What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Too Much Sugar?
Pretty much everyone can agree that consuming excessive amounts of sugar isn’t good for you. But what exactly does having too much sugar do to your body? The answer is a lot more than you think.
Most Americans fill up on about 270 calories of sugar every day; that’s around 17 teaspoons a day compared to the recommended limit of 12 teaspoons per day or 200 calories. It’s not hard if you’re not careful to go overboard on the sweet stuff. Sugar is found in everything from soda and cookies to bread, protein bars and pasta sauce.
So how exactly is that surplus of sugar affecting your body? Let’s take a look!
Your Brain is Affected
Initially, eating sugar releases a surge of dopamine, the feel-good chemical. Afterwhile, though, your brain starts to need more and more sugar to get that same feeling, which is how sugar addiction starts. Eventually, a diet packed in sugar can make it harder on your brain to learn and remember.
Skin Ages Faster
A steady diet of sugary foods has been linked to wrinkles and saggy skin. Excess sugar can damage collagen and elastin in the skin, which keeps it looking firm and youthful. Fruit or other natural sources of sugar don’t have this same effect on the skin.
Joint Pain Is Aggravated
If you already experience joint pain, you’ll definitely want to stay away from sugar. Eating lots of sweets has been shown to worsen joint pain because of the inflammation sugar causes is the body. Consuming too much sugar has also been shown to increase your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Teeth Rot
It’s not just something your mom told you, sugar really does rot your teeth. Bacteria that cause cavities thrive on the sugar that lingers in your mouth after you eat something sweet, which leads to tooth decay.
Liver Damage Starts
Excess sugar likely contains fructose or high fructose corn syrup. Fructose is processed in the liver, and when large amounts are consumed, the liver can be damaged. Fructose is broken down in the liver and transformed into fat, which in turn, can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, not to mention obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Mood Swings Start
While most of us are aware of the “high” an occasional sweet treat can bring, and the eventual crash, reaching for that sugar too often can begin to have a regular effect on your mood. Studies have found a connection between a high sugar intake and a greater risk of depression in adults.
Heart Problems Can Occur
When you ingest too much sugar, the extra insulin in your bloodstream has the potential to affect the arteries all over your body. The walls get inflamed, grow thicker, and stiffen, which stresses, and even damages, your heart over time. The end result could be heart disease – heart failure, heart attack and stroke.
The good news is that you give can reduce or completely cut sugar out of your diet without sacrificing foods with the sweet flavors you enjoy. Opting for stevia, an all-natural sweetener without calories, carbs or artificial ingredients, instead of sugar allows you to enjoy the same sweet taste you’re used to but without the unhealthy side effects.
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