Our bodies are conditioned to love sugar.
Put a drop of honey on a babies tongue and they immediately want more.
We are a society that loves our sweets, and the consumption of sugary tasting drinks is on the meteoric rise in North America.
According to government statistics, these drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup are fueling skyrocketing diabetes and heart disease over the last few decades.
Scientists created a computer simulation called the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model to estimate how the consumption of sugar-laden drinks has contributed to 130,000 new cases of diabetes and 14,000 new cases of heart disease in the population 35 years or older.
A decade ago we were just beginning to see coronary artery disease in people around 35 or slightly older.
Now we are seeing strokes in 30-something adults.
We are even seeing type II diabetes in pre-teen children.
Even moderate intake of drinks containing sugar can cause inflammation and scarring in blood vessel walls, increasing danger of varicose veins and strokes.
When vessels within the heart become narrowed, potential trouble is just over the horizon.
Not only do sugared drinks create circulatory problems, they fuel diabetes and obesity.
By using the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model, researchers were able to include data from other studies showing the correlation between daily intake of sugared drinks and diabetes risk.
Dr.
Litsa Lambrakos, the lead study investigator, said that the CHD model allowed them to estimate current cases of cardiovascular disease and diabetes that were caused by the rise in consumption of these sugar-laden drinks.
Because of the dangers of this escalating health crisis, experts are suggesting that imposing a tax of 1 percent per ounce on these types of beverages, could reduce consumption by up to 10 percent, thus reducing health risks.
Better yet, if people could discipline themselves to limit their consumption, thus protecting their own health, governments and experts would not have to force them to curb consumption.
It has been found in studies that addictions to sugar are usually caused by a mineral deficiency, particularly chromium and by taking a chromium supplement, the compulsion subsides within a few days.
Studies also show that if you can stop eating sugar for 4 days, the need to eat sugar fades and is gone, leaving you to make more healthy choices for your foods and drinks.
By addressing the reasons why you have to drink junky drinks, you can begin to understand why you need to stop.
Your health and your healthy future depend on it.