Answer

Sugar

The sweetener that has been selected for this assignment is sugar.  Sugar is the generic name for the sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrate most of which is used in food as a sweetener. It is also known as granular sugar, table sugar, regular sugar or sucrose.  The history of sugar follows several main phases since each phase depended on the previous one. It started as an extraction of sugar cane juice from sugarcane plant. The plant was later domesticated in southeast Asia around 4,000BC.  After that there was an invention of manufacture of cane sugar granules from the sugar cane juice in India which happed over two thousand years ago (Eggleston, 2019).  This was followed by several improvements of refining the crystals granules in India in early centuries AD.  Following that, there was a spread of production of sugar as a result of many communities that ventured in sugarcane farming. After that it spread to West India and then to tropical parts of America in 16^th century. Notably, the white stuff that is commonly known as sugar is actually sucrose, a molecule that is composed of 12 atoms of hydrogen and 11 atoms of oxygen chemically written as C12H22O11. It is a carbohydrate that is naturally found in most plants, especially sugarcane and sugar beets hence the name sugar.

While the natural sweetener are generally safe, artificial sweeteners such as sugar have several health concerns hence their use should be limited and monitored. One of the main health issues that is associated with high intake of sugar is heart diseases. According to the study conducted by Wölnerhanssen and Meyer-Gerspach (2019) high sugar diets lead to weight gain that causes obesity, inflammations, and high blood pressure which are the major risk factors of heart disease.  Notably, 17-21% of calories from added sugar has 38 percent risk of dying from heart related diseases. Additionally, too much consumption of sugar also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.  A study by Eggleston (2019) also reveals that too much consumption of sugar increase cellular aging. Based on the above studies and observations, it is important to note that although it is one of the most used sweeteners, consumption of too much sugar is not safe for the body hence it should be limited and monitored. Wölnerhanssen and Meyer-Gerspach (2019) add that it is advisable to test for sugar level regularly in order to prevent several health issues that are associated to its high consumption.

Sugar is highly associated with obesity. According to Wölnerhanssen and Meyer-Gerspach (2019), sugar has got high amounts of calories. For example, two tablespoons of the common sweetener corn syrup contain 120 calories.  It is important to note that when the body receives excess calories, it stores them as fats. As fats accumulate, people gain a lot of weight which ultimately result in obesity when the intake of sugar, which is the source of calories is not controlled. Obesity or too much weight can then cause other disease such as type 2 diabetes and other disease that are related to the heart.