Sugar, although known for its sweetness, has a bitter reputation when it comes to health. Almost all food that we consume regularly has sugar in it. Foods rich in carbohydrates are natural carriers of sugar. Whole foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, and plant foods contain natural sugar, which is good for health.
But in today’s times, a lot of people rely on processed foods for instant consumption. Our diet usually includes soft drinks, cookies, cakes, sweets, chocolates, etc. which obviously have sugar in them. But apart from these, food such as noodles, bread, roti, sauces, etc. also contains added sugar which many of us are unaware of. Such processed and instant food often contains added sugar to increase its shelf life and add some flavor to it.
As a result of this, the overall consumption of sugar becomes high and in turn, starts affecting our health in more ways than one.
Ideally, the calories from sugar consumption should be limited to less than 10% per day. However, due to the evolving lifestyle and food habits, this becomes difficult.
Here’s some of the damage that too much sugar can do to your body.
1. Affects Your Heart
The most damaging impact high blood sugar can have on your body is that it affects your heart. High blood sugar can raise your blood pressure, increases triglycerides, and causes chronic inflammation. It can clog your arteries with fatty deposits, in turn resulting in atherosclerosis.
And that isn’t all. Another indirect connection of high blood sugar to your heart is that it can overwhelm the liver. The liver is responsible for metabolizing sugar to fat. Accumulation of this fat over a period of time can lead to diabetes, which increases the risk of heart disease.
2. Affects Overall Health
Apart from the heart, excess sugar also affects your dental health. The sugar combines with bacteria to produce an acidic by-product that dissolves your tooth enamel and creates cavities.
The most common problem caused by sugar is obesity, which is in turn linked to various chronic illnesses. The most atrocious being cancer. High sugar intake causes insulin resistance, which is also a major factor affecting diabetes. The increased insulin can cause inflammation, which is a stepping stone to cancer.
There are many other illnesses associated with high sugar consumption like gout, urinal infections, blood level irregularities, depression, and tiredness – some of which might even prove fatal.
3. Unhealthy Weight Gain
High sugar consumption is one of the main culprits of obesity around the world. In simple words, intake of sugar will not reduce your hunger, so you can intake copious amounts of sugar without breaking a sweat. This way you will consume a lot more calories than you intend to, just to curb your hunger and gain a lot of unnecessary weight.
4. Affects Skin
Increased blood sugar will directly affect the way your skin looks. Sugar damages the proteins directly responsible for helping the skin stretch and maintain its sprightly look. Wrinkles start to appear on the skin and it will start aging faster. It isn’t directly related to acne, but it causes certain hormonal imbalances, which in turn, give rise to acne.
5. Drains Energy
It is universally believed that sugar helps increase energy levels due to its glucose content. However, it is only partially true. The rise in energy caused by sugar or sugary products is temporary. With no proteins or fibres to back your sugar consumption, blood sugar crashes and experiences a sharp drop. This can result in major mood swings and causes massive fluctuations in energy and might interfere with your daily activities.
Sugar can have negative effects on your health but only when consumed in too much quantity. The ideal consumption of calories from sugar must be less than 10% per day. This limit can be met with just one can of soda. So especially in today’s lifestyle, excessive consumption of sugar is not as unattainable as you may think.
But cutting out sugar completely is not the solution either. Your body needs a certain amount of sugar to function properly. The fructose, glucose, and other nutrients in sugar, when balanced well, help your body to remain healthy.
Including whole foods in your diet is a great solution to consume healthy sugar. But if you have a sweet tooth, you can always rely on its alternatives to ensure you maintain a healthy balance.
One such great alternative to sugar is Honey All Day.
We source our honey directly from the beekeepers which is a testament to real, pure honey at your doorstep. Our honey is naturally processed and does not include any added sugar or sweeteners. This is what makes Honey All Day a healthy choice and a great alternative to sugar.
You can add Honey All Day to your drinks, drizzle it over your pancakes and cereals, use it as an alternative to sugar while making jalebis, cakes, cookies, and even chocolates. Honey is naturally a great substitute for sugar so you won’t have to worry about your health.
