Dear Gobar Times Readers,

Sugar. We just can’t do without it. Or so we think. What is Diwali without yummy mithai? What’s a birthday without a mouth-watering rich chocolate cake topped with sugar icing. What’s a burger without a soft drink. (Yes, a can of soft drink is about 8 teaspoons sugar!) But we seriously have to ask ourselves: Is sugar nutrition or entertainment? Refined sugar has no nutrition but empty calories. And a report by the World Health Organisation has linked excess sugar intake to obesity, after which heart diseases and diabetes follow. The report advises us to consume less than than 10% sugar in our diet (as against 25-30% earlier thought safe). So are sugar and sugary products mostly about fun and entertainment? If yes, then fun at what cost? For the first time in history, there are more overnourished people than undernourished ones. So the solution is easy right? Less sugar. Wrong! Sugar drives soft drink giants, fast food industry and the processed food industry, which have already rubbished the report. They’ll fight tooth and nail to see sugar consumption doesn’t go down. But the final decision will be left with your sweet tooth.

– Pandit Gobar Ganesh
E-mail: panditji@cseindia.org