Reducing sugar intake is not only good for your health but also for the environment.
It has been pointed out that excessive sugar intake can cause
The environmental and social opportunities of reducing sugar intake | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2314482121
Eating less sugar would be great for the planet as well as our health
https://theconversation.com/eating-less-sugar-would-be-great-for-the-planet-as-well-as-our-health-243638
Globally, sugar intake has quadrupled in the past 60 years, and sugar now accounts for about 8% of total calorie intake. If you look at it from this perspective, you might think that 'sugar is nourishing people,' but in fact, sugar calories lack other nutrients such as vitamins and dietary fiber, which leads to obesity and chronic diseases.
As a result, sugar intake is said to result in huge medical costs, and it is estimated that in the United States, reducing sugar intake by just 20% could save a total of $10.3 billion (about 1.61 trillion yen). However, research teams from Tel Aviv University and China Agricultural University point out that the problems caused by sugar cultivation extend not only to health but also to the global environment.
Sugar is an important crop grown around the world, but there are problems such as the loss of habitats and biodiversity to secure vast areas of farmland. In addition, many environmental problems are related to sugar, such as water pollution caused by the production of fertilizers needed for cultivation and refineries.
The research team therefore analyzed the impact of reducing people's sugar intake to recommended levels, either by 'reducing sugar production itself' or by 'reducing sugar intake and using the surplus sugar in a way that is beneficial to the environment'.
Reducing sugar production would reduce the amount of land needed for cultivation, allowing surplus farmland to be reforested, storing carbon and helping to mitigate global warming. This would be particularly beneficial in biodiversity-rich tropical regions where sugar production is concentrated, such as Brazil and India.
However, a sudden reduction in sugar production would entail the risk of losing farmers' income and destabilizing national finances, so the research team believes that using sugar for other industrial purposes rather than for dietary use would be more acceptable.
The most promising way to use sugar, the research team thinks, is to feed protein-producing microorganisms. If the surplus sugar is used for
Another option is to use sugar to produce bioplastics, which could replace 20% of the polyethylene market, which is used in everything from packaging films to pipes.
In addition, ethanol can also be produced from sugarcane, the raw material for sugar, so it is possible to 'produce biofuel using sugar.' Brazil, where sugarcane cultivation is thriving, already produces about 85% of the world's ethanol fuel .
The solution of 'reducing sugar in meals and sweets and using it for other industrial purposes' has both health and environmental benefits, but there are concerns that it could damage the sugar supply chain that spans 100 countries around the world and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the income from sugar production.
The team argues that international coordination is important to coordinate the vast supply chain, and that sustainable sugar production should be discussed at the UN climate summit. 'We cannot hope to change how sugar is produced and consumed overnight, but exploring other uses for sugar can reveal overlooked environmental benefits and help policymakers chart a path to a resource-efficient industry while improving public health,' they said.
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