Although China is the fourth largest producer of sugar (after Brazil, India, and the EU) and the fifth largest consumer (after India, the EU, Brazil, and the United States), in terms of per capita sugar consumption, it is Very few, only consume 8 kg per year (2006 data), while the global level is 25 to 30 kg per year. It is precisely because the per capita sugar consumption in China has been very small. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2007 formulated by the Chinese Nutrition Society did not even recommend sugar intake.

　　However, because of China’s huge population base, uneven economic development in various regions, regional differences, urban and rural differences are very large, living standards and dietary habits are very different, the "average" of sugar consumption is generally Cannot reflect actual consumption. In more economically developed cities, the annual sugar consumption is certainly far more than 7 or 8 kilograms. Especially in some groups that like to eat sweets, such as children, teenagers and fashionable youth, sugar consumption is still relatively large.

　　 has been arguing about whether eating sugar is harmful. Will sugar make people obese? Will sugar cause diabetes? Will sugar cause cardiovascular disease; Will sugar cause hyperactivity? Will sugar cause dental caries? Each question will have a different perspective. This is related to the different academic backgrounds of the supporters, the limited research methods and whether it is combined with real life. In fact, on the World Health Organization (WHO) website, we can easily find such a statement: "Overweight and obesity are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is the first cause of death and causes 1700 per year More than 10,000 people died. This was caused by several factors, including the global diet shifting to increased energy, fat, salt, and sugar intake, as well as the sedentary nature of modern work and transportation and the growing urbanization The trend of reduced physical activity." It can be seen that eating sugar (or sweet food) has a "contribution" to the occurrence of obesity, which in turn is related to the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. That is to say, the harm of sugar cannot be understood in isolation, otherwise it is easy to conclude that eating sugar is harmless. The harm of sugar should be combined with the current unhealthy lifestyles such as high fat, high energy, and obesity. Because a sugar lover is difficult to have a healthy lifestyle.

　　 People have a natural preference for sweetness. You can easily reach this conclusion by carefully observing how much infants and toddlers like sugar. This is because there are a lot of sweet taste receptors in human taste buds, which are more sensitive to sweet taste. Sweet taste will bring people a pleasant feeling through nerve conduction. Humans generally like sweet taste. "Sweet", "sweet", "sweet"...all are beautiful words. In the change of human consciousness, sugar always means good, happiness and desire. In fact, not only humans but most mammals like sweetness.

　　The fruits and vegetables we eat contain some natural sugar, and even pure milk contains lactose. However, these naturally-occurring sugars are obviously not enough to satisfy the human desire for sweetness. More and more foods are added with a large amount of sugars during the processing. With the improvement of living standards and the advancement of processing technology, sugar (sweets) has become a cheap food available everywhere, such as biscuits, drinks, snacks, chocolate, ice cream, egg yolk pie, pastries... At the same time that sugar and sweets are highly popularized, many people have become out-and-out "sugar lovers". Their love for sweets, especially sweet snacks and beverages, has reached the point of not eating enough every day. Not happy.

　　Sweetness is one of the flavors that nature can provide to our taste buds. Sugar was also one of the nutrients (carbohydrates) that the human body needs. The sugar in natural food is obviously harmless to the human body. . But what about the large amounts of sugar added to foods to make or enhance sweetness? What about those sugars that are abused in pursuit of sweeter, sweeter?

　　 "sugar addiction" or sweet addictions are harmful The point of view is easily misunderstood as "harmful to eating sugar", coupled with human''s natural preference for sweetness, the fashion of whether sweet or not sugar quickly became popular and swept the world. Sugar is promoted as a healthy enemy, but "sweet" has always been a friend of mankind, which has created a godsend business opportunity for the food processing industry-"sugar-free food". The most ironic thing is that although some foods labeled "sugar-free foods" do not contain traditional sugars such as sucrose and fructose, starch hydrolysates (including starch syrup, fructose syrup, maltose, etc.) are added. New style sugar). More products choose to add artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame, aspartame, etc. These synthetic sweeteners are not good for health. For example, saccharin can cause cancer, aspartame can cause short-term headaches, cyclamate and acesulfame can interfere with the nervous system, etc.-of course, according to the range and dosage prescribed by national standards "Harmless"-not to mention that the phenomenon of over-range and excessive addition of sweeteners is not an individual. Imagine if most of the food one eats is based on "harmless" (not beneficial to health) The standard is produced, then the final result must be harmful! So, we see this strange situation: because we are worried about the harm of sugar and don’t want to give up sweetness, people have to choose artificial sweeteners (sugar-free food) However, the health hazards of these sweeteners are far greater than those of sugar.

　　Efforts to achieve "sweetness without sugar" by sugar-free foods are in vain (if not counterproductive), people worry about an unhealthy (sugar is harmful), so they fall into another An unhealthy (synthetic sweetener is harmful), this is really ironic. It seems that it is not enough to just notice that "sugar addiction" or sweet addiction is harmful, but also to recognize "sweet addiction" The harm is not so much "sweet" is the key to solving the problem. "Sweetness", whether it comes from sugar or from synthetic sweeteners, is always harmful. The fashion of rejecting sugar and choosing synthetic sweeteners is only cheaper in the food processing industry, and is not beneficial to public health.

　　 "Sweet Management" advocates more choice of natural sweetness, such as sugar in natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, honey, and less choice of sweets made with a lot of sugar, such as desserts, snacks, pastries, drinks Wait, even less to choose processed foods with a variety of synthetic sweeteners-whether it appears in the name of sugar-free food. The added sugar or synthetic sweeteners may be "harmless" (in line with relevant hygiene standards), but it is definitely not "beneficial". Our physical health can not only depend on "harmless" food, but also need "good" food.