Is Sugar Really That Bad? Learn English Story

50-minute English Lesson

In this Learn English story, we ask a question about sugar. The answer is shocking and not at all sweet.

Learn English: read the story

What’s Wrong With Sugar?

Many people, especially children, enjoy sweet food. New information, however, says that sugar is unhealthy because it hurts our mental and physical well being.

There are many kinds of sugar. There’s sugar in fruit. Many people say that’s good sugar because it’s healthy. Then there’s the white stuff people buy at the supermarket. That’s bad for our health. The worst kind is hidden sugar. It’s the sweet taste that comes from processed corn syrup, called high fructose. It’s in soft drinks, salad dressing, snacks and more.

Too much sugar is bad because it creates an addiction. When we eat it, our brain makes us feel good for a short time. After the good feeling goes away, the brain tells us to eat more. That’s a craving. Over time, we have to eat more to get that good feeling again. When the brain craves something, our feelings change. We become angry or worried easily.

Gaining weight is the second effect. When we eat small amounts of food with good sugar, like a banana, our body slowly produces energy. Packaged food or drinks put too much sugar into the body. It can’t use all that energy right away, so it’s quickly turned into fat. Many more serious health problems are caused by sugar, like heart disease and cancer.

What happens if people stop eating sugar? The first couple of weeks might be uncomfortable. Many people feel tired. After that, the long term benefits are great. People have more energy, their thinking is clear, they sleep well and they don’t get sick very often.

The bottom line is that sugar doesn’t improve the quality of life. It makes life more difficult.

Listen without reading

Learn English Story

Learn English: Gap Fill

Listen to the story again and fill in the blanks.

Many people, especially children, enjoy sweet food. New information, however, says that sugar is ________ because it hurts our mental and physical well being.

There are many ________ _____ sugar. There’s sugar in fruit. Many people say that’s good sugar because it’s healthy. Then there’s the ________ ________ people buy at the supermarket. That’s bad for our health. The worst kind is ________ sugar. It’s the sweet taste that comes from processed corn syrup, called high fructose. It’s in soft drinks, salad ________ , snacks and more.

Too much sugar is bad because it ________ _____ addiction. When we eat it, our brain makes us feel good for a short time. After the good feeling goes away, the brain tells us to ________ ________ . That’s a craving. Over time, we have to eat more to get that good feeling again. When the brain craves something, our feelings change. We become angry or ________ easily.

Gaining weight is the second ________ . When we eat small amounts of food with good sugar, like a banana, our body slowly ________ energy. Packaged food or drinks put too much sugar into the body. It can’t use all that energy right away, so it’s quickly turned into ________ . Many more serious health problems are ________ ________ sugar, like heart disease and cancer.

What happens if people stop eating sugar? The first couple of weeks might be ________ . Many people feel tired. After that, the long term ________ are great. People have more energy, their ________ is clear, they sleep well and they don’t get sick very often.

The bottom line is that sugar doesn’t ________ the quality of life. It makes life more difficult.

ESL discussion questions

Talk about the story.

1. Do you have a sweet tooth?
2. What is the worst kind of sugar and where can we find it?
3. What is an addiction?
4. How do packaged foods make people gain weight?
5. Is it easy to stop eating sugary food?
6. Does this ESL listening story have a message? What is it?

Synonym match

Match the word or phrase on the left with the correct synonym.

Anagrams

MOVE THE LETTERS. MAKE A WORD FROM THE ENGLISH lesson.

1. PEIOMRV
2. RKSUATERMEP
3. SNSACK
4. PEUCOL
5. AESRVC
6. SIYACLHP

Writing practice

Write the five sentences. Put the words in the correct order.

1. kinds / many / sugar / are / there / of
2. sugar / kind / hidden / the / worst / is
3. away / the / good / us / tells / after / feeling / to / goes / more / the / brain / eat
4. of / a / sugar / energy / body / with / good / amounts / when / small / slowly / like / food / eat / our / banana / we / produces
5. be / of / uncomfortable / first / the / weeks / might / couple

Another Learn English story

Ready for another English language learning lesson? Try this free online listening comprehension lesson about the history of pizza.

Watch a video and take notes

Did you like this Learn English story? Learn more by watching this video about sugar in food, especially fructose.

1. Watch the video.
2. Take notes.
3. Make a list with at least eight facts.

Get the worksheet

Want to print out these ESL listening activities? Click to download the PDF worksheet.

Click to see the answers.