How Sugar Ruins Your Health

Have you ever taken into consideration the amount of refined sugar that you incorporate within your daily diet ? The number could take you by surprise, as it does many people who are unaware of the sugary-sweetness that creeps into their lives.

Although many people link the excessive refine sugar intake to weight gain, the small grained sugar doesn’t just stop there. Scientists are now claiming many of the world’s health problems are also linked to the doubled and tripled amounts of sugar intake that society is now making a part of their daily diets.

With the gratifying feeling that comes from sugar, also comes excessive amounts of ingestion without the conscious reality of how much is actually being consumed. Sugar intake gives you a rewarding and happy feeling, but not because of the taste, although that could be part, the sugar releases a chemical in the brain called dopamine. This chemical sends out “reward” signal signifying you are making a pleasurable choice. With the help of dopamine, it is easy to see why many suffer the “sweet tooth” dilemma and also why the consumption of excessive sugar intake continues to rise.

Many problems can derive from excessive sugar intake.  Weight gain is the most popularized consequence in an overly sweet diet. With the increase of calories it is obvious that refined sugar does lead to weight management and gaining issues. Your “sweet tooth” could have you grabbing for high sugar and calorie packaged food items, sodas, and candy but the weight gain is not the only problem coming from these high commodities. Scientists are now suggesting that heart disease is closely related to the poor diets across the world in which refined sugar amounts are to the extreme.

With the newly processed-food craze, society’s cardiovascular health is at risk. Soft drinks have been labeled as the main culprit as many scientists begin to try and pin-point the sugary villain. The average person claims to drink close to three sodas daily and in turn, this equals roughly around 420 sugar calories from the fizzy drink alone.  The recommendation of sugar intake for men is 150 calories a day, and for women a small amount of 100 calories. As you can see the intake of sugar calories solely based on sodas is more than tripled for the average person.

Without taking into consideration any other sugar intake throughout the day it is clear to see the recommendations are being exceeded by a large amount. Other health problems have also been linked to digesting large amounts of sugar. Health problems such as cancer and type 2 diabetes have also been related to high sugar diets.

Some other health issues linked to high consumption of sugar include:

– immune system suppression
– rise in cholesterol and triglycerides
– allergies
– pancreas damage
– headaches, including migraines
– high blood pressure

So what can you do to help cut the un-needed sugar out of your diet? Turning to fruit could be an easy way stray away from the overly processed foods that consist of hidden sugar calories. With the healthy choice of fruit your body will get a wholesome amount of fructose sugar and nutrients in, which your body can use and will crave. Another source of healthy sugar comes from honey. Being naturally sweeter than refined sugar it takes less to sweeten. The natural sweetener can replace the amounts of sugar added to drinks such as tea. Lastly, yogurt can be used to satisfy the “sweet tooth” craving. With probiotic attributes the yogurt is a good substitution for many high sugar processed foods.

With studies unfolding, it is evident that excessive sugar intake can lead to dangerous health issues. A look into your sugar consumption can help create a healthy lifestyle and could potentially prevent health hazards.

Written by Brittany Brown