Impact of Sugary Drinks on Health
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate which is a source of energy, which is obtained from sap, sugar cane, sugar beets or palm sugar. Sugary drinks are drinks that contain sugar which we often refer to as sweet drinks, fast food tea, carbonated drinks and other sweet tasting packaged drinks that contain added artificial sweeteners. Consuming excessive drinks containing sugar can have a bad impact on the body, which can cause various kinds of diseases. Lifestyle and education level are one of the factors causing the increase in sugar consumption in Indonesia. An instant and hassle-free lifestyle is one of the reasons for the increase in sugar consumption in Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the largest sugar consuming countries which makes Indonesia ranked 6th in the world. Even high sugar production is not able to cover the sugar needs of the Indonesian people, which means our country has to import sugar from foreign countries. One of the factors that caused the increase in sugar consumption was the Covid-19 outbreak. When there was a lock down, people preferred instant products, one of which was instant drinks, people chose instant drinks because they were considered more practical without having to prepare ingredients, besides that, instant drinks were easy to get, from big shops to small shops on the edge. road. And flavors that have been adapted to people's tastes are one of the factors that cause repeat purchases.
Another factor is the increase in consumption of sugary drinks in the community, due to the lack of public awareness of their daily sugar needs and the lack of education received. In general, the sugar requirement for adults is 50 grams or the equivalent of 4 tablespoons per day, while for children it is 25 grams, the equivalent of 2 tablespoons per day. There is a misunderstanding among the public due to a lack of education which is also sometimes a problem in calculating the amount of sugar consumed, sometimes people think that the 50 grams of sugar is only for the sugar they get from drinks and food they have processed and forget that it is actually fruit. It also contains sugar which is actually also counted towards your daily sugar requirements. The large number of sales of modern drinks that contain high levels of sugar on the market are very popular with the public, for example boba drinks, modern coffee, modern ice cream, etc. In drinks such as tea and carbonated drinks there is usually a sugar content of around 11 to 26 grams. per serving size.
Sometimes people are fooled by drinks that have low sugar labels, actually the sugar content in low sugar drinks ranges from 12 grams to 17 grams. It's not just low sugar drinks that are a distraction, ready-to-drink juice contains around 20 to 30 grams of sugar. Drinks that have health claims still have quite high sugar content, namely around 9 to 15 grams of sugar. To reduce sugar consumption which can disrupt the body's health, as lovers of sweet drinks we can change the sweet taste that originally came from sugar to be sourced from real honey, dates, stevia, corn syrup (corn sugar) and others.
Excessive consumption of sugar can cause complications for the body's health, such as causing obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Excessive sugar consumption in the body can also accelerate premature aging and senile problems.
To avoid bad things happening to our body's health, we can do 2 things, namely reducing sugar consumption by making our own drinks to ensure the sugar dose does not exceed the normal daily levels required, increasing the intake of fruit and vegetables that contain natural sugar as an alternative food, reduce consumption of fast food drinks and not be easily tempted by fast food drinks under the guise of healthy drinks. Doing exercise is a preventive measure that can be taken, here are the benefits of reducing sugar consumption.
Controlling sugar consumption can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Excessive consumption of sweet drinks can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is a chronic condition that makes the body unable to produce the hormone insulin to process blood sugar (glucose). Type 2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by symptoms such as frequent urination, frequent thirst, fatigue and hunger. So, limit your sugar consumption if you want to avoid type 2 diabetes mellitus.
