BY MARK HYMAN AND RON GUTMAN
HEALTH
THE FOOD WE EAT IMPACTS EVERY aspect of our lives and our bodies: our hormones, brain chemistry, immune system, microbiome; the list goes on. As consumers, we deserve the right to easily understand our foods’ nutritional value ins order to make informed decisions about what we consume and how that will impact our health. This is especially important when it comes to ingredients that are detrimental when eaten in excess, like sugar. As researchers in functional medicine, longevity, AI, and nutrition, we have dedicated our professional lives to improving the health and well-being of millions everywhere. And while we applaud the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for taking important strides to pass mandatory front-of-package labeling for packaged foods in the U.S., this change can’t come soon enough. Everyone’s health depends on it.
The FDA recommends that adults consume no more than 50 grams of added sugar per day (based on a 2,000-calorie diet), but the average American consumes closer to one-third of a pound of sugar daily, more than three times the recommended amount. To put that into perspective, the average American consumes over 100 lb. of sugar per year. With that much sugar consumption, it is no wonder that 49% of American adults are diabetic or prediabetic. What’s worse is that much of our sugar consumption occurs without our even realizing it.
Seventy-four percent of packaged foods in the U.S. contain added sugar, including seemingly healthy foods such as salad dressing, coleslaw, and even baked beans, marinades, and yogurt; some sweetened yogurts contain more sugar than a can of soda. That sugar is so biologically addictive—studies indicate it is eight times as addictive as cocaine—makes the reality that it’s hidden in so many foods even more harmful. Most of us are addicted to sugar, and we don’t even know it.
THIS CYCLE OF ADDICTION is relentless and hard to break: we eat food with sugar, which then triggers a spike in blood sugar, which lights up the pleasure center in our brain. When the inevitable sugar crash comes, we seek that spike again in the form of craving more sugar. Without easily discernible food labeling, shoppers unknowingly create this cycle inside their own bodies, even while they erroneously think the food they’re buying is healthy.
IN MANY COUNTRIES, labels on packaged foods serve a similar function to labels on cigarette cartons: to warn consumers of risk. In Chile, a policy of “h
