Of all the foods consumed today, refined sugar is considered
to be one of the most harmful..Today we have a nation that is addicted
to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year)
was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes
his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup. To add more
horrors to these facts there are some people that use no sweets and some
who use much less than the average figure, which means that there is a
percentage of the population that consume a great deal more refined sugar
than their body weight. The human body cannot tolerate this large amount
of refined carbohydrates. The vital organs in the body are actually damaged
by this gross intake of sugar. These are some of the effect of excessive sugar intake.
1. Cavities
Trust your dentist on this one: Sugar is such an enemy to dental health that one study way back in 1967
called it the "arch criminal" behind cavities. The connection between
sugar and cavities is perhaps the best established. "Tooth decay occurs
when the bacteria that line the teeth feed on simple sugars, creating
acid that destroys enamel," Anahad O'Connor explains at The New York Times. Because acid is a key culprit, sour candies are especially nefarious.
2. Insatiable hunger
Leptin is a hormone that lets your body know when you've had enough
to eat. In people who develop leptin resistance, this "I'm full" signal
is never received, presenting a major obstacle for weight control.
3. Weight gain
Other than adopting a completely sedentary lifestyle, there are few
routes to packing on the pounds that work as swiftly and assuredly as
making large amounts of added sugars a staple of your daily diet. Sugary
foods are full of calories but will do little to satiate your hunger." Want to lose weight? Cutting your sugar intake is a good place
to start.
4. Diabetes
.Diabetes is another commonly known disease caused
by sugar as well as a high fat diet. Diabetes is caused by the failure
of the pancreas to produce adequate insulin when the blood sugar rises.
A concentrated amount of sugar introduced into the system sends the body
into shock from the rapid rise in the blood sugar level. The pancreas eventually
wears out from overwork and diabetes then rears its ugly head.
5. Obesity
Obesity is one of the most-cited risks of excess sugar consumption.
Just one can of soda each day could lead to 15 pounds of weight gain in a
single year, and each can of soda increases the odds of becoming obese. Sugar may well raise the risk of obesity directly, but the
association could be mediated by diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or other
diet and exercise habits associated with high-sugar diets. And it's
possible that soda is uniquely pernicious, above and beyond other sugary
foods.
6. Liver failure
Because of the unique way we metabolize fructose, it creates a stress
response in the liver that can exacerbate inflammation. High doses of
sugar can make the liver go into overdrive. That's one reason excess
fructose is a "key player" in the development of nonalcoholic fatty
liver disease, where fat accumulates in the liver in the absence of
alcohol abuse.
People with this diagnosis have been found to have almost double the
soda intake of the average person. Most don't experience any
complications and don't realize they have it. But in some people, the
accumulated fat can lead to scarring in the liver and eventually
progress to liver failure.
7. Pancreatic cancer
A handful of studies have found that high-sugar diets are associated
with a slightly elevated risk of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest
cancers. The link may be because high-sugar diets are associated with
obesity and diabetes, both of which increase the likelihood someone will
develop pancreatic cancer. Still, one large study published in the
International Journal of Cancer disputed the link between increased
sugar intake and increased cancer risk, so more research is needed.
8. Kidney disease
The idea that a high-sugar diet — and too much soda in particular —
may be a risk factor for kidney disease is still just a hypothesis, but
there's some reason for concern. "Findings suggest that sugary soda
consumption may be associated with kidney damage," concluded one study
of 9,358 adults. (The association emerged only in those drinking two or
more sodas a day.) Rats fed extremely high-sugar diets — consuming
about 12 times the percentage of sugar recommended in the WHO's new
guidelines — developed enlarged kidneys and a host of problems with
regular kidney function.
9. High blood pressure
Hypertension is usually associated with salty foods, not desserts —
but eating lots of added sugar has indeed been linked to high blood
pressure. In one study following 4,528 adults without a history of
hypertension, consuming 74 or more grams of sugar each day was strongly
associated with an elevated risk of high blood pressure.
In another very small study following only 15 people, researchers
found that drinking 60 grams of fructose elicited a spike in blood
pressure two hours later. This response may be related to the fact that
digesting fructose produces uric acid, but — as one meta-analysis of the
data concluded — "longer and larger trials are needed."
10. Heart disease
Heart disease may not get as much time in the spotlight as diseases like cancer and AIDS, but it is in fact the number one cause of death
in the United States. While smoking and a sedentary lifestyle have long
been acknowledged as major risk factors. Conditions associated with
excess sugar consumption, like diabetes and being overweight, are also
already known risk factors
for heart disease, and recent research suggests that eating too much
sugar might stack the odds against your heart health — especially if you
are a woman.
11. Addiction
Doctors don't all agree the "food addiction" you read about in diet
books is a real thing, but there's recently been some research
indicating that the disorder might be possible in humans. And there is
evidence that rats can become dependent on sugar, further supporting the
idea that similar behavior might be present in humans.
Just curious!! I hear pple say we should take honey instead of sugar now a wanna know. Sinc u say a teaspoon of sugar in tea is enough, is that same measurement good for honey or in d case of honey no Mata d quantity you use it is still ok?
ReplyDelete@Kozylee, One teaspoon of table sugar contains 16 calories, while one teaspoon of honey has 22 calories.
ReplyDeleteThe same measurement isn't good for you health.