Why Is Sugar Bad?

Why Is Sugar BadHow Harmful Can It Be For Your Body?

If you’re serious about shedding the pounds off of your body, then you might want to consider eliminating sugar from your diet completely. So why is sugar bad for you? Overall, this crystallized substance can have harmful effects on your metabolism and contribute to all sorts of diseases. In a little bit I’ll go over some pretty disturbing facts about sugar and how it can be pretty detrimental to your health. It’s important to note though that high consumption of sugar can lead to high triglyceride levels and lowers HDL cholesterol levels (good).

Sugar is a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink. So have you ever had the though run through your head as to why is sugar bad for you? Researchers have associated added sugar intake and dyslipidemia, which is when your have higher triglycerides and lower HDL or good cholesterol. It was also discovered that added sugars had an independent effect, separate and distinct from the added sugars’ impact on weight.

So Why Is Sugar Bad For You?

As delicious as sugar can be, when eating sweets it can be very detrimental to your health and causes serious health risks down the road. Here are 10 disturbing facts on why is sugar bad for you:

  1. Contains No Essential Nutrients & Bad For Your Teeth.
    • Added sugars contain a whole bunch of calories with NO essential nutrients such as, sucrose and high fructose corn syrup. These are called empty calories as they contain no proteins, essential fats, vitamins or minerals and just pure energy. If you were to consume 10-20% of calories as sugar this can become a major problem to your health and contribute to nutrient deficiencies.
  2. Added Sugar is High Fructose.
    • Before sugar enters the bloodstream from the digestive tract, it is broken down into two simple sugars; glucose and fructose. Glucose is found in every living cell on the planet, If we don’t get it from out diet, our body ends up producing it. Fructose, however, is different. Our bodies do not product it in any significant amount and there is no physiological need for it. When it comes to fructose our bodies can be metabolized by the liver in any significant amount. It is not a problem if we consume small amounts, however, fructose will be turned into glycogen and store into the liver until we need it.
  3. Overloading The Liver With Fructose.
    • When fructose gets turned into fat in the liver, it is shipped out as VLDL cholesterol particles. Not all of the fat gets out, some of it can lodge into the liver. This can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is a growing problem in Western countries that is strongly associated with metabolic diseases.
  4. Sugar Can Cause Insulin Resistance.
    • Insulin is very important for our bodies. It allows glucose to enter cells from the bloodstream and tells the cells to start burning glucose instead of fat. Too much glucose in the blood can be extremely toxic and one of the reasons for complications of diabetes.
  5. Insulin Resistance Progressing To Type II Diabetes.
    • Our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, the beta cells in our pancreas make more of it. It is crucial because chronically elevated blood sugars can cause severe harm. Overtime, the insulin become progressively worse, the pancreas can’t keep up with the demand of producing enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels down. This then causes the blood sugar levels to skyrocket and a diagnosis of type II diabetes is made.
  6. Causes Cancer.
    • As everyone knows, cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is characterized by uncontrolled growth and multiplication cells. Insulin is one of the key hormones in regulating this sort of growth. Many scientists tend to believe that having constantly elevated insulin levels can contribute to cancer.
  7. Fat Promoting Effects.
    • Studies have shown that different foods can have different effects on our brains and the hormones that control food intake. Studies show that fructose doesn’t have the same kind of effect on satiety as glucose. Fructose drinkers had much less activity in the satiety centers of the brain and felt hungrier. Overtime, calories from sugar aren’t as fulfilling, this can translate into an increase calorie intake.
  8. Highly Addictive.
    • Sugar causes a release of dopamine in the reward center of the brain. The problem with sugar and many junk foods is that they can cause massive dopamine release, much more than we were ever exposed to from foods found in nature. People who have a susceptibility to addiction can become strongly addicted to sugar and other junk foods.
  9. Leading Contributor To Obesity In Children and Adults.
    • Sugar affects hormones and the brain. It leads to decreased satiety and can get people addicted so that they can lose control over their consumption. Bottom line is that sugar on hormones and the brain, sugar dramatically increases the risk of becoming overweight or obese.
  10. Sugar Raises Cholesterol & Gives You Heart Disease.
    • New studies are beginning to prove that sugar could be a leading cause in heart disease. These studies have proven that large amounts of fructose can raise triglycerides, small, dense LDL and oxidized LDL raise blood glucose and insulin levels and increase abdominal obesity.

Make sure to frequently visit your doctor to make sure you are keeping your health in check!