Two experts emphasize the importance of reducing excess sugar to prevent tooth decay
Por:
Richard Niederman.
El uso desproporcionado de productos azucarados ha incrementado la incidencia de diabetes.
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Europeans brought many things to the “New World”. Among the worst were disease and slavery. Sugar is somewhere in the middle. Let us explain.
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When Europeans brought sugar cane to the Caribbean, merchants needed workers for cultivation. They brought in slaves from West Africa. They reaped huge profits from the slaves, the sugar, and the rum.
Sugar cane may be a great economic plant for growers - it is still used to produce sugar, rum, along with ethanol, plastic, and electricity. But the sugar is pushed into our diets like a drug.
After World War II, scientists found that our body weight, obesity, and diabetes all increased, as well as dental cavities. The main cause was the use of sugar in our foods and drinks.
Una sola bebida rinde más que la máxima dosis diaria aconsejable para niños de 5 años.
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We now have meals with Coca Cola, Pepsi, and other “soft drinks”. We give our kids apple or orange juice day and night. We refresh ourselves at the gym with Gatorade or Powerade. All are sugar-sweetened drinks. Some, like fruit juices, have natural sugars. Other manufactured foods have added sugars. Slowly we’ve become dependent on the sugar in these drinks.
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that children consume 16 percent of their total calories from added sugars. The international recommendations are for no more than 5 percent of calories come from sugar.
What does this really mean? Let us have a go.
Five percent is equivalent to about 5 sugar cubes a day for a 5-year-old. For teens, the safe amount of sugar is the equivalent of about 10 sugar cubes a day. (A sugar cube has the same amount of sugar as a teaspoon.)
“Al decir esta noche mis últimas palabras en el noticiero, me quedé pensando en todo lo que me queda por delante. Después de todo, los periodistas nunca se retiran. Estamos condenados toda la vida a perseguir noticias, a perseguir lo nuevo”. <br/>
“El reto de la serie era, en el mejor de los casos, complementar al libro y dar una visión, entre millones, de cómo era la vida en Macondo. Y lo logra. Agradezco las narraciones tomadas íntegramente del libro y las magníficas actuaciones marcadas por las páginas más que por las improvisaciones”.
<b>“</b>En la cabeza de Trump todo conspira para demostrar su poder. Ganó la elección y el voto popular, se desvanecen los juicios en su contra, y legalmente se siente protegido para hacer lo que se le pegue la gana. Se siente en el tope. Es en este contexto que Trump amenazó con la imposición de aranceles contra México, Canadá y China”.
<i>“Duele pero hay que decirlo: en México nadie sabe cómo detener la violencia. Si lo supieran, ya lo hubieran intentado. Lo que hemos visto desde la época de Felipe Calderón, cuando se declaró la guerra contra los narcos, son distintos experimentos -todos fallidos- para enfrentar la violencia”.</i>
<i>“Causarán un daño irreparable a miles de familias y a la economía estadounidense. No se trata de expulsar a los indocumentados sino de integrarlos a este país. Sería mucho más barato y efectivo. Pero Trump y sus asesores solo se oyen a sí mismos”.</i>
“Hay mucho que negociar antes que Trump tome posesión el 20 de enero. Pero el peligro de deportaciones masivas, aranceles y hasta de operaciones militares en su territorio ha puesto en alerta a la nueva presidenta de México. Sheinbaum y Trump ya hablaron y se dijeron esas cosas huecas que se dicen los presidentes por teléfono”.
“La realidad es que cada vez hay más votantes latinos. Este año hay 36.2 millones de hispanos elegibles para votar, casi cuatro millones más que en 2020, según el centro Pew. Y aunque no todos van a salir a votar, los que lo hagan serán suficientes para definir quién será el próximo presidente o presidenta de Estados Unidos”.
“Gane quien gane la elección en Estados Unidos, las cosas van a empeorar para los recién llegados. Los inmigrantes son el enemigo perfecto en esta campaña electoral. Son muy vulnerables, lo dejaron todo en su país de origen y no se pueden defender de los ataques injustificados de los políticos que solo quieren ganar votos”.
"En este caso, nos toca apuntar y corregir todas las mentiras que Trump ha dicho -y que sigue diciendo- sobre los inmigrantes, sobre la insurrección del 6 de enero del 2021 y sobre todos los esfuerzos ilegítimos por negar los resultados de las elecciones del 2020. Las democracias mueren, primero, desde dentro".
"A los 14 años, vi a mi familia y a mi comunidad y me dije: hay un futuro mejor para nosotros; podemos progresar y las cosas pueden mejorar. Todo lo que hago y lo que soy tiene sus raíces en mi comunidad latina, y me llena de humildad poder llegar a representar a nuestra comunidad en el Senado. Es un deber que asumiré con orgullo y mucho honor." Read this content in <a href="https://www.univision.com/univision-news/opinion/por-la-familia-todo-ruben-gallego-on-running-to-be-arizonas-first-latino-senator" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000147-f3a5-d4ea-a95f-fbb7f52b0000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1726508152821,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-d1c8-de50-affb-f1df3e1d0000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1726508152821,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-d1c8-de50-affb-f1df3e1d0000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.univision.com/univision-news/opinion/por-la-familia-todo-ruben-gallego-on-running-to-be-arizonas-first-latino-senator","_id":"00000191-fbe7-dddd-a5f7-ffef61bf0000","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"linkText":"english","_id":"00000191-fbe7-dddd-a5f7-ffef61bb0000","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">english</a>.
To estimate the number of sugar cubes in any food, we divide the number of grams by 5 and the number of calories by 15. To give you an idea of the amount of sugar in our food, SugarStacks.com made some photos.
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A single drink delivers more than the safe single day sugar dose for a 5 year old. Sadly, sugar isn’t just in drinks. Sugar also lives in the snacks we give to our kids.
Sugar is also in some of the breakfast foods we feed our kids.
This adds up, day-to-day, week-to-week, year-to-year. One of the earliest clues of sugar dependency is dental cavities. Around one in three Mexican youths in the U.S. have had cavities in their teeth. For Mexican children it is even higher – one in two have cavities.
So what are some alternates to sugar sweetened beverages and snacks? What about carrots? They are healthy, filling, and nutritious. In short, a great snack. As children become adults the effects of sugar moves beyond cavities to obesity, and diabetes. And this is not just a U.S. problem.
Muchos padres son inconscientes del azúcar añadida a los alimentos, a las bebidas y a las meriendas de sus niños.
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Mexico is the 7th largest producer of sugar in the Americas (Brazil is number one.) Mexicans drink on average 43 gallons of sugar sweetened beverages a year. Seventy-one percent of Mexicans are overweight and 21% are obese. Finally, diabetes is the leading cause of death in Mexico.
To address the poisoning effect of sugar, Mexico imposed a 10% tax on soda and an 8% tax on junk food (cookies, candy, ice cream and chips) in 2014.
In 2015 scientists saw almost a 20% drop in sugar sweetened beverage sales. The reduction in sales - and consumption - was the highest among the poorest. The poorest are more affected by the consequences of eating sugars. So, this tax is promising.
Similar taxes are now being implemented in Chile, Barbados and other Latin American countries.
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While the U.S., has not implemented this tax, the city of Berkeley in California, and the Navajo Nation in Arizona both enacted sugar sweetened beverage taxes, and made fresh fruits and vegetables tax-free. Lessons learned.
Europeans brought many things to the “New World.” Looking back, among the worst were sugar cane and slavery.
We are aware of the sugar we put in our coffee, milk, or tea. But we are blind to the sugar added to our children’s food, drinks, and snacks.
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If we want our children to live long and prosper, look at their teeth. Dental cavities are the early warnings of too much sugar.
Ask your doctor or dentist about sugar, and protect your children and your family.
