Top 5 Reasons To Limit Added Sugar

Why sugar?

Are you aware that the main function of sugar in our body is to provide energy? All digestible simple sugars and starches eventually get converted to glucose in the body, which is further metabolized to release energy. Here, the extra glucose converts into glycogen and gets stored in the liver or with the help of insulin gets converted into fatty acids and is circulated to other parts of the body and stored as fat in adipose tissue thereby causing us a weight gain.

Why should you limit added sugar?

Imagine waking up on a Sunday and staying in bed all day with a stack of sweetened beverages, chocolates, candies, jams and enough to binge through the day. Sounds dreamy? Now imagine waking up the next day in a terribly ill state — which sums up the aftermath of consuming all of it, just some years later. Consuming substantial amounts of table sugar in the form of jellies, jam, soft drinks, desserts and many more, can cause you some serious health damage. Let's look at some of the reasons why consuming added sugar should be avoided.

● Obesity

According to a 2019 report, 135 million people in India have been affected by obesity. Alarming, right? Obesity is a health condition which emerges when the energy intake exceeds the energy expenditure. While the reasons range from increasing portion size and frequent eating out to a decreased physical activity, intake of high sugar can be one of the biggest cause of obesity. This, in turn, leads to conditions like PCOD & PCOS, distorted body image, irregular menstrual cycles in women etc. The only convenient way out is cutting down on added sugar in routine diets and taking baby steps towards restoring health.

● Dental caries

Do you know what happens when all the sugary, gummy food you relish gets stuck in the verges of your teeth? CAVITIES. Our mouth is resided by bacteria that sustain the food components present in our teeth. In turn, our teeth tend to decay when these bacteria produce acids that dissolve in the outermost layer of the teeth. This can prove discomforting and severe if the cavity reaches the nerve endings. Hence limiting sugar intake can help in keeping Dental caries at bay.

● Diabetes

Diabetes causes a major disruption in the regulation of blood sugar levels in the body. This can happen when pancreas stops producing enough insulin or when the cells become resistant to insulin. Consuming a high amount of sugar can directly or indirectly increase the risk of diabetes. This is often characterized by increased thirst, urination, hunger as well as sudden weight loss. Added sugar, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages, is strongly linked to the development of type-2 diabetes. This is likely due to sugar’s direct effect on the liver, as well as its indirect effect of increasing body weight.

● Cardiovascular diseases

Who would want to be 40 and suffering from dreadful ailments like Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, Cardiac Arrests, Strokes— even these names are enough to cause a pang of panic in your gut. Consuming large amounts of added sugars in your diet may make you prone to get affected by these conditions soon. Sugar is indirectly a major contributor in the deposition of fatty layers on the arterial wall, which ultimately leads to onsets of many cardiovascular disorders. The best way out for this is to keep the intake of added sugar in any form, limited and rely more on fiber-rich constituents of your carbohydrate needs.

● Mental stability

This one may seem a little out of the line, but hey, doesn't make it any less true, right? Various studies have shown that consuming added sugar is associated with an elevated risk of depression in the longer run. Apart from this, insane amounts of sugar are known to cause a brief moment of 'sugar rush' in our brain and trigger the imbalance of certain chemicals— the withdrawal of which can result in negative feelings like irritability, anxiety, fatigue, ambiguity and much worse in some cases.

So ask yourselves today, what amount of sugar intake is worth a disoriented physical and mental state of being? NONE. Let these five be enough reasons to control and restrict the sources of elevated sugar consumption in your diet. With SheNutrition, you can help yourself with shifting to more complex, dietary fiber-rich and healthier forms of carbohydrates without compromising your required energy balance.

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