk instead.
Source: Scholastic Choices- September 2014
PA. State Standards 11.3.6 C., 11.3.9 C. and 11.3.9 D.
Continue to next page to complete Sugar Shocker Worksheet!
Intro to Culinary Arts FID Instruction Day 2/12/2016
Name ______Period # ______Score /30
Turn in for credit when completed.
Sugar Shocker Worksheet (2 points each)
1. Find 10 food items in your pantry/closet or refrigerator that you like to eat and list the number of sugar grams in each item. Be sure to include at least one drink.
2. Then convert to teaspoons using the following information. For sugar content divide # grams of sugar by 4 to get teaspoon measurements. For example: 12 grams of sugar divided by 4 equals 3 teaspoons of sugar.
Food itemSugar Grams#teaspoons
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11. How were the teenagers’ brains affected when they drank a milkshake?(1 pt.)
12. This brain region that was activated by sugar is the same brain region activated by: (1 pt.)
A. DrugsB. TurkeyC. Alcohol
13. Can sugar be addictive?(1 pt.)
A. YesB. No
14. The sugar in fruit (fructose) is as harmful as the sugar in candy.(1 pt.)
A. TrueB. False
15. Consuming dangerously high quantities of sugar can result in liver damage.(1 pt.)
A. TrueB. False
16. What is the maximum amount of sugar you should consume daily?(1 pt.)
A. 2-4 TablespoonsB. 6-8 teaspoonsC. 2-4 teaspoons
17. How long does it take to retrain your taste buds when you cut back on sugar?(1 pt.)
A. 2 weeksB. 1monthC. 1 year D. You can’t
18. List 3 ways how you personally,could retrain your taste buds so to decrease your sugar cravings? Be specific ,what could you do?(3 pts.)
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C.