Sugar: A Sweet Death Trap?
Picture a tray carrying warm gooey cookies, velvety cake, crunchy candies, and freshly baked caramel donuts. I bet your mouth is already watering and you are craving dessert.
You’re not alone. Resisting delectable sweets is probably something even superheroes can’t do!
So what is sugar?
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, sugar is sweet crystallizable material that consists wholly or essentially of sucrose,
Sugar makes up a big chunk of our daily food intake. Fruits, whole-grain, dairy products beverages, cereal, tea, and coffee all contain sugar in one form or another.
You must be wondering by now: what’s the big deal with sugar?
Let me break it to you. Sugar rich diet alone is responsible for a myriad of health issues ranging from obesity, depression tooth decays to more serious and life-threatening conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
Is All Sugar Bad?
In case you are curious whether all sugar is bad or not — the answer is no!
It all comes down to the source of sugar you’re consuming.
Sugar that is naturally found as a carbohydrate in whole grain fruits and rice is considered good sugar. Moderate intake of this type will not land you in the sea of diseases. Apart from sugar, these sources also provide you with fibers, antioxidants, and vitamins -the integral components of a healthy diet.
However, it’s quite the opposite with added sugar. This is sugar artificially added by manufacturers to products like beverages and cookies to enhance flavor and boost market value. Unchecked consumption of these items will make you sick in the long run.
Why is Sugar so Addicting?
What happens when you take a bite of warm fuzzy cake? You want to gobble it down in one sitting!
This happens because sugar works by activating the reward center in your brain. Every time you eat something sugary your body floods with dopamine which is associated with the pleasant euphoric feeling of eating sweets. Your body wants to experience this pleasurable experience again and again. This leads to addiction.
How Much Is Too Much?
American Heart Association suggests Americans downsize their added sugar input to help eliminate problems like obesity and heart disease-which are currently on the rise.
AHA recommends a controlled added sugar intake that does not exceed 100 calories (6 teaspoons) per day for adult women and less than 150 calories (9 teaspoons) per day for men.
The daily limit for children between the ages of 2–18 is not more than 6 teaspoons per day.
What Does Sugar Do to Your body?
Added sugar intake that exceeds the prescribed limit is associated with a multitude of harmful effects on the body. Below is a list of some of these conditions.
- Obesity
Processed fruit juices, beverages, and sodas are all easy calories. This means that with each sip you gulp down a ton of calories without any nutritional value. The dopamine drive that comes with it makes you crave more.
The body has an inbuilt mechanism that converts this extra sugar into fat stores.
Moreover, fructose in juices and syrups induces leptin resistance. This means you feel hungry all the time even though the body has adequate fat stores.
The result is that you end up being overweight which in itself is the root cause of many life-threatening conditions.
- Cardiovascular Diseases
According to a study published in JAMA International Medicine: A sugar-laden diet may raise your risk of dying of heart disease even if you aren’t overweight.
Studies have proven that your chance of suffering from a heart-related condition rises in proportion to your sugar consumption.
Exactly how sugar affects your heart, is not well established yet. But research has shown that obesity that stems from high sugar intake leads to a fatty liver. A fatty liver dumps fat into your bloodstream leading to clogged arteries which causes serious conditions like a heart attack.
Also, a sugar-rich diet leads to elevated blood pressure.
- Acne
Insulin is a hormone that is released in response to a surge in blood sugar. It helps to drop your blood sugar to a normal level. However, it is also linked to more androgen production which ultimately results in oily skin. This makes your skin more prone to acne.
- Type 2 Diabetes
Out of all the harmful things that sugar can do to your body, the most terrifying is diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease characterized by increased resistance of the body to insulin. this means chronically high blood sugar levels. Studies have revealed that excess consumption of added sugars is directly linked to a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Individuals who are overweight also have a higher chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes.
- Accelerated Aging
You’d be surprised to know that sugar is one of the culprits responsible for premature aging. The appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin before you hit your 60s are the evil doings of augmented blood sugar.
This happens through a process called glycation. Sugar in your blood latches onto protein molecules in your body including collagen and elastin both of which are responsible for plump and youthful skin. Through glycation, these proteins get damaged and make the skin look old and wrinkly.
The Bottom Line
Enough has been said about the disastrous effects added sugars can have on your body.
Of course, there is no harm in having a few guilty pleasures of treating yourself to desserts once in a while but you must stick to the principle of eating in moderation. You should also make a conscious effort to cut down added sugars from your diet and swap them with natural sugars from fruits and vegetables. This will not only satisfy your sweet tooth but also provide you with additional nutrients.
