Are you amongst those, who think that all diseases owe their increasing prevalence to broiler chicken and packaged milk? If yes, you might not be totally wrong but the real culprit might have tricked you and still remains unnoticed. Ever wondered about the harms of sugar?
The little white granules you love adding to your chai are actually time bombs that blow up inside your body and create chaos. Our love for meetha makes us sleep on the harms of sugar.
Now, as we are more woke and health-conscious we have smartly shifted to packaged brown sugar. Without even knowing that the only difference between the two, is color.
You must be wondering that a healthy diet should include a little bit of everything, so why not some sugar? Here comes another bomb. Even the white bread you eat and the maida ka paratha you love, all are sugars too. Everything you eat naturally has sugars in it. You don’t have to struggle and add more of it into your diet.
Sugar is just a common term for simple carbohydrates. Although this kind of simple carbs do not spike your blood sugar levels the same way actual sugar does. These do not stay far behind either.
Recommended Intake Of Sugar
The American heart association prescribes limiting the daily intake of sugar to up to 150 kcal from sugar for men. For women, it limits to100 kcal from sugar. All of the calories obtained from sugar are empty calories. Sugars provide nothing but extra calories and loads of crap.
Harms Of Sugar
Here are some scientifically proven harms of sugar.
1. Increases Weight
Obesity in adults and children is becoming a pandemic. The rising rate of obesity owes a lot to the overconsumption of sugary beverages, candies, and sweet milkshakes and coffees.
Sugar is responsible for increasing resistance to leptin. Leptin is an important hormone that regulates hunger. This gives signals to your brain when you are full, the increased resistance to it leads you to eat more.
Sugar is one of the fastest energy-giving nutrients. It may provide you instant energy but does not curb hunger. In fact, sugary beverages don’t make you feel full at all. All they do is provide extra calories to you, leading you to gain pounds.
Excessive intake of sugar is not only associated with overall weight gain but is particularly associated with increased visceral belly fat. This fat of a certain type and in a certain area is associated with other health risks like diabetes and heart diseases.
2. Causes Acne
Even if you are lucky enough to not get fat despite having a can of coke daily, you might not be lucky enough to have perfect skin too. Excessive intake of sugar is directly linked to an increased risk of acne.
Sugary foods instantly spike your blood sugar levels, which in turn raises insulin levels. Increased insulin levels cause increased oil production, inflammation, and androgen secretions. All of these play a major role in the development of acne.
3. Increased Risk Of Heart Disease
Heart disease being the leading cause of death worldwide, finds its direct link to increased sugar consumption. Research suggests that high-glycemic foods are linked with obesity, inflammation, and high triglyceride, high blood pressure, and raised blood sugar levels. All of these are risk factors for heart disease.
Sugary drinks and foods can cause atherosclerosis. It is a disease that causes fatty artery-clogging deposits. A single sugary drink can make you exceed the daily allowance of sugars. Therefore, it is important to avoid sugary drinks even occasionally.
4. May Lead To Diabetes
Researches prove a clear link between diabetes and excessive sugar consumption. All of the risks associated with excessive sugar consumption with obesity being the first one can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Excessive sugar consumption makes your body resistant to insulin. Insulin is responsible for lowering blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance results in high blood sugar levels which can cause diabetes.
A study shows that the risk of developing diabetes increases by 1.1% for every one can of soda consumed. This risk can be lessened by losing weight if you are overweight and by banning sugary drinks.
5. Will Drain Your Energy
Although sugars provide instant energy but in the long run they drain you off of energy. Foods loaded with sugar cause a sudden rise in blood sugar followed by a sudden drop in it. This phenomenon is called a crash. Having these fluctuations in blood sugar levels lead to fluctuations in energy levels.
To combat this you not only need to lower your sugar consumption but you also have to pair it with proteins, fats, and complex carbohydrates.
Cutting out or lessening sugars from your diet might sound a little horrifying. But to have a better and healthier life you will have to do it. Dietary changes if intricately designed and compensated by other options are always easier to follow. For that, you might need to consult a nutritionist.
Book an appointment now, to answer all your queries. You can book an appointment with top nutritionists in Pakistan through Marham by calling at Marham helpline: 0311-1222398 or by online booking facility through the website or Marham mobile app.
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