We know that sugar isn’t your friend if you’re trying to lose weight, but it turns out the sweet ingredient is harming more than your waistline. The white substance, which is as addictive as cocaine, lurks in almost all of your favorite foods, and has been shown to negatively effect both your body and mind.
Take a look at these shocking reasons why you should start studying your food’s nutrition labels, and rid your diet of sugar.
7. It’s the reason you’re always moody and lethargic.
Eating foods high in simple sugars, like those found in cakes, cookies, ice cream, cereals, and many other foods, put you on a ‘sugar roller coaster.’ These foods rapidly spike blood sugar, and causes insulin to be released, which lowers your body’s blood sugar. When blood sugar get’s low, so does your energy and mood.
In order to give yourself energy and make yourself happier, you reach for sugary foods the body craves, which only feeds into the cycle.
6. Sugar messes with the immune system.
Eating or drinking things that are high in sugar restrict the body’s cells that attack bacteria. This depresses the immune system, and makes you body susceptible to more infections and viruses.
5. Your body stores any extra sugar as fat.
When you consume sugar, insulin is released in the body, which signals the body to store any extra calories as fat. With a diet high in sugar, the body becomes resistant to the insulin over time, and even more has to be released. The high levels of insulin in the body signal the body to store even more of the glucose as fat.
4. Sugar makes you hungry.
You may not be reaching for a candy bar, but you might as well be with how much sugar is hidden in seemingly unsweet foods like yogurt, chips, and bread. When we eat these foods that are high in sugar or are high in refined flours that quickly convert to sugar, the body releases insulin to lower your blood sugar. When blood sugar level then drop, this signals the body that it’s hungry again, and you’ll crave the same foods that will quickly raise blood sugar levels for another quick fix.
3. It makes you look older.
When you consume sugar, your body produces advanced glycation end-products, or AGEs, which damage the elastin and collagen in your skin. These are the very proteins that make the skin look supple, young, and wrinkle-free. If you notice your skin looks like it’s prematurely aging, you might want to try giving up the sweets.
2. It impairs learning and memory.
A study done at UCLA revealed that a diet high in sugar can impair the brain’s ability to learn and retain information.
1. Sugar increases your risk of cancer.
Not only has sugar consumption been linked to an increased risk of ovarian, esophageal, and endometrial cancers, but it is also leads to diabetes and obesity, which have been linked to an increased risk of even more cancers.
Are you shocked by how sugar is really effecting your body? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
[Featured image credit: sugarblog.co.uk]