Smoking kills, tobacco is bad.

In 100 years (or less), added sugar will be considered the same.

Sweets kill, added sugar is bad.

Here’s a summary of the hypothesis from grok3:

In approximately 100 years, added sugar will be perceived by society in a manner analogous to how tobacco is viewed today, characterized by widespread recognition of its adverse health effects, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, leading to significant social stigma, stringent regulatory measures such as high taxes and marketing restrictions, and public health campaigns aimed at reducing its consumption. This shift will be driven by accumulating scientific evidence definitively linking added sugar to chronic diseases, coupled with economic pressures on healthcare systems and a cultural pivot toward healthier dietary alternatives, though resistance from the food industry and entrenched cultural practices may temper the extent of this transformation.

This is not my idea of course, just something I latched onto as one of many antibodies against eating sweets.

Not sure where I read/heard this first, but I’m on board. It was probably one of the anti-sugar people like Robert Lustig and Gary Taubes.

Smoking used to be pervasive.

  • Doctors would recommend patients smoke to release stress.
  • Ashtrays were everywhere, seats of planes, in the car, all through houses and restaurants
  • Cars had built in cigarette lighters and movies told us to light up after sex

And on. It was wild.

Now, all of that is gone. If you want to smoke, go far far away from the rest of us.

Added sugar is the same. Right now it’s pervasive.

  • We celebrate with sugar treats on birthdays
  • We train children to expect sugar treats when they’re good
  • We have dedicated part of the meal for sugar time (desert)

And on.

Maybe refined grains get thrown in too. Refined white flower for sure. Overly sweet fruit too, they need to be dialled back.

You eat something sweet and then try and not eat something else within an hour. Impossible. Not only does it not satiate you, it programs you to need to eat more of it, soon.

Yes, there is natural sugar. But, then there’s sugar that is added to practically everything. Everything that is not a whole food right now probably has added sugar.

Everything sweet, all the time!

And it’s killing almost everyone slowly. Taking years and decades off our lives with all the associated health problems.

Right now, we look back 40+ years and can’t believe the normalization of smoking.

People of 2120s (or earlier, I hope) will look back at us and simply not believe the normalization of added sugar.

It will probably take 100 years because its slow acting. It takes a long time to kill, a lifetime perhaps. And kills you a few different ways so it will be harder to prove, harder to have a smoking gun moment.

The change will sneak up on us. Slowly.

Until then, stay strong!