Fostering Food Acceptance

By Felicia Loo

Have you had anyone stare at you if you are eating one of these: fried potato chips, steak covered with animal fat, sodas, or chocolate cakes?

Well, if you are in front of a nutritionist, please refrain eating them. High chances are you will get that awkward stare. I am not a nutritionist, but sometimes I ask my friends and family if they should be inputting that amount of fat, sugar and salt.

Reality: Our society is getting to know that these are damaging nutrients that if consumed in excess, create health problems. Seriously speaking, I am a person who follows the small portions rule and everything goes in a small amount. It is so that I can enjoy little bits of each. I went to a nutritionist for a talk last week had a short chat about my diet.  Guess what? Muffins, croissants, and sugary treat are recommended to be out of my diet. I am getting her point- refined SUGAR!

More on sugars: We have seen sugar substitutes, non-caloric sweeteners like stevia, sugar alcohols, acesulfame-K, saccharine and sucralose that are up to 400- 800 times sweeter than sucrose. There is even the  recent introduction of the miracle berry to get rid of bitter and sour taste turning them into sweet taste. Now that consumers regard sugar as bad for them, they want something else, apart from sugar –something that produces similar sweet taste.

Have we created a social stigma toward sugars?

Photo Credit: https://www.bcma.org/files/iStock_000007341977XSmall_0.jpg

Science Meets Food

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1 Comment

  1. I think a lot of people are confused about how carbohydrates affect the body. There are also those who think sugar substitutes can cause cancer and other diseases. I invite people to check out http://www.foodinsight.org/ for more info.

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