Why Sugar Is Enemy #1 To Good Health

Have you been to the supermarket shopping for groceries in the last couple of weeks? Then you probably have noticed a particular trend on most of the products. Well, these days most of the products feature a “low fat” label on them.

That’s because eating low fat and healthy food is essential to staying fit in the hectic modern world.

However, if most of the foods are low fat, why is the obesity rate increasing rather than decreasing?

The answer is sugar. Yes, the part of the diet that is mostly known for providing instant energy is also the primary cause of the obesity epidemic. Even the non-diabetic and fit people are susceptible to the damages of sugar that can affect the body in various ways.

Let’s have a look at the various adverse effects that your body may feel due to the regular consumption of sugar.

Poor Dental Health

The human mouth is full of hundreds of bacteria most of which are oral ecosystem friendly. However, with the presence of sugar, the mouth environment gets affected and becomes ideal for the growth of harmful bacteria. These bacteria feed on the sweet and sticky layer of sugar, releasing harmful acids along the way.

This acid slowly dissolves the tooth enamel making it vulnerable to erosion, which then leads to cavities. It is also a cause of bad breath.

Sugar Is an Energy Drainer

Eating foods that are high in sugar content quickly boost the level of glucose and insulin in the body, leading to instant energy.

However, a diet high in sugar is not balanced. It lacks most of the other nutrients like proteins, fats, fibers, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Due to the lack of these nutrients, the body soon has to face a drastic drop in blood sugar levels. The sudden decrease can make the body weak, and sometimes the person may feel dizzy and faint.

Moreover, this sudden rise and drop cycle affect the overall working of the body down to the cellular level causing serious functionality crashes. It makes the body tired, exhausted and increases the craving for more sweeteners.

Cells Getting Resistant To Insulin

Sugar contains a fair amount of glucose, which, in digested form, is an excellent source of energy. However, if the level of sugar in the blood increases to excess level, the pancreas has to secrete more than usual quantity of digestive enzymes.

As a result, the cells become familiar to more high levels of insulin and develop an immunity to it. They become insulin resistant, and from this stage, metabolic problems start to emerge.

The early symptoms of these metabolic diseases include elevated blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, laziness, and low energy level.

Sick or Fatty Liver

Everything that you consume gets converted to two simple forms, glucose and fructose. The first part, glucose is an excellent energy source, so the body uses it to fuel all the cells. However, the other part, fructose is sent to the liver. The liver digests this sugar type and converts it to glycogen, and stores it for future use.

But with excess consumption of fructose through fruits, honey, or any other source, the amount of glycogen increases and gets transformed into fats. These fats obstruct the normal functioning cycle of the liver, which then leads to fatty-liver syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

Triggers Heart Diseases

Sugar is one of the main culprits for the stubborn fat content of your body. No wonder it’s one of the most common reasons for heart attacks. The extra effort that the body has to apply for digesting the sugar has a direct impact of the heart. The bulk increases the strain of the heart muscles and can cause heart failure. Worst of all, you don’t have to be overweight for this damage to occur.

The sticky sweetener is also known to boost both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. It also messes with the lipid levels in the bloodstream, which results in cholesterol level. Also, it is universally accepted that a high cholesterol level contributes greatly to cardiovascular diseases.

Premature Ageing

Human blood contains a particular type of protein fiber known by the name collagen. This fiber provides strength and cushioning to the various body areas including the skin. It is also responsible for maintaining the elasticity of the skin.

When the level of sugar in the blood rises to a certain degree, it starts to combine with this skin fiber using the process of glycation. The saggy skin, wrinkles, and deep-lines are all a byproduct of this joining process.

Sugar also has some chemical that causes an inflammatory effect on the cellular level. These effects are the primary cause of acne and other skin diseases.

Further, high sugar levels lead to atherosclerosis, cataract formation, arterial stiffness, neurological impairment, and Alzheimer’s. All these diseases along with some others like diabetes, and cancer, makes the body weak hence age faster.

Disturbs The Immunity System

The worst part of having a high sugar level isn’t the diseases that come with it; it’s the vulnerability that comes with it. It is an ideal food for yeast and other bacteria, and that includes the ones already inside the body and the ones responsible for infections.

Sugar creates a beacon for the microbes and helps them to grow at a rapid scale. The immune system tries to stop the growth but the bacteria quantity can quickly increase to a level where the immunity system begins to fail. At this point, the body is open for all exterior attacks and foreign bodies, completely defenseless. Moreover, this breakdown of the immunity system isn’t for minutes; it can last for hours, which is enough to make anyone seriously sick.

Sugar Creates Junkies

One of the most bizarre facts about sugar is that it can trigger the brain’s pleasure center. It releases neurotransmitters like dopamine and opioids, which are very addictive. Once the brain gets used to them, it gets attracted to anything which can supply these enzymes. It keeps on looking for substances of the same line as sugar which lead it to drugs, alcohol and other additives with same mood-enhancing qualities.

Even if the drug and alcohol are absent, you will need a regular dose of sugar. This daily requirement will keep on increasing to a level where avoiding sweet things for a single day will become challenging

Sugar Cause Weird Hunger Cycles

Sugar is a source of energy, but it cannot satisfy hunger. If you eat or drink something with high sugar content, it will likely fulfill the body’s energy needs, but that feeling of being hungry will remain. The body will crave for more food.

So you might end up eating a lot of extra during the next meal. It is also possible that you try to compensate for this hunger with more sugar. In both these case, the body will end with more than the required glucose.

In the worst scenario, the fructose will decrease the flow of leptin in the body which will end in a high amount of hunger hormone ghrelin, forcing you to eat more.

Summary

A majority of people facing the situation of obesity blame fats for it. They try to avoid all the foods and drinks with high-fat content, without actually realizing that the actual culprit for their condition is still a part of their diet.

The ones who realize the risk of eating sugar, try to cut it completely, which makes the situation worst. Without sugar, there will be no ATP production and no fuel for the cells of the body.

The thing is you don’t have to eliminate sugar from the diet; you just have to regulate it. Replacing refined sugar with natural variants in a controlled fashion is the only way to deal with it.

So, understand the risk of both eating and eliminating the sugar and decide your next step as if your life depends on it… because it does.