10 Reasons Why Too Much Sugar Isn’t So Sweet

Jun 15, 2018 by apost team

If it’s not a raw fruit or veggie, you’ll find most products have added sugar. Pick up almost anything in your pantry from spaghetti sauce to peanut butter and you’ll find it likely has added sugar. So, it’s hard to avoid, especially if you’re like most of working America and rely upon the quickness and ease of processed foods to help put a meal on the table at the end of a long day. So, how much added sugar are we eating and what’s it doing to our health?

We Eat A Lot Of Added Sugar & The Impacts Are Vastly Affecting Our Health 

Research has shown that added sugars account for around 17% of adult and 14% of child diets in the U.S. This is compared to daily allowance of less than 10% that most nutritionists recommend. Sugar consumption has been researched extensively in the role it plays in weight, but sugar consumption goes beyond just the up and down of the weight scale. It has been shown to play crucial roles in diseases like diabetes and chronic conditions like acne. Here are 11 ways science says too much sugar is negatively impacting your health and well-being. 

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Heart disease is the number one cause of death throughout the world, and guess what type of diet increases your risk for heart disease and atherosclerosis? Evidence suggests that high-sugar diets impact heart disease by causing obesity, inflammation, high triglycerides, elevated blood glucose, and hypertension. All of these are known risk factors for heart disease. Artery-clogging deposits of fat, or atherosclerosis, which lead to heart attacks, has been linked to sugary drinks like soda. A single can of soda contains upwards of 50 grams of sugar, which alone equates to over 10% of your daily recommended allowance. 

Over 30,000 people were involved in a study that found a 38% increased risk of dying from heart disease in the participants that consumed 17% to 21% of their calories in the form of added sugar versus those with 8% sugar calories. 

Sugary foods and drinks contain refined carbs that increase your risk of developing acne and having acne outbreaks. Sugary substances cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels, which in turn contributes to acne-causing oil production, inflammation, and androgen secretion. 

A study of over 2,000 teens showed that the participants consuming high-sugar diets had a 30% higher risk of acne than those on a low-glycemic index diet. Another study involving processed foods, which are typically high in sugar, showed that higher income populations eating little-processed foods had a lesser likelihood of developing acne than their lower income counterparts with diets high in processed foods. 

Numerous studies have connected sugar consumption with the risk of developing certain cancers. Via the side effects of increased inflammation, insulin resistance, and obesity from a long-term sugar-laden diet, sugar carves a pathway for cancer. 

An endometrial cancer study, for example, found that women eating sweet cookies and buns more than three times per week were 1.42 times more apt to develop cancer than women eating the same only 0.5 times per week. Similar studies from innumerable forms of cancer exist to show a strong correlation between sugary diets and cancer. 

The relationship between sugar and cancer is complex, with much ongoing research continuing to solidify the connection, but there is still much to be discovered. What is known for certain is that sugary diets lead to the universal risk factors for almost all types of cancer. 

Obesity is considered by many health organizations as a global epidemic. Rates rise each year despite education and limitation efforts by private and government entities alike. 

One culprit that often gets the blame is sugar-sweetened drinks like soda, juice, and teas. This may seem unfair, but sugary drinks are a sword with a double edge. Not only does the fructose content overly contribute to your RDA of added sugar, the fructose actually stimulates hunger and the desire for starchy foods to fill the void left by empty calories. 

Fructose studies have shown that regular consumption can cause leptin resistance, which is a hormone that signals satiety and regulates hunger.

Countless studies have confirmed that those drinking sugary-beverages on the regular or in excess have more visceral body fat. This is that deep fat common around the mid-section and known to increase your risk of everything from a heart attack and stroke to diabetes. 

The last three decades have witnessed an explosion of diabetes as it has more than doubled in prevalence. While other culprits, such as sedentary lifestyles, are involved, excessive and frequent sugar intake is one of the main risk factors the medical community has identified in developing diabetes. Of course, there’s also obesity and insulin resistance that are risk factors, both of which are side effects of sugary diets. 

For every 150 calories of sugar a country consumes, the risk of diabetes grows for that population by 1.1%, this according to a study involving over 175 countries. 

You may be one of the many people under the false impression that added sugar gives you energy. This isn’t exactly true. Foods with a lot of added sugar spike your blood sugar rapidly, giving you that big boost of energy. But, that boost is very temporarily enjoyed as the crash takes hold from your blood sugar bottoming out just as fast as it skyrocketed. Many ‘energy drink’ manufacturers combat this by adding protein, fiber, and fat to the drink to prevent the crash and give you a false sense of security. 

The fact remains that the added sugar is doing damage by constantly swinging your blood sugar levels to and fro, which eventually leaves you in an energy-draining cycle of need. 

Experts recommend low-sugar fiber sources, such as an apple and almonds, to get healthy energy boosts that avoid the crash and burn after effect of sugary drinks. 

Fatty liver has been linked with consistent, high intakes of fructose. Glucose and other sugars can be absorbed by various cells within the body for storage, use, or excretion. But with fructose, the liver almost exclusively breaks it down as glycogen storages or converts it to energy. And, the liver has a limited capacity for storage before it turns the trapped excess glycogen into fat that causes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD.) 

Studies have shown as much as a 56% increased risk of developing NAFLD in adults that consume sugar-sweetened drinks on a daily basis. 

Diets with an abundance of sugar and processed food have been shown to elevate your risk of depression and cause mood instabilities. The research connects inflammation, blood sugar swings, and disturbances to neurotransmitters caused by added-sugar foods and drinks as the reasoning behind these negative effects on mental health. 

Chromosomes carrying genetic info in the human body all have these protective caps, called telomeres, on the ends to prevent chromosomes from fusing together and getting broken. Age naturally shortens the telomeres and causes the chromosomes to deteriorate and malfunction. Sugar, however, is one factor that expedites this aging process of the cells, causing premature cellular aging. 

A study of sugar and cellular aging showed that just a 20-ounce sweetened soda equated to an average of around 4.6 unnatural aging years amongst the participants. 

Just as it ages the cells, sugar expedites the skin’s aging process, causing and worsening visible premature aging effects. This is due to sugar and protein in the body reacting to form AGEs, or advanced glycation endproducts, which damage collagen and elastin proteins and thereby cause the skin to lose its firmness and elasticity. 

Of course, these are just 10 of the many negative health effects and added risks that added sugar has been connected. The connections between the body - from kidneys, dental health, arthritis, to early onset dementia and Alzheimer’s - and added sugar effects are endless.

Have you noticed the side effects of too much added sugar in your diet? Have you limited your sugar and noticed improvements in your health? Tell us your story and pass this on to anyone who might need a reminder that sugar isn't always sweet. 

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation with your doctor. Your health is important to us!