Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Thursday, February 6, 2020

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EMILY ULRICH | COLUMN

A sweet tooth’s worst nightmare

C

an sugar make you 
dumb? I wish I would 
have thought about 
this question before studying 
for my last chemistry exam. 
It was around 9 p.m., and I 
was in the newly-remodeled 
LSA 
building 
on 
campus. 
It was getting to that point 
in the night when you keep 
re-reading the same problem 
over and over again and seem 
to retain nothing. I needed 
something to wake me up. I 
decided to check out the self-
service cafe in the lobby for a 
study snack to get me through 
the next practice exam. I 
was torn between Sour Patch 
Kids and dried apple chips. 
Faithfully, I chose the Sour 
Patch Kids since they had 
succeeded in giving me that 
late-night sugar boost in the 
past.
The brain uses sugar in the 
form of glucose as its main 
food source. When you have 
low blood sugar, your brain 
loses its energy to function. I 
knew my brain needed some 
food, but was I overdosing on 
sugar by choosing the Sour 
Patch Kids? 
According to the American 
Heart 
Association, 
the 
maximum daily sugar intake 
for men is 36 grams and for 
women is 25 grams. We are 
all overdosing on sugar. The 
2 tablespoons of Nutella that 
you spread on your toast this 
morning contained 21 grams 
of sugar in it; for females, that 
is 84 percent of your daily 
sugar intake already wasted 
on one piece of toast. 
According 
to 
research 
performed 
by 
Fernando 
Gomez-Pinilla, a professor 
of neurosurgery at the David 
Geffen School of Medicine 
at UCLA, a long-term high-
fructose 
diet 
affects 
the 
brain’s ability to learn and 
remember 
information. 

Gomez-Pinilla studied how a 
variety of genes in the brain 
can be damaged by fructose. 
In Gomez-Pinilla’s study, 
rats were trained to escape 
from a maze and then divided 
into three groups. The first 
group drank fructose and 
had no Docosahexaenoic acid 
(DHA) in their diet. DHA is a 
type of omega-3 fatty acid that 
is essential in the brain. The 
second group drank fructose 
water and was fed a DHA-rich 
diet. The third group drank 
non-fructose water and had 
no DHA-rich diet. 

When the rats were put 
through 
the 
maze 
again, 
the rats that drank fructose 
water 
with 
no 
DHA-rich 
diet took twice as long to 
complete the maze compared 
to the rats from the other two 
groups. The memory of these 
rats was clearly impaired by 
the fructose in their diet and 
lack of DHA; it seems that 
fructose 
could 
lessen 
the 
effects of DHA. 
Another research study on 
sugar performed at Aarhus 
University in Denmark found 
that sugar intake can alter the 
reward-processing circuitry 
of the brain in a way similar 
to addictive drugs. After just 
12 days of sugar intake, the 
dopamine and opioid systems 

in the brain change. The 
sugar craving becomes more 
like an addiction, making it 
hard to replace that late-night 
sugary snack with something 
nutritious. We are directed 
by our brains to seek pleasure 
and avoid pain, whether that 
be the pain of withdrawal 
or the aftertaste of collard 
greens. It can be difficult to 
resist sugar especially when 
it is all around you — from 
donut sales in Mason Hall 
to jungle juice at parties to 
chocolate chip cookies at 
Mosher-Jordan 
Residence 
Hall’s dining hall. 
So where do we go from 
here? The first option is 
substitution. We all get that 
sweet tooth every once in a 
while, but how we choose 
to satisfy the sugar craving 
makes 
all 
the 
difference. 
Instead of grabbing candy, 
try a piece of fruit. This way 
you can still get your sugar 
fix, but without overdosing 
on added sugars. Another 
option is incorporating more 
DHA-rich foods into your 
diet. These include walnuts, 
salmon, edamame and kidney 
beans. A diet rich in DHA 
can counteract the sugar, 
increasing 
learning 
and 
memory by strengthening the 
synapses within the brain. 
For the risk-takers, another 
option is to challenge yourself 
to a sugar detox.
Sure, 
sugar 
overdosing 
probably 
does 
not 
fully 
account for failing an exam, 
but I do think there is enough 
evidence to convince me to 
put down the Sour Patch 
Kids and reach for a healthier 
alternative next time I’m 
struggling to keep my brain 
working through a practice 
exam late at night.

Emily Ulrich can be reached at 

emulrich@umich.edu.

SHAD JEFFREY II | COLUMN

What music will define the 2010s?
W

hen I was younger, 
I used to listen to 
music from different 
decades with family members 
based on what they grew up 
listening to. The 1950s and ’60s 
with my grandparents, the 1970s 
and ’80s with my parents, the 
1990s and 2000s with my older 
sister. It was easy for me to 
separate music chronologically, 
based on the sounds I heard 
alone — my ear had been 
trained to differentiate the hard 
feedback of the Rolling Stones’ 
recordings from the soft vocals 
of The Eagles, and the upbeat 
rhythm of ’80s pop from ’90s 
grunge. 
With a few more years behind 
me, 
I’ve 
given 
more 
focus 
toward genres of music rather 
than simply categorizing music 
chronologically. 
In 
today’s 
generation of young people, 
with wide access to music 
streaming services like Spotify, 
Apple Music, SoundCloud and 
YouTube, how do we put a label, 
a sound or a rhythm to the music 
of the 2010s?
Wide and instant access to 
music has deeply specialized 
the tastes of the generation 
who defined the culture of the 
2010s, who I will say range 
between the ages of 16 and 30 
presently, as they came of age 
during this decade and had 
the most influence on popular 
culture. 
We 
don’t 
have 
to 
choose between a handful of 
radio stations to define our 
personalities and tastes, we can 
explore and delve into any niche 
we can find. We’re no longer 
dependent on the radio disk-
jockey, American BandStand 
or 
Billboard 
for 
discovery. 
Ultimately, our music taste 
feels less united than in past 
generations. Taking a sampling 
of the most popular songs from 
the last decade is interesting 
because the sound doesn’t feel 
quite as homogenous as it does 
when you look back at a decade 

like the 1960s or ’70s. While 
different genres were consumed 
by different people then as they 
are now, it seems the effects 
of technology on culture and 
music have led us to extreme 
specification, and — in some 
ways — polarization. 
The range of songs that 
defined this period are as 
diverse as they come, from 
“Levels” 
to 
“Despacito” 
to 
“Uptown 
Funk.” 
Reviewing 
the list of songs that Billboard 
published that “defined the 
decade” is fascinating, with 
so many genres and different 
sounds represented, a future 
and hypothetical “Best of the 
2010s” radio station could never 
exist. An “oldies” station for my 
generation would have to be so 
widely encompassing that, in an 
attempt to appeal to everyone, it 
might fail to attract anyone. The 
diversity of this generation’s 
tastes could never be bottled 
into a radio station, and in fact, 
most of us don’t listen to the 
radio anymore at all.

The increased use of the 
auxiliary cord and Bluetooth 
technology, 
coupled 
with 
the rise of smartphones and 
streaming services, has allowed 
people to control their own 
vibes in a way that radio or 
mix-CDs never could. Each 
song and each rhythm is in the 
power of the listener and that 
has 
fundamentally 
changed 
how we enjoy music collectively. 
With so much more to choose 

from, we aren’t categorized by 
one genre or sound from the 
past 10 years, there isn’t one 
popular or mainstream sound 
to base counterculture and 
“countermusic” off of anymore.
There are many arguments 
as to how streaming services 
negatively 
impact 
artists 
and put less money in their 
pockets. 
On 
the 
opposite 
side of the spectrum, it has 
become significantly easier and 
cheaper for artists, especially 
new artists, to release music, 
market themselves and reach 
a niche with the current music 
streaming 
and 
consumption 
infrastructure. 
Spotify 
and 
SoundCloud allow you to upload 
your music for free and receive 
money based on listens, which 
represents a sort of “bottom-up” 
approach to the music industry 
where 
new 
and 
relatively 
unknown 
artists 
aren’t 
dependent on major labels or 
high-budget studio albums to 
see a payday.
It seems we are less united 
by a common music taste than 
in generations past — but this 
shared experience of growing 
up 
with 
and 
embracing 
technology has separated our 
human experience from those 
that came before us, and has 
created a new shared identity 
of experiencing life and culture 
in a way that it never has been 
before. Our generation has 
pioneered the full integration 
of life and tech, and it will 
be extremely interesting to 
see how we are observed and 
studied by future generations. 
The variety of music that has 
defined the 2010s won’t be able 
to be encompassed by a “Best 
of the 19-XXs” radio station, 
but that doesn’t mean we won’t 
remember 
the 
meaningful 
tracks 
that 
defined 
our 
generation. 

Shad Jeffrey II can be reached at 

shadj@umich.edu.

SUNGMIN CHO | COLUMN

The American experience is not universal

N

ominated 
for 
six 
Oscars 
last 
week, 
“Parasite” 
became 
the 
first 
Korean 
movie 
to be nominated for Best 
International 
Film. 
This 
reminded the public of an 
interview the director Bong 
Joon-ho had last October, 
in which he said he was not 
expecting much from the 
Oscars. It may have just been 
his humility, but it’s likely his 
pessimism was based on the 
fact that a Korean film has 
never been nominated for the 
award. However, it was his 
next comment that surprised 
many American critics. “It’s 
a little strange, but it’s not a 
big deal. The Oscars are not 
an international film festival. 
They’re very local,” Joon-
ho said. He shocked many 
Americans by categorizing 
the Oscars, long perceived as 
one of the most prestigious 
film gatherings in the world, 
as a local event. It is, in fact, 
a local event. The Oscars only 
recognize movies “for paid 
admission in a commercial 
motion picture theater in Los 
Angeles County.” I’m not a 
film expert, but the reason 
I’m introducing this news 
byte is to point out that some 
Americans often forget that 
“American” does not mean 
“universal.”
As an international student 
born and raised in South 
Korea, it’s often shocking 
to see how some American 
people perceive the world. 
In 
courses 
that 
address 
United 
States 
government 
and 
politics, 
instructors 
will 
sometimes 
refer 
to 
background 
knowledge 
by 
asking students to think about 
what they learned about the 

Civil War in high school or 
the American values they 
were taught growing up. They 
were not cognizant of the fact 
that there were international 
students in the class, people 
who were unfamiliar with 
these 
common 
American 
teachings. These instances 
reflect how some Americans, 
even those who are well-
educated, are indifferent to 
or even unaware of the rest 
of the world. While American 
universities may claim to be 
global centers of knowledge, 
Joon-ho describes them as 
“insulated worlds” detached 
from other cultures.

Although, 
it 
is 
natural 
for anyone to feel attached 
to 
their 
country, 
I 
find 
America’s 
indifference 
toward 
foreign 
cultures 
extraordinary 
because 
it 
starkly contrasts what I was 
taught about the world. The 
Korean mandatory education 
system teaches every student 
Korean, English and a choice 
of a second foreign language. 
Under the equivalent of K-12, 
each student is required to 
learn English from third grade 
and an additional foreign 
language from eighth grade, 
and the Korean SAT tests all 
three languages. This is not 

about excessive education, 
but rather about recognizing 
that not everyone speaks one 
language, and it is important 
to learn how to communicate 
with people from different 
countries.
Meanwhile, 
minorities 
in 
the U.S. are still mocked for 
speaking languages other than 
English in public. An online 
critic responded to this with 
a burning satire, saying, “ ‘It’s 
rude not speaking English in 
public places.’ Aw, does it remind 
you that you can only speak 
one 
language?” 
Observing, 
or even experiencing, such 
incidents makes one realize 
how provincial perspectives 
are responsible for exclusive 
society.
Compared to “international 
student,” 
imagine 
how 
awkward “domestic student” 
sounds. American students 
in an American institution 
are domestic students, but 
to 
an 
American 
listener, 
that 
way 
of 
categorizing 
might sound strange because 
“American” has always been the 
default. Every time I walk on 
the Diag and see the American 
flag, I feel ambivalent. On one 
hand, it reminds me of the 
rich democratic history I 
learn about every day, and 
I understand why so many 
people 
are 
patriotic 
to 
this country. On the other 
hand, I wish that someday 
studying in the U.S., I no 
longer need to come up with 
a random Hollywood movie 
as 
a 
substitute 
for 
my 
actual 
favorite 
movie 
for 
an icebreaker, which is not 
American.

Sungmin Cho can be reached at 

csungmin@umich.edu.

Each song and 
each rhythm is in 
the power of the 
listener. 

Americans are 
indifferent to the 
or even unaware 
of the rest of the 
world.

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The sugar craving 
becomes more 
like an addiction, 
making it hard 
to replace that 
late night snack 
with something 
nutritious.

MADELYN VERVAECKE | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT MIVERVAE@UMICH.EDU

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