10 Reasons Why Sugar Is Bad For You

1. Easily causes weight gain

Sugar is high in empty calories, which means there's literally no nutritional value in sugary treats. They tend to be more concentrated therefore anyone can consume more calories per mouthful than when eating healthier, higher volume varieties of food like salad. Rates of obesity are increasing worldwide and added sugar, is thought to be one of the main culprits based on studies. As the body usually metabolizes food containing added sugars more quickly, they do not offset hunger for very long which leads to eating more regularly throughout the day and a greater calorie intake overall.

2. Makes you gain more visceral fat

Visceral fat is the fat that wraps your abdominal organs deep inside your body. Between subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat, the latter is the more dangerous type, with doctors and researchers claiming it to be responsible for increasing your risk of heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, stroke and high cholesterol. From recent studies, people who eat foods high in added sugars tend to have more visceral fat, and have more co-morbidities, than people who don't. Sugar triggers more insulin release, putting your body in some sort of a hyper-drive when storing fat for energy.

3. Increases your risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes starts to happen from an abnormality called "Insulin Resistance". Insulin Resistance happens when the cells of your body becomes stubborn in absorbing glucose and converting it to energy, despite the high amount of insulin in the blood stream. The pancreas works extremely hard to release more insulin to overcome the body’s cellular resistance and keep blood sugar levels down, until it's ability to produce insulin gets affected and starts to decrease, leading to a condition called Type 2 Diabetes. Resistance from the cells happen from constantly getting overwhelmed in absorbing too much glucose from the bloodstream.

4. Can lead to heart disease

A high sugar diet causes a lot of dental problems that can eventually lead to heart disease. Excess sugar causes the release of extra insulin in your bloodstream, causing inflammation and sclerosis or hardening to your arterial wall, making your arteries thicker and more stiff. This condition stresses your heart, making it work harder until it becomes enlarged. Eating a lot of sugar can also lead to throat infections, which increases the risk for developing Rheumatic Heart Disease, causing hardening of your heart valves which eventually leads to heart failure, and can only be treated by valve repair or replacement surgeries.

5. Can cause tooth decay

When eating sugar, the bacteria in your mouth form a layer of plaque over the teeth. These select group of harmful bacteria break down any additional sugar you eat, producing acid in the process. These acids remove minerals from the tooth enamel, which is the shiny, protective, outer layer of your tooth in a process called "demineralization". Left untreated, the cavity can spread into the deeper layers of your tooth, causing nagging and excruciating pain making your life miserable, basically because of sweets.

6. Can increase cellular aging

Sugar can damage your skin through a process called "Glycation". The sugar in your bloodstream binds to proteins and produces free radicals called Advanced Glycation End products (AGE) which accumulates the more you eat sugar. AGE affects your collagen and elastin, the proteins which keeps your skin firm and elastic, making them stiff, dry and brittle causing your skin's complexion to show fine lines, wrinkles and sagging. According to the British Journal of Dermatology, high sugar intake will eventually cause wear and tear from the oxidative damage done to your skin by AGE, making you look older.

7. Causes acne formation

Too much sugar raises more insulin, and more insulin stimulates the production of a hormone called IGF-1 or Insulin-like Growth Factor, which increases sebum or oil production, causing acnes or worsens ongoing acnes. Sugar in any form influences the two major causes of acne: hormones and inflammation. As you eat refined and processed carbohydrates like white sugar, your blood sugar levels increase at a faster rate, and your pancreas responds by releasing more insulin. By eliminating sugar, you may be able to decrease the amount of IGF-1 in your system leading to reduced sebum production and prevent acnes from occurring.

8. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine

A study done in rats, found that the brain's sweet receptors are not adapted to constantly high levels of sugar. A frequent intake of high amount of sugar can constantly stimulate the brain's reward centre which, according to study, is more pleasurable than cocaine, even in people with the drug addiction. In other words, the high from sugar is stronger than the high from cocaine which means quitting sugar will have become very difficult for people who want to live healthier. According to Cassie Bjork, the founder of Healthy Simple Life, sugar activates the opiate receptors in our brain and affects the reward centre, which leads to compulsive behaviour, despite realizing the negative consequences that one could get such as weight gain, and the risk of other diseases.

9. Causes increase risk of depression

Ever had a stressful day at work, and binged on a pint of Ben and Jerry's at home? You're not alone. Sugar can temporarily help lessen your burn out from stress by suppressing the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis (HPA) in your brain, which controls your body's response to stress. Although it does the trick of making you feel better, the temporary relief that chocolates and candies provide make you more reliant on sugar which weakens your natural ability to deal with stress. A study from Harvard says that the physiological sensation of withdrawal from sugar can mimic drug-withdrawal symptoms and feel like a panic attack.

10. Can lead to a fatty liver

The liver metabolizes more of this one type of sugar, called Fructose to make fat. Too much refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup can cause a fatty build up that can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. The entry of fructose into the liver kicks off a series of complex chemical transformations, one of which is the creation of more fat through a process of "Lipogenesis". Too much fat in the liver can eventually lead to a condition called Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, which is basically an inflammation in your liver that eventually leads to scarring and subsequent degeneration of liver function.