10 Ways Sugar Harms Your
Health
By
Lynn Prowitt-Smith
Special for Ediets
How could something so sweet leave such a bitter mark on your health?
Learn why you should shun
sugar and make more nutritious food choices.
1. Sugar causes blood glucose to spike and plummet.
Unstable blood sugar often leads to mood swings, fatigue, headaches
and cravings for more sugar. Cravings set the stage for a cycle
of addiction in which every new hit of sugar makes you feel better
temporarily but, a few hours later, results in more cravings and
hunger. On the flip side, those who
avoid sugar often report having little or no cravings for sugary
things and feeling emotionally balanced and energized.
2. Sugar increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Large-scale studies have shown that the more high-glycemic foods
(those that quickly affect blood sugar), including foods containing
sugar, a person consumes, the higher his risk for becoming obese
and for developing diabetes and heart disease. Emerging research
is also suggesting connections between high-glycemic diets and many
different forms of cancer.
3. Sugar interferes with immune function.
Research on human subjects is scant, but animal studies have shown
that sugar suppresses immune response. More research is needed to
understand the exact mechanisms; however, we do know that bacteria
and yeast feed on sugar and that, when these organisms get out of
balance in the body, infections and illness are more likely.
4. A high-sugar diet often results in chromium deficiency.
It’s sort of a catch-22. If you consume a lot of sugar and
other refined carbohydrates, you probably
don’t get enough of the trace mineral chromium, and one of
chromium’s main functions is to help regulate blood sugar.
Scientists estimate that 90 percent of Americans don’t get
enough chromium. Chromium is found in a variety of animal foods,
seafood and plant foods. Refining starches and other carbohydrates
rob these foods of their chromium supplies.
5. Sugar accelerates aging.
It even contributes to that telltale sign of aging: sagging skin.
Some of the sugar you consume, after hitting your bloodstream, ends
up attaching itself to proteins, in a process called glycation.
These new molecular structures contribute to the loss of elasticity
found in aging body tissues, from your skin to your organs and arteries.
The more sugar circulating in your blood, the faster this damage
takes hold.
6. Sugar causes tooth decay.
With all the other life-threatening effects of sugar, we sometimes
forget the most basic damage it does. When it sits on your teeth,
it creates decay more efficiently than any other food substance.
For a strong visual reminder, next time the Tooth Fairy visits,
try the old tooth-in-a-glass-of-Coke experiment -- the results will
surely convince you that sugar isn’t good for your pearly
whites.
7. Sugar can cause gum disease, which can lead to heart disease.
Increasing evidence shows that chronic infections, such as those
that result from periodontal problems, play a role in the development
of coronary artery disease. The most popular theory is that the
connection is related to widespread effects from the body’s
inflammatory response to infection.
8. Sugar affects behavior and cognition in children.
Though it has been confirmed by millions of parents, most researchers
have not been able to show the effect of sugar on children’s
behavior. A possible problem with the research is that most of it
compared the effects of a sugar-sweetened drink to one containing
an artificial sweetener. It may be that kids
react to both real sugar and sugar substitutes, therefore showing
no differences in behavior.
What about kids’ ability to learn? Between 1979 and 1983,
803 New York City public schools reduced
the amount of sucrose (table sugar) and eliminated artificial colors,
flavors and two preservatives from
school lunches and breakfasts. The diet policy changes were followed
by a 15.7 percent increase in a national academic ranking (previously,
the greatest improvement ever seen had been 1.7 percent).
9. Sugar increases stress.
When we’re under stress, our stress hormone levels rise;
these chemicals are the body’s fight-or-flight emergency crew,
sent out to prepare the body for an attack or an escape. These chemicals
are also called into action when blood sugar is low. For example,
after a blood-sugar spike (say, from eating a piece of birthday
cake), there’s a compensatory dive, which causes the body
to release stress hormones such as adrenaline, epinephrine and cortisol.
One of the main things these hormones do is raise blood sugar, providing
the body with a quick energy boost. The problem is, these helpful
hormones can make us feel anxious, irritable and shaky.
10. Sugar takes the place of important nutrients.
According to USDA data, people who consume the most sugar have
the lowest intakes of essential nutrients -- especially vitamin
A, vitamin C, folate, vitamin B-12, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium
and iron. Ironically, those who consume the most sugar are children
and teenagers, the individuals
who need these nutrients most.
Slashing Sugar
Now that you know the negative impacts refined sugar can have on
your body and mind, you’ll want
to be more careful about the foods you choose. And the first step
is getting educated about where
sugar lurks -- believe it or not, a food needn’t even taste
all that sweet for it to be loaded with sugar. When it comes to
convenience and packaged foods, let the ingredients label be your
guide, and be aware that just because something boasts that it is
low in carbs or a “diet” food, doesn’t mean it’s
free of sugar.
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