My friends have been buzzing about this BYU devotional  talk that was given by Dr. Benjamin Bikman on July 17, 2018. I posted two years ago about his talk. These are a few highlights from BYU’s student newspaper:

“Bikman said he cringes when he sees people lined up at the drive-thru of popular soda shops at 8 a.m. because he knows the impact that much sugar will have on their bodies. Eating sugar and starches, particularly in large amounts throughout the day, spikes insulin drastically and slows the metabolism, according to Bikman. This contributes greatly to the body’s production of fat.’

“Know the enemy. If what you’re eating comes with a box or bag or has a bar code, it often comes with added sugars,” Bikman said. “My advice is that those trying to kick a sugar habit eat no sugary foods six days of the week, and then one day of the week, they can have one small treat.”

He talks about how highly refined starches and sugar is leading to unprecedented amounts of people having insulin resistance, starting years earlier before diabetes or other diseases are in the picture.

In other words, we can trash our bodies years before we push it over the edge. Dr. Bikman says,  “Our bodies are a temporal tool in which to learn the lessons of eternity.”

Here is a 5 minute youtube video by a pediatric nutritionist on hidden sugar in the food children eat. She is Australian and their guidelines are three teaspoons a day for children. She said a quarter of Australian children are obese. We are at 22.4 % of our children being obese in America. In her video, she shows 7 teaspoons of sugar in a cup of apple juice.

Here is another 4 minute video talking about sugar hidden in plain sight, it shows how there are 56 other names given to sugar so we can’t spot it easily. In cereal there might be 5 different kinds of sugar, but given different names. In this way, when we check the ingredients sugar should be the first ingredient but it has been disguised and spread out through the paragraph of ingredients so it is not listed as the first ingredient. Hiding in plain sight if you know what to look for.

“Evaporated organic cane juice” sounds healthy, but it is just sugar. Why is so much sugar added to our foods? It’s sugar that makes cookies gooey and candy crunchy. It helps bread have a golden brown crust. It’s also a great preservative, and doesn’t spoil or evaporate, so the foods it is added to are easier to store and ship long distances. The last reason is it tends to be cheaper. That’s why sugar is hiding everywhere.

These are startling statistics from the CDC:

In 2017–2018, the average daily intake of added sugars was 17 teaspoons for children and young adults aged 2 to 19 years.

In 2017–2018, the average intake of added sugars was 17 teaspoons for adults aged 20 and older.

The CDC’s recommendation? Twelve teaspoons a day.

The World Health Organization recommends 2 teaspoons or 10 grams of sugar per day.

The Food and Drug Administration recommended in 2015, 12.5 teaspoons or 50 grams of sugar, a day.

An Atlantic writer talks about this daily recommendation of 12.5 teaspoons/50 grams:

“You could just get it over with at breakfast, with the banana-bread french toast at IHOP. Just half an order will do: The whole thing contains 102 grams of sugar.”

Or with Chili’s Caribbean Salad (plain, with chicken, or with shrimp, 64-68 grams):

Or a Waldorf chicken salad from California Pizza Kitchen (56 grams):

A final word from Dr. Bikman:

“The only naturally occurring version of the kind of sugar we eat so much of is found in honey,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that such a substance is guarded by thousands of little creatures that will hurt you if you try to take it. Evolutionarily, we aren’t supposed to be consuming as much sugar as we do.”

Stay tuned for my next post on how to avoid this avalanche of sugar.