The average person consumes over 150 pounds of sugar every year. This sugar comes from candy, soda and desserts but also the less obvious so called “healthy” shakes and drinks, condiments and packaged and prepared foods. The body breaks almost everything down to sugar. If you eat a bagel you are essentially eating sugar. If you eat an apple, it is also breaking down to sugar. Most foods are broken down to glucose with fat as the exception. Protein can be made into glucose with the help of the liver. We are essentially constantly supplying the body with sugar. We know that sugar is bad for your health, but you might not realize all the things it actually does to you!
- Sugar rots your teeth by feeding the cavity causing bacteria that live on the teeth.
- Sugar is often added to foods in the form of fructose, which is difficult for the body to metabolize and loads the liver with glucose. The liver can only hold so much glycogen, the rest must be converted to fat. Not only does this add body fat, but it also creates a lot of burden on the liver.
- Eating sugar causes the raise in blood sugar levels, which causes the pancreas to create insulin to bring levels down. This is a lot of work for the pancreas if it is happening often and over time can result in insulin resistance, where the insulin no longer brings down the blood sugar levels. This is the cause of Type 2 Diabetes as well as other diseases.
- Sugar creates a chain reaction of insulin production, which then feeds the growth of unhealthy cells leading to cancer.
- Sugar causes inflammation in the body, which is a precursor for cancer, heart disease and other diseases.
- Sugar causes increased body fat, even if you eat fewer calories in general. This is due to the overload of glycogen stores in the liver.
- Sugar is as just as addictive as abusive drugs because it causes dopamine to be released in the brain.
- Sugar increases heart cholesterol levels by raising triglycerides.
- Sugar causes major mood swings. Excessive sugar causes the release of cytokines that enter the brain and produce an inflammation response.
- Sugar cause wrinkles and the breakdown of collagen and elastin in the skin by attaching to proteins in a process called glycation. It also results in the deactivation of antioxidants that are supposed to protect against this damage, rendering your skin highly vulnerable to free radical and UV damage.