Too much sugar is bad for you

In today’s fast-paced world, many people lean towards ready-to-eat, packaged and processed foods. Unknown to many, these products contain sugar and are not very healthy to consume on a regular basis. While sugar is not bad in itself, consuming these products increases the individuals daily caloric intake which can be detrimental to one’s health in the long run. Some of the ways in which sugar is bad for our health is described below.

Causes Weight Gain

Consumption of sugar, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages, is a major cause of weight gain. They contain fructose, a simple sugar that increases hunger and desire for food more than glucose, which is the healthier, complex type of sugar found in starchy foods. Leptin resistance is also caused by excessive fructose consumption which is the hormone that regulates hunger and signals the body to stop eating. The is makes it easier to consume more liquid calories that lack nutrition and lead to weight gain. It also leads to an increased amount of visceral fat, (a kind of deep belly fat) which is linked to conditions like diabetes and heart disease

Increases Heart Disease Risk:

Diabetes and heart disease have been associated with high-sugar diets for a long time. This is because high-sugar diets can result in obesity, inflammations, high triglyceride, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels, which are all risk factors for heart disease. A high-sugar diet has also been found to be a contributing factor towards fatty deposits that clog the arteries, a condition termed atherosclerosis. This becomes easier to understand when we realize that just one can of a cold drink contains 52 grams of sugar, which is more than 10% of the recommended daily calorie consumption. Drinking just one can of a cold drink take a person over the recommended daily limit for added sugar. Studies show that people who consume 17-21% of calories from added sugar are at a 38% higher risk of dying from heart disease.

Thus, sugar needs to be consumed in moderation. It is better to use table sugar as little as possible and choose natural or artificial sweeteners for diabetics as a part of a healthy lifestyle.