10 Reasons to Avoid Sugar and How to Reduce Sugar Intake
Over the years, the sugar consumption in the world has increased consistently and researchers have found that there is a direct relationship between consumption of sugar and chronic illnesses.
As the lives of people get busier and busier, they start relying on quick store-bought meals and processed foods for snacks. Added sugar sneaks into our meals from these ready to eat meals and processed snacks along with other harmful chemicals in the form of artificial colors, artificial flavors, and preservatives.
In this blog, We are going to discuss 10 main reasons to avoid sugar and also a few tips on how to reduce sugar intake:
Sugar can cause weight gain. Obesity is on the rise in today’s day and age and it has been found that the Increase in Sugar consumption is directly proportional to Obesity. Sugary drinks like juices, sodas, and other drinks are responsible for this. These drinks do not provide any kind of nutritional value and have lots of empty calories. Also, they are full of Fructose and excessive consumption of Fructose which is a type of monosaccharide may cause resistance to Leptin. Leptin is a hormone in your body that signals your brain to stop eating. Resistance to Leptin disrupts this function and we tend to overeat. Eating fruits high in Fructose is completely fine as in fruits, Fructose occurs in natural form while in sodas, it is processed and has no other nutritional value. Also, Fruits have fiber and other nutrients along with Fructose but drinking these juices or sodas which have nothing but Fructose is a big no.
Overconsumption of sugar can lead to an increased risk of heart disease. High sugar diets can increase inflammation and blood sugar levels. This, in turn, increases the risk of heart diseases.
High sugar diets and foods in a high glycemic index are the major reasons for causing type 2 diabetes. These kinds of diets causes obesity and insulin resistance in our bodies. Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels in our body.
Too much sugar can cause acne and other skin related problems. Too much consumption of sugar causes inflammation and spikes in blood sugar levels. These increase the secretion of a hormone androgen in the body. This results in the overproduction of sebum ( oil) in the body. Sebum is responsible for clogged pores resulting in acne.
Diet high in sugar may increase wrinkles and speed up the aging of your skin. When we consume a diet high in sugar and or food which has a high GI index, the production of compounds called AGEs increases in our body. AGEs are responsible for damaging collagen and other proteins that help our skin to maintain a youthful appearance.
Excess Sugar speeds up the aging process of our bodies. It is important that we understand how the aging process works. At the end of our chromosomes, there are structures called Telomeres which act as a protective cap. As a natural process Telomeres become shorter and shorter, which causes our cells to age. Unhealthy food choices and lifestyle choices will speed up the shortening of Telomers which in turn speeds up the aging process.
Drains your energy. Foods high in sugar or with high GI index will give us sugar spikes followed by a crash which in turn will impact our energy levels.
Sugar causes fatty liver and liver damage. Especially Fructose from high fructose corn syrup increases the risk of liver damage. Fructose is digested in our liver. Fructose from any fruit reaches slowly to our liver as it is slowly processed by our digestive system due to the fiber content in the fruit but when we consume large amounts of processed fructose in the form of chemical or as high fructose corn syrup, particularly in liquid form it is processed by our digestive system vary rapidly due to lack of fiber in it. This causes overload on our liver. This is the major cause of liver damage and fatty liver.
Increase in the risk of Gout and other inflammatory diseases.
Harmful for your teeth and gums. Bacteria in our mouth thrive on sugar and release acid byproducts which will cause cavities.
Summary and few tips on reducing sugar intake:
In short, consuming a natural source of sugar is better for health than consuming added sugars or processed sugar.
Here are a few tips on reducing sugar intake:
Swap sugary drinks and sodas with water or unsweetened seltzer
Swap store-bought yogurts with plain yogurt topped with fruits and honey or organic maple syrup.
Be vigilant shopper and read labels carefully. Watch out for added sugar. ( I have another blog with the details about different types of names given to sugar by the processed food industry)
Make your own granola at home with honey or maple syrup and dates instead of buying store-bought ones.
Top your bread with nut butter and fresh banana or strawberries instead of jams and jellies.
Eat 1-2 dates or fresh fruits instead of sugary desserts or candies.
Use nut butter instead of Nutella on your bread
Do not buy packaged food if they have more than 4 gms of sugar per serving.
Consume fresh fruits instead of fruit juice or smoothies which has added sugar.
Do not consume Alcoholic beverages that have sugar in it.
I would love to hear from you. Comment below if you have a few more tips on reducing sugar intake.