In prehistoric times, naturally occurring sugar offered early humans an evolutionary advantage: sweet foods such as fruit or honey were calorie-saving and good for health, while bitter foods were more harmful and poisonous. Now everything has changed. The excess sugar we consume today has become one of the main causes of chronic inflammation, diabetes, arthritis and other long-term diseases. As well as worsening our memory, academic performance, and productivity.

Some studies even conclude that consuming too much sugar in childhood is associated with lower wages in adulthood.

Study. Two economists from the University of California, Berkeley and RAND Corp. wanted to show how sugar can have a negative social impact beyond its consequences on human health. To do this, they examined the end of rationing of sugar and sweets in the United Kingdom in 1953 to explore how the excessive sugar consumption of children under the age of five affects adult life.

The study’s authors were able to compare the results of people who were born just a few years apart but had very different amounts of sugar in their diets but remained unchanged, as they quickly began to eat sugar and sweets after rationing ended in 1953. from other foods.

Results. In addition to the obvious health effects, excess sugar in these people’s early years of life had an impact on how well they did in school as a teenager and how much money they made as adults later on. Those born after the end of the report card were 18.5% less likely to go to university and 16.6% less likely to have a high-skilled job.

Worse performance in studies. Several recent studies have also documented how excessive sugar consumption reduces attention span and memory. When people take on difficult tasks like math problems after eating too much, the hypothalamus in the brain allows the body to release large amounts of cortisol. Known as the stress hormone, this substance inhibits memory. When children’s bodies have too much cortisol during class, they have trouble concentrating or sitting still.

In fact, several researchers at the University of Southern California tested on rats for sugar levels comparable to those found in regular soft drinks. After one month, the adults showed normal brain function. However, the adolescents showed reduced memory and learning ability. Moreover, they had swollen hippocampi, a part of the brain crucial to forming memories.

What is the recommended amount? Studies have repeatedly linked high-sugar diets with higher rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. And the truth is, most of us have these types of diets. The WHO recommends that we reduce the amount of “free sugar” we eat (added to food or beverages, not counting those found in fruit, vegetables and milk) and that no more than 5% of our daily calories come from added sugars. . In fact, a 2014 study in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that people who exceed this daily limit have a 30% increased risk of death from heart disease.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that for children ages 2 to 18, the amount of added sugar should not exceed 25 grams, which equals 6 tablespoons. Seven tablespoons for adults. Unfortunately, the average teenager exceeds this threshold, consuming 11% to 17% of their daily calories in the form of added sugar. By 2024, almost 4 out of 10 children aged 10 or 11 will be obese. We now know that they will not only be overweight, they will have worse careers and worse salaries.