Sugar is the worst ingredient in the diet. It can have harmful effects on
metabolism and contribute to all sorts of diseases.
1.
Added sugars (like sucrose
and high fructose corn syrup) contain a whole bunch of calories with no essential
nutrients. Sugar is also very bad for the teeth, because it provides easily
digestible energy for the bad bacteria in the mouth.
2.
For people who are inactive
and eat a Western diet, large amounts of fructose from added sugars get turned
into fat in the liver.
3.When fructose get turned
into fat in the liver, it is shipped out as VLDL cholesterol particles. However,
not all of the fat gets out, some of it can lodge in the liver.This can lead to
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
4.
When people eat a lot of
sugar, it can cause resistance to the hormone insulin, which can contribute to
many diseases including metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease and
especially type II diabetes.
5.
When our cells become
resistant to the effects of insulin, the beta cells in our pancreas make more
of it. Eventually, as insulin resistance becomes progressively worse, the
pancreas cannot keep up with the demand of producing enough insulin to keep
blood sugar levels down.
At this point, blood sugar levels skyrocket
contributing to type II diabetes.
6.
Many scientists believe that
having constantly elevated insulin levels (a consequence of sugar consumption)
can contribute to cancer because insulin is one of the key hormones in
regulating cell growth and multiplication.
In addition, the metabolic problems associated with sugar consumption are
a known driver of inflammation, another potential cause of cancer. Studies show
that people who eat a lot of sugar are at a much higher risk of getting cancer.
7. Due to its effects on hormones and the brain,
sugar has unique fat-promoting effects. This is because fructose does not cause
satiety in the brain or lower the hunger hormone ghrelin nearly as much as
glucose.
8.
Sugar can be addictive for a
lot of people because sugar causes a release of dopamine in the reward center
of the brain.
9. Because of the effects of sugar on hormones and the
brain, sugar dramatically increases the risk of becoming overweight or obese. Sugar is a leading contributor to obesity in
both children and adults. The way sugar affects hormones and the brain
is a recipe for fat gain disaster.
People who consume the most sugar are by far the most likely to become
overweight or obese. This applies to all
age groups.
The link is especially strong in children, where each daily serving of
sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a whopping 60% increased risk of obesity.
10.
The evidence is mounting
that sugar, NOT fat, may be one of the leading drivers of heart disease via the
harmful effects of fructose on metabolism.
Studies show that large amounts of fructose can raise triglycerides, small,
dense LDL and oxidized LDL, raise blood glucose and insulin levels and increase
abdominal obesity in as little as 10
weeks.
These are all major risk
factors for heart disease. Many observational studies find a strong
statistical association between sugar consumption and the risk of heart disease.
