Sugar and Its Side Effects: Its Not That Sweet After All

We often commit the mistake of associating sugar with excess weight gain only, but the reality is far from this. Sugar is one food item that harms almost every organ in your body. Right from increasing the number of triglycerides, which leads to cardiovascular disease, to suppressing immune system, speeding the aging process, increasing cholesterol levels, increases hypertension; there is no harm sugar can’t bring to your body.

Effects of too much sugar in the diet can be really deteriorating for your overall health and well being. So, today we have decided to come up with a rundown of exactly what happens to your body when you eat too much sugar. Here we go with top side effects of sugar:

Spikes blood glucose levels 

Any kind of instability in your blood glucose levels often leads to mood swings, fatigue, sugar craving and headaches. Sugar cravings set a cycle of addiction in your body, in which a new shot from sugar makes you feel better temporarily. But after few hours, you start craving for more sugar and also start feeling hungry. On the contrary, people who avoid sugar report to have less or no sugar cravings, which makes them feel energized and emotionally balanced.

Increases risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes 

Time and again it has been proved that excess consumption of foods with high glycemic index, it is a number that indicates the effects of a particular food item on a person’s blood glucose levels, ones which brings spike to blood sugar levels quickly, including sugar and foods containing sugar, thus increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease manifolds.

It interferes with your immune system 

Consumption of sugar in excess suppresses your immune system response time, thus making you prone to infections and illness. It is a known fact that yeast and bacteria feed on sugar and once these organisms go out of balance in our body, they make way for the growth of infections and diseases.

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May lead to chromium deficiency 

A diet with high sugar content along with other refined carbohydrates creates deficiency of chromium, an important trace mineral, in your body. One of the main functions of chromium in human body is to regulate blood sugar. A variety of animal foods, seafood and plant foods are considered good sources of chromium, however addition of refining starches, sugar and other carbohydrates rob these food items of their chromium supply.

It accelerates aging

This might come as a surprise to many but excess sugar consumption contributes to some of the prominent, telltale early signs of aging like sagging skin. The sugar your consume hits your bloodstream and then attaches itself to the protein in a process called glycation. The new molecular structure formed after this activity contributes to the loss of elasticity found in body tissues forming from your skin to body organs and arteries. The more sugar you consume the faster the damage.

Sugar causes tooth decay

Amidst all the the life threatening effects of eating too much sugar, we often overlook the most threats it posses to our bodies like tooth decay. The moment it sits on your teeth, it has the power to cause more decay than any other food item in the world. If you are not too convinced with this argument, then try that old tooth in a glass of aerated drink test and you will be convinced about the side effects of sugar on your teeth.

Gum disease caused because of sugar may lead to heart disease. 

Several researches and studies have shown that chronic infections resulting from periodontal problems play a great role in developing coronary artery diseases. This has a direct connection to the theory of body’s inflammatory response to infections.

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Sugar increases stress 

One of the main reasons why sugar is bad for you is that it spikes stress hormones, which are already on rise when we are under stress. These stress hormones also act as an attack and escape tool, when our body experiences low or high blood sugar levels. So when you binge on a chocolate cake, your body witnesses a sudden rise in blood sugar levels. After that, a compensatory dive starts taking place within the body, which begins with the release of stress hormones like adrenaline, epinephrine and cortisol. These hormones then provides energy boost to the body. The problem here is, this sudden spike in blood sugar leaves us feeling anxious, shaky and irritable, which are also some of the common effects of stress.

It replaces important nutrients required by the body

According to the data published by USDA (U.S. Department for Agriculture), people who consume more sugar have less amounts of essential nutrients, such as, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, vitamin B-12, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and iron in their body. Ironically, teenagers and children are the one’s most affected by natural nutrients deficiency caused by the dangers of refined sugar, and they are the one’s who need these ingredients the most.

How to decrease sugar intake in your diet?

Now that you are aware of the harmful effects of sugar on the body and mind too, you must understand the ways in which you can reduce its intake in your daily diet. The first step towards this direction is to find out the foods in which sugar lurks without you even knowing about it. Believe it or not, but it is not necessary for a food item to taste sweet to be loaded with sugar.

    RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO READ NUTRITION LABELS OF PACKAGED FOOD

To keep yourself and your family safe against the sugar health effects start being friendly with the labels of packaged and processed foods as they can tell you a lot about the sugar content in that food. Also, be aware of food items that say ‘low in carbs’ or ‘diet food’, these labels doesn’t mean that they are free from sugar. Also, if you are unable to curb your love from sweetness in life, then consider taking less harmful sugar substitues like stevia to curb your cravings.