While beauty standards become slimmer and thinner, food trends become faster and sweetened, making the two worlds impossible to combine (Pike). For the majority who failed to choose a side, the capitalistic industry invented “Zero Food,” and it immediately became entangled without lives.
Zero soft drinks, zero ice cream, zero gummies, and even zero cookies. Zero food often has no calories or sugar (glucose), which can give one fulfillment and a slimmer body at the same time. While foods containing sugar replacements such as Advantame, Aspartame, Neotame, Saccharin, and Sucralose can be extremely effective for weight loss, they can actually be very harmful to your body.
These addictive substances, which can easily be over-consumed, “don’t have [the same] beneficial nutrients like vitamins, fiber, minerals, or antioxidants,” according to Johns Hopkins Medicine (Facts About Sugar). In simpler words, zero food cannot completely replace our diet. Moreover, sweeteners are also believed to “pose health hazards, from weight gain to cancer.” especially if over-consumed. Sugar replacements are also proven to be extremely addictive, to the point where it has been proven that when exposed to saccharine and cocaine, most rats chose saccharine (NCBL). This means that once one consumes zero food, one will have higher sugar cravings, which will make weight loss and diets even less effective.
In order to cease overconsumption, it is important to acknowledge sugar as a healthy substance. While it is necessary to consume sugar to produce glucose and energy in your body, it is often viewed as a harmful substance. This brings up the difference between the two different types of sugar: natural sugar and added (artificial) sugar. Added sugar, mostly captured from manufactured food, is not only high in calories but can lead to high blood sugar, cavities, obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases(The Sweet Danger of Sugar). It is the “bad” sugar that has health consequences and is extremely addictive, creating the need for zero food. On the other hand, natural sugar is a macronutrient with minimally processed carbohydrates, meaning that they are full of nutrients and provide our body with the necessary energy(Alexander). This “good” sugar comes mostly from fruits, dairy, and vegetables, meaning that daily consumption is mandatory, and they would rather be helpful for purposes such as building a healthier and stronger body, as it is satisfying and not addictive.
Removing all sugar from your diet and replacing it with zero food is not a healthy choice; it is rather important for you to consider where the sugar is coming from. In order to create a well-balanced diet and maintain a healthy body, it is essential for one to consume natural sugar, as sugar replacements and artificial sweeteners come with side effects and do not contain any nutrients, being empty calories. In Chadwick, it is often easy to see students walking around with zero food thinking that it is a great replacement for sugar on their plate. However, as weird as it may sound, I would choose sugar from the fruits and vegetables on your plate. This will help you avoid the high-sweet double taro pearl milk teas. Make long-term healthy choices for your body, not the secret ‘replacements,’ without knowing the consequences.
