Everywhere we look we will see sugar being added to food products. From ice cream, chocolate, fruit juices & candy, to tomato sauce and cans of baked beans. It's a mission to NOT consume sugar. It's being forced down our throats by the food industry to make their products more appealing in taste.
"the fat around our belly not only looks bad, it is actively messing around and interfering with all aspects of our bodily functions."
Added (refined) sugar is metabolised differently to sugar from unrefined natural sources (such as fruit) because of the fibre in the natural sources. This means added sugar causes blood sugar to rise very quickly, resulting in higher insulin in the blood.
The sugar will be used by the liver to produce & store fat (instead of using the energy to fuel body cells). This fat is preferentially stored around the belly and our organs (also known as visceral fat).
Excess storage of fat by the liver can directly lead to several types of health issues such as a fatty liver and insulin resistance (which is the main symptom of type 2 diabetes). As these become worse, they cause inflammation in many parts of the body and further lead to several additional issues.
This visceral fat indirectly causes a whole range of other issues in our body by producing hundreds of harmful chemicals such as hormones, inflammatory markers and messengers, and neurotransmitters. So the fat around our belly not only looks bad, it is actively messing around and interfering with all aspects of our bodily functions.
So why are we consuming this added sugar, in such large quantities as a society? At the doses we are consuming sugar, it is a poison. It causes so many health issues, has no nutritional benefit and only serves one major purpose; to sweeten food.
The answer to this question is: addiction, whether we like it or not.
It has been found the brain and body respond to sugar addiction similar to an addictive drug. Your body and brain crave it when there is a gap in consumption to continue releasing dopamine (hormone which creates a happy and rewarding feeling in the brain). When there is a gap in sugar consumption, an addicted person's body can also experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and lack of energy.
We are also familiar with 'sugar crash' effects on our body. Our body receives a very quick dose of energy, causing a spike in blood sugar. Since it is metabolized quickly, the blood sugar levels then suddenly drop as the amount of insulin in our blood will increase.
So what does this all mean? Do we have to change our lives by eliminating our favourite sweet flavours?
NO!!!
Thankfully technology has advanced a lot in the last few decades and a lot of work has been done so we can enjoy sugar free sweeteners. This includes work from industry and food authorities to perfect the doses in food so it is safe for consumption while maintaining the same sweet flavour profile we can enjoy.
Many sugar free sweeteners are hundreds of times (>x100) sweeter than sugar and most have no calories. Since they are so much sweeter than sugar, only a tiny amount is added to reach the same level of sweetness.
This is not the case with sugar alcohols or when the sweetener is mixed in with bulking agents.
Please note this blog is only a summary of the impact of sugar on human health. We don't even talk about issues like effect on cell aging, the complex mechanisms between sugar and cancer, digestion issues, dental issues and mental health.
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