From sodas to peanut butter to marinara to sweets to other processed foods, added sugar can be present in unexpected foods. Eating too much sugar might devastate your health.
Today, most people rely on processed foods for snacks and meals since they are quick and easy to access. These products often have added sugars that might interfere with your daily or normal calorie intake when taken in large proportion. The normal calorie intake in the US is supposed to have 17% added sugars for adults and 14% for children. Experts believe obesity and other chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes are caused by sugar consumption. Therefore, being careful with the amount of sugar taken daily can help keep your body healthy from any related symptoms. Here are reasons why consuming too much sugar might negatively affect your health.
Can Cause Weight Gain
Have you ever come across someone with obesity? This is a condition caused by a regular intake of added sugar foods or sugar-sweetened beverages. Today, obesity is one of the world’s dangerous conditions. It is also linked to other diseases like heart attacks, blood sugars, and high blood pressure that often cause death. Sugar-sweetened foods and drinks like juices, sweets, cakes, and sodas have high fructose content (simple sugar).
High consumption of fructose often increases hunger hence the desire to have food. It’s more effective in the body than glucose from starchy foods. Excessive consumption of simple sugars might cause leptin resistance. This is an essential hormone in the body meant for regulating hunger. When hunger is not curbed, you are likely to take in liquid calories, easily leading to obesity. Also, visceral fat is brought about by consuming many foods with a high amount of sugar. This is often linked to conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
May Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease
Consumption of sugary foods is linked to an increased risk of numerous conditions and diseases, including heart disease. Heart diseases are categorized as one of the most dangerous disease-causing death. High sugar intake can lead to inflammation, obesity, blood sugar, blood pressure, and high triglyceride. These are the main risks associated with heart diseases.
A high intake of sugar-sweetened drinks is also associated with atherosclerosis. This disease is mainly characterized by artery-clogging deposits. For proper prevention from heart diseases, consider taking less than 10% calories. This will also help restore the number of sugars in your body.
Drains Your Energy
Foods and beverages containing high sugar content quickly spike your body’s insulin and blood sugar level. This increases your energy. However, the rise in the levels of energy is fleeting. Most of these sugary foods often contain less protein, fat, and fiber, thus boosting your energy for a short time. The energy sharply drops down, leading to low blood sugars. Fluctuating energy levels are often caused by swings in blood sugar. Avoid taking too many sugar-sweetened foods and choose some carbs that are rich in both protein and fiber. This will help maintain the energy levels in your body.
Increases Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Today, diabetes has been rated as one of the world’s prevalent conditions over the past three decades. For something to be intense, there must be a reason behind it. Studies show that diabetes risk is associated with the high consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and foods. Obesity is one of the major symptoms of diabetes. Blood levels in the body are regulated by Insulin. However, if it is damaged due to access sugar, it is likely to cause diabetes.
The resistance of insulin in the body causes high levels of blood sugars that, in turn, increase the risks of getting diabetes. When taking in foods like fruits, juices, and other sugar-sweetened foods, concentrate on the amount to prevent the development of diabetes.
May Increase Your Risk of Cancer
The development of cancer in the body can also be caused by excessive eating of sugary foods. Obesity is a condition caused by sugary beverages and foods. People with obesity have a high chance of developing cancer. Moreover, sugar-sweetened beverages also increase inflammation-causing insulin resistance, thus increasing the risk of cancer. To prevent yourself from the risk of developing cancer, consider eating foods with no sugars.When you eat, take the recommended amount.
Can Increase Cellular Aging
Genetic information in the chromosomes is held by Telomeres molecules. These molecules are protective caps, prevent your chromosomes from fusing together or deteriorating. The telomeres often shorten, thus causing aging as you grow older. Cell aging and malfunction are caused by these molecules. Although telomere shortening is normal, an unhealthy lifestyle can speed it up, thus causing early aging. The main food causing this is the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Consider eating the required number of calories to help prevent your cells from aging faster.
May Increase Your Risk of Depression
Healthy foods or diets often help improve your daily moods. However, this might not be the case when you consume foods with high added sugars. High levels of sugar in the body are likely to increase the risk of developing depression. Therefore, consider cutting the use of these foods to prevent the development of depression.
How to Reduce Your Sugar Intake
Excessive consumption of high sugary foods often has numerous negative effects on health. Eating these foods in small amounts irregularly might be good, but it’s perfect when you cut off the use of foods with added sugar. Here are tips you can apply to reduce your daily sugar intake.
- Swap energy drinks, sodas, sweetened teas, and juice for unsweetened seltzer or pure water.
- Consume drinks with zero sugars or zero calories like black coffee or Stevia.
- Avoid flavored yogurt and consider the frozen berries or plain yogurt.
- Consider using vinegar or olive oil instead of salads.
- Choose but butters, marinara, and marinades since they are zero sugars.
- Instead of morning cereals and oats, consider fresh berries or nut butter.
- Avoid consuming alcoholic beverages sweetened with juice, honey, agave, soda, or sugar.
Final Thoughts
Consuming too much sugar comes with several negative effects on the body. Sweetened foods and beverages often cause weight gain, heart disease, depression, diabetes, cancer, and aging. Therefore, consider taking the required amount or cut these foods off completely. This will help prevent you from these dangerous conditions. Maintain a healthy diet daily and have to restore your health.
GP
The work of a family doctor includes a wide range of clinical diversity, which requires extensive knowledge and erudition from a specialist. However, I believe that the most important thing for a family doctor is to be human because the cooperation and understanding between the doctor and the patient are crucial in ensuring successful health care. On my days off, I love being in nature. Since childhood, I have been passionate about playing chess and tennis. Whenever I have time off, I enjoy traveling around the world.
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