The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recently declared that sugar is the biggest health concern for Americans today, and yet you can find it in everything, starting with your bowl of cereal in the morning on to the ketchup that you add to your burger at dinner. One of the biggest problems is that with most of the American public believing fat to be the dietary enemy, they have turned instead to low-fat versions of foods which are packed with sugar.

Although small amounts of sugar are beneficial to you and can provide you with energy to keep going throughout your day, the amount of sugar that the average American eats is over twice the amount that is recommended by the American Heart Association. This leads to a myriad of health concerns. Here are 10 reasons to stop eating sugar.
 

1. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

One of the things that sugar does to the body is it raises blood pressure. High blood pressure can lead to a number of health problems such as heart disease, strokes, heart attacks, kidney damage, and others. Even if you are not overweight but are getting a high percentage of your daily calorie intake from sugars, sugar will cause high blood pressure.

2. HIGH CHOLESTEROL

We’re not talking about the good cholesterol here. Sugar will increase your levels of bad cholesterol as it lowers your levels of good cholesterol. High cholesterol leads to the arteries and other blood vessels becoming clogged which in turn leads to heart disease and stroke.

3. HEART ATTACKS

A recent study done on the impact of sugar consumption and heart attacks has clearly indicated that the with every sugary drink or soda that you drink, your risk of heart disease and heart attacks jumps up by 25%. When you consider how many of these most people have daily, it’s terrifying.

4. IMPAIRED COGNITIVE FUNCTION

High sugar intake has been linked to impaired cognitive function as the proteins that your brain needs to create memories and respond to stimuli are blocked by excess sugar. A study done on the effects of sugar on rats showed a marked difference in the amount of brain activity on animals that were fed sugar compared to those who were not.

5. ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND DEMENTIA

On top of immediate cognitive impairment, maintaining a diet high in sugar will also put you at a greater risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia later in life. This is because sugar decreases the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important chemical linked to memory formation. Low levels of this chemical can be an indicator of Alzheimer’s disease.

6. DEPRESSION

A study done on depression showed that people who drink at least 4 servings of soda every day are 30% more likely to have depression than those who do not overdo it on the sugar. This is because of the sugar spikes in your blood that regular sugar consumption causes, which in turn prevents insulin from functioning properly, leading to both depression and anxiety.

7. SUGAR ADDICTIONS

An experiment done on the effects that sugar has on people’s reward centers in the brain uncovered a surprising truth. The brain of someone looking at a sugary food looks the same way as a cocaine addict looking at cocaine, indicating that sugar additions are very real. But, by cutting sugar out of your diet, you will allow your body to react normally when presented with sugary foods and will have reduced sugar cravings

8. SKIN PROBLEMS

Sugar damages the skin in several ways. First of all, it damages elastin and collagen which are both responsible for keeping your skin smooth and young-looking. That means that sugar will cause your skin to wrinkle and age much more quickly. It also triggers different hormonal fluctuations in the body which can lead to acne.

9. DIABETES

Obviously, those with diabetes should avoid sugar, but those who do not have diabetes will put themselves at serious risk for developing it the more sugar they consume on a daily basis. This is because as your body regularly has high levels of sugar, your body is no longer able to produce enough insulin to cope with it.

10. CANCER

There has been a lot of research done on the relationship between sugar and cancer which have indicated that there is a connection between high sugar intake and developing various types of cancer such as pancreatic cancer. Although further studies need to be done on this point, why risk it?

Leave a Comment

Your email will be kept private. Required fields are marked *

Send Message