The Need To Greatly Reduce Sugar Intake Among Filipinos

I remembered how I read a few days ago or so that some Filipinos are angry over the sugar tax law. There was even a comparison of the prices of soft drinks from Noynoy's time to President Duterte's time. I really am happy that the prices of soft drinks and other sugar-rich products are increased with additional tax for this reason - the Philippines is really a diabetes hot spot. It's not just genetic factors but also what further the risk behind the genetic factors that will lead to severe diabetes.

What I can observe more often than not is how it's almost a norm in the Philippines for people to have more sugar than usual in their diet. Children don't drink milk? Add some sugar to it. Spaghetti Filipino style? Add some sugar to the tomato sauce. While sugar in moderate quantities gives you energy, your body needs sugar but the problem is having too much sugar in your body. The pancreas gets overworked to the point that soon can't produce enough islets of Langerhans which produce insulin. As the song goes, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way." 

What I've observed is how often sweet snacks are often consumed down with soft drinks. Can you imagine having some camote que or banana que and drinking it down with Coca Cola or Sarsi? That's a lot of sugar there. The typical Filipino hospitality will end up with sweets and soft drinks. While it's okay to have either sweets or soft drinks as a hospitality treat but don't you think having sweets with refreshing fresh juice without sugar or water would help regulate the sugar? Why not have some biko or piaya accompanied by freshly made fresh juice without sugar (learn to drink it) or just plain clean drinking water as a welcome treat?

The problem is that too much sugar causes several problems. The three most common problems are tooth decay, obesity and diabetes. According to the Huffington Post is that too much sugar can be bad for your brain. The same post also has this to say about the results of having too much sugar:

Researchers studied the cognitive performance of 49 people who consumed drinks containing either glucose, sucrose (table sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), or sucralose (artificial sweetener). The participants were tested on response times, arithmetic, and Stroop interference, which is a psychological test that measures cognitive processing.

After analyzing their performances, it was determined that those who consumed glucose or sucrose performed worse than those who consumed fructose or sucralose.

I guess the obsession with sugar may also be the reason why anti-intellectualism is progressing faster than you think. If the brain's cognitive ability is weakened then wouldn't anti-intellectual material be more appealing? Hmmm think of a barkada night scenario where people are watching an anti-intellectual movie and eating loads of sweets and drinking a lot of soft drinks. That alone is already a danger sign that the brain is already eaten up by too much sugar. Worse, signs of hyperactivity are shown like how boisterous people can be due to excess energy which will soon tire them faster.

There's some tips on trying to avoid getting excess sugar. Planning on having a doughnut, banana que, biko, puto or bibingka? Buy some fresh water to drink it down with instead of soft drinks. Want to get some milk tea? Try getting used to drinking it without sugar and you may consider having grass jelly instead of tapioca balls if they have it. Grass jelly may taste weird but it's better for your health. Getting some coffee? Try drinking it pitch black or use milk as your only sweeter. Want some chocolate to boost the memory? Go for dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.

The whole excise tax on sugary products would be helpful for reducing the sugar intake. In short, people will think twice before getting a sugar rush. Why buy soft drinks unless there's a party and there's lechon along with it? Soft drinks can help get rid of the greasy feeling though green tea and ginger tea would be the healthier option. People won't keep buying soft drinks by the wholesale which in turn will greatly lessen soft drink consumption. In turn, this will help lessen the incidents of Filipinos with too much sugar intake.