Do you know sugar has a bittersweet reputation as it can have a negative impact on health? Keeping this in mind, we will look at a few reasons that will assert why you should cut off excess sugar for healthy living. Our daily meal contains sugar, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and grains but all these products contain natural sugars, essential minerals, antioxidants, fibers, etc., and are good for health.
But if we consider the refined sugar found in packed fruit juices, soft drinks, cereals, cookies, cakes, and candies, some manufacturers add sugar to enhance their flavor or shelf life. Excessive sugar consumption can be an unnecessary and unhealthy source of calories, which puts our health at risk.
Reasons Why You Should Cut Off Excess Sugar
1. Causes Inflammation
Inflammation is the natural healing process of our body. During an injury, our body releases chemicals to defend against harmful organisms.
But how is high sugar consumption linked to chronic inflammation? Let’s check it.
- First, the high sugar amount in the bloodstream binds to protein or fat and produces the harmful substance called Advanced Glycerin End products (AGES). The AGEs may cause oxidative stress and inflammation.
- Secondly, undigested food particles, bacteria, and other toxins move out of the gut and enter into the bloodstream, leading to inflammation.
- Third, excess amounts of bad cholesterol in the blood are associated with a high amount of the inflammatory markers C reactive protein.
Remember. Inflammation is unlikely to be caused by sugar alone. Other possible factors enhance the chances of chronic inflammation, such as smoking, excess fat intake, stress, and some medications, etc. People with chronic inflammation may suffer from diabetes, anxiety, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer, and many more.
2. Increases The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
There is a clear link between high sugar consumption and diabetes. Also, obesity is a significant factor for diabetes due to its high sugar intake. Our blood sugar level is regulated by the hormone insulin released by the pancreas.
Diabetes results when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin and even cells become resistant to the action of the same. Instead of sugar moving into cells for energy requirement, its concentration gets increased in the bloodstream.
Being overweight is also another factor for type 2 diabetes due to enough sugar intake. But not necessarily all diabetic patients are overweight.
3. Heart Diseases
Consuming excess sugar increases the risk of dying with heart diseases. Research suggests that sugary beverages stimulate the liver to dump harmful fats in the bloodstream, which boosts cardiac risks.
Also, sugar-sweetened drinks causes the arteries to be clogged with fatty deposits and make it hard and stiff. This condition is called atherosclerosis and leads to a heart attack.
4. Cancer
You might have heard that consuming more sweets can cause chronic disease cancer. In some ways, it is true. Let’s see how?
Every cell in our body uses glucose to gain energy for proper body functioning. When cancer cells have fastened and in an uncontrolled growth, it use 200 times more glucose than normal cells to fuel their growth.
These cancerous cells get sugar from your sugary diet and also from your daily food meals such as dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and rice. So far the study suggests that sweetened drinks raise the chances of cancer of the esophagus by 70% or more.
Other factors such as obesity, and inflammation due to heavy sugar consumption can also cause cancer.
5. Skin Problem Acne
Acne is the most common problem among youngsters because of highly processed, carbs-rich, and sugar-laden foods. Sugary foods quickly spike blood sugar and insulin levels, which enhances androgen secretion, oil production, and inflammation, resulting in acne development.
Another problem is yeast infection, which is a warning sign that your blood sugar level is too high. You may notice symptoms like:
- Itching under your breasts, armpits
- Pain or discharge from the vagina
- Itching under the foreskin in men
6. Fatty Liver
A high amount of sugar consumption, mainly fructose, is responsible for the fatty liver. The normal metabolism process of fructose is broken down and converted into energy or stored as glycogen. However, the liver can not store this much amount of glycogen. Therefore, it converts into fat as sugar overloads your liver and leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Other factors such as high refined carbs, impaired gut health, and insulin resistance also contributed to the condition.
7. Affects Mental Health
When you get hungry and have a delicious meal, you feel elated and euphoric. Your diet pattern has a long-term impact on your mental health. Eating too many sugar dense items affects your mood and causes depression. Researchers believe that blood sugar swings, neurotransmitter dysregulation, and inflammation may also be the reasons for depression.
8. Drains Your Energy Levels
Foods with a high amount of sugar raise your energy levels but this rise is fleeting. Products with loaded sugar but do not contain enough amount of proteins, fibres, or fat quickly boost your energy level followed by a sharp drop which is referred to as a crash.
To avoid an energy-draining cycle, choose a diet full of essential nutrients. Pairing carbs with proteins or fats is the best combination to stabilize your energy level.
1 thought on “8 Significant Reasons Why You Should Cut Off Excess Sugar”