The facts are crystal clear. An excessive amount of sugar is incredibly bad for our bodies. Consistent with a study published in the British Journal of Medicine, consuming excessive sugar is associated with several health conditions, including coronary heart condition, type 2 Diabetes, obesity and other issues.
Of course, the problem for most of us is that sugar is tasty. Whether it’s a frozen dessert, cookies, candy, or a slice of bread, sugar appeals to our taste buds. This will make cutting sugar incredibly hard.
Reducing sugar intake features several benefits for our overall health and well-being. Below, we outline a number of the ways that cutting sugar can help you lose weight and gain better health.
Reduce cholesterol
Cholesterol may be a waxy, fat-like substance found throughout our bodies. We want some cholesterol to make certain hormones, vitamins and other substances. Yet if we’ve too much cholesterol in our bodies, it can build up in our arteries as plaque and cause heart disease.
Various research has shown that consuming too much sugar can decrease the amount of HDL cholesterol in the blood. HDL cholesterol fights the bad cholesterol in our blood.
If you narrow the amount of sugar you consume, you’ll ultimately lower your cholesterol level.
Boost heart health
Too much sugar also leads to higher triglycerides, a kind of fat that moves through the vascular system. High triglyceride levels will increase the risk of a stroke, a heart attack, or a cardiovascular disorder.
Decreasing the sugar intake by just 20% can protect your heart health by lowering the level of triglycerides in your bloodstream and, therefore, the fat buildup in your blood that can cause severe heart conditions.
Have better teeth
Our mouths are a perfect breeding location for different types of bacteria, particularly people who cause tooth decay. Sugars are the first food source for these bacteria. Eating excessive sugar will feed these bacteria, allowing it to grow and cause cavities and other infections.
According to one study, a gaggle of harmful bacteria produce acid in our mouth. The acid removes minerals from the enamel on the teeth and weakens and destroys the enamel. This forms a cavity or a hole.
Cutting back on sugars can help to slow or stop cavities. You’ll keep your teeth healthy and robust by brushing regularly and reducing sugar intake.
Achieve a healthier weight
For most people, weight gain occurs once we consume more calories than any person burns. Over time, consuming too much calories can cause us to gain pounds. An all-too-easy thanks to eating too many calories by eating sugar.
Sugary foods taste special to our bodies, so we could also be tempted to eat much more. 4 calories per gram will add significant weight gain over time. We will achieve a healthier weight by switching to whole foods – like fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.
Better nutrition
Calories that come from sugar are considered empty calories. That’s because sugar adds calories to your diet but provides few or no nutrients. Once we eat lots of sugary foods, we aren’t gaining much nutritionally.
By filling your diet with nutrient-dense food, like fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and whole grains, your body will get more nutrients that it must function, repair and protect itself. Additionally, the fibre in many of these foods will help your body absorb sugar more slowly, making your glucose levels more stable.
Reduce the risk of developing certain diseases
The research is evident. Eating excessive sugar – particularly added sugars is incredibly harmful for our health. Consuming too much amount sugar is associated with an increased risk of:
- Obesity
- Cancer
- Cognitive decline
- Diabetes
- High vital signs
- Non-alcoholic liver disease
- Cardiovascular diseases
Better skin
People spend much money annually on products to make their skin look better. Even an expensive price tag for a serum or scheduled facial can make it difficult to keep your skin looking fresh. Yet there’s a free (or low-cost) alternative path to better skin: reducing your sugar intake.
When we overeat sugar, it can severely affect our skin. A diet with high sugar levels has been related to acne, psoriasis and other skin conditions. Eating more sugar can also age the skin prematurely.
Reduce your risk of carcinoma
In addition to ageing your skin and contributing to certain skin conditions, excessive sugar can also increase your risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer. While the precise mechanism is unknown, one factor could also be that when you eat sugary foods, you’ll not be getting enough of the vitamins and nutrients from whole foods that are known to protect against skin cancer.
In particular, consuming fruits and vegetables high in vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and selenium can reduce your risk of skin cancer. Rather than eating a candy bar, that can increase the likelihood of developing cancer, opting for foods like tomatoes, carrots, raspberries, and grapes can lower your risk.
Stabilise your mood
We know that sugar eating can give you a quick energy boost. Yet over time, eating excessive sugar can negatively affect your mood. Consistent with a 2017 study, consuming excessive sugar can have a negative long-term effect on the psychological health of a person.
Studies found that sugar intake from sweet food or beverages increases the likelihood of mood disorders like depression, particularly in men. This might be partly due to how sugar affects our brains. While many factors play a task in mental illness, reducing the quantity of sugar that we eat can lead to better mental health.
Reduce inflammation
There are many reasons we’d experience inflammation in our bodies – an injury, an autoimmune condition, illness, or maybe stress. Inflammation can be caused by dietary sugar intake, particularly beverages that are sweetened with sugar.
Chronic inflammation may be critical in developing certain diseases, including Diabetes, dementia and depression. Reducing the quantity of sugar in the diet, mainly added sugars and sugary drinks – can reduce inflammation in your body. In turn, which will lower your risk for specific health problems.
Feel fuller with less food
While science remains developing on this issue, researchers believe that sugar consumption – including artificial sugars – influences what proportion of the food we eat. In other words, the more sugar or substitutes we consume, the more food we will likely eat.
By reducing the quantity of sugar that you eat, you’ll feel an increase in satiety or a sense of fullness or satisfaction with the food you eat. Meaning you will feel full when eating less food – which often has the benefit of helping you to lose weight.
Less “Brain Fog”
We know that high blood sugar levels can harm our blood vessels due to inflammation. This will affect how your brain functions in the short term.
Frequent exposure to high glucose levels diminishes the brain function. For people with Diabetes, this might lead to deficits in learning, memory and other important functions. For those without Diabetes, higher sugar consumption is related to lower scores on cognitive function tests.
The upshot?
Eating plenty of food with added sugars can make it harder for you to concentrate well at work, school, or in other aspects of life. Once you cut back on sugar, you’ll find yourself more alert and able to take on the day’s tasks.
Better sleep
According to a 2016 study, consuming higher sugar levels is linked to more restless sleep. Additionally, diets high in sugar are related to less restful sleep or more difficulty sleeping. Sleep is required for the body to repair and restore itself and for a robust immune system. A scarcity of sleep can affect your overall health.
When you reduce the amount of sugar you consume, you’ll find that it is much easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Over time, you’ll feel more rested and notice that your feel better overall.
Reduce Diabetes risk
Earlier, we noted that eating an excessive amount of sugar is associated with certain chronic diseases. It’s worth spotlighting one illness, in particular, associated with overeating sugar: Type 2 Diabetes.
When you eat a lot of sugar and other simple carbohydrates, your pancreas releases insulin to bring down the quantity of glucose in your bloodstream (remember: elevated glucose levels aren’t suitable for your body).
Over time, this will deplete your body’s ability to produce insulin, which results in a diagnosis of Diabetes. Changing your diet will reduce the likelihood of developing Diabetes – or in some cases, even reverse the condition.
Enjoy other foods
When we eat many sugary foods and drink sweet beverages, our taste buds become familiar with the taste. If we then eat something without added sugar, it’s going to taste bland, flavourless, or maybe bitter.
One advantage of cutting back on added sugars is that you will likely start to enjoy other foods more. A strawberry that tastes tart to you when eating lots of sugar may suddenly taste perfectly sweet. This will help you change your diet overall, as you can taste the flavours of fruits and vegetables.
Improve your willpower
Studies have shown that sugar is often incredibly addictive. You’ll become dependent on drugs, alcohol, and other substances once you overeat sugar. Your brain begins to crave sugar, and you’ll experience binge eating or withdrawal if you try to stop eating it.
This can make it hard to say no to anyone’s favourite dessert or sugary beverages. Consuming sugar creates a toxic cycle of wanting more of it. While it is often difficult to do so, once you reduce your sugar intake, you’ll find less interest in sweets overall. You should find that you have much more willpower around sugary foods and beverages.
More energy
Anyone may think of sugar as something that can give you a quick boost of energy. After all, your body burns glucose to make energy, right? It seems that it’s not so simple – and that sugar can reduce your energy level.
The science behind it’s complicated, but in essence, neurons in our brains, referred to as orexin, are responsible for stimulating wakefulness and providing energy to our bodies. Elevated glucose levels in our bodies can block or silence the activity of orexin neurons, resulting in lower energy levels. By reducing the quantity of sugar that you eat, you’ll feel more awake and alert.
Reduce belly fat
If you’ve got ever tried to lose weight, you recognise that one of the most challenging tasks to lose weight is in the abdominal region. Unfortunately, fat around your midsection – referred to as visceral fat – carries the highest risk for your health. Visceral fat generates hormones that cause inflammation in your organs and blood vessels, contributing to conditions like heart condition and cancer.
Consuming plenty of sugar is linked with fat surrounding the midsection. Consuming sugar increases the glucose levels in your blood. Over time, insulin encourages fat to accumulate around your midsection.
Reducing added sugars from the diet will help reduce overall body fat. This doesn’t just help us lose a few kilos. It makes a person healthier overall and less likely to develop a severe illness.
Decreased risk of lung disease
Earlier, we explained how eating excessive sugar can lead to a diagnosis of type 2 Diabetes. In turn, having Diabetes can cause certain types of lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). While the relationship between the two conditions is not clear, scientists have noted that exceptional glucose levels in the blood are associated with harmful lung changes. Reducing your intake of sugar may facilitate you avoid being diagnosed with COPD, type 2 Diabetes, or other severe and chronic health conditions.
To sum up
Consuming excessive sugar is associated with several health conditions, including coronary heart condition, type 2 diabetes, obesity and other issues. Calories that come from sugar are considered as empty calories. Eating excessive sugar – particularly added sugars is incredibly harmful to our health.
By filling your diet with nutrient-dense food, like fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and whole grains, your body will get more nutrients to function, repair, and protect itself. Additionally, the fibre in many of these foods will help your body absorb sugar more slowly, making your glucose levels more stable and preventing the chances of developing chronic diseases.
FAQs
What happens to your body if you stop eating sugar?
Is sugar harmful?
How much sugar can be consumed in a day?
FDA recommends limiting your daily calorie consumption of sugar to 10% of the total calories.
The WHO recommends six teaspoons or 25 g of added sugar for adults.
