10 Undeniable Reasons You Should Quit Sugar

Published by Shannon Ford OT/L, IMP-2M | January 5, 2018

A majority of people have a sweet tooth. People have grown accustomed to eating something sweet for dessert after a hearty meal or as a means to reward themselves for an accomplishment. Cakes, pastries, shakes, chocolates and candies, they owe much of their delectability to one ingredient: Sugar.

Adding sugar can make foods and drinks taste better, and we tend to eat or drink more of something when it has sugar in it. But, is the added taste worth the health risks? We don’t think so and below are the 10 undeniable reasons you should quit sugar now.

1. Sugar doesn’t have any nutritive value.

Sugar on its own has no nutritive value at all. The only thing it adds to our diet is a lot of unwanted calories. [1]

You might be thinking “15.5 calories per serving isn’t that bad” and you’re right, it’s not that bad when you consider other high-calorie foods we eat every day. The problem is not with the calories itself, however, but how easy it all adds up during the day especially when you consider sugar is found in just about any food or drink these days.

The average American consumes close to 20 teaspoons of sugar a day, which is equivalent to at least 80 grams of sugar. And that is equivalent to 310 calories from sugar per day. [2]

Let’s do the math…….. Multiply 310 calories/day for a year, and you get a whopping 113,150 calories. One pound of fat is roughly 3500 calories, so that means the average person has the potential to gain a possible 32 pounds of fat every year through sugar consumption alone. [3]

2. Fructose can overload your liver.

Glucose is our body’s go-to source of energy and is found in every living cell. Glucose plays an important role in a lot of bodily functions. Fructose, on the other hand, is produced mainly by plants and there is no physiological need for it. The glucose-fructose ratio for table sugar is 50:50.

The liver can metabolize both glucose and fructose into glycogen and store it for energy. The body readily converts glucose to glycogen first, and we often have more than enough glycogen. When the liver has a full tank of glycogen and now has to deal with fructose, it’s then forced to convert it into fat. [4]

When this cycle is repeated – full glycogen stored, excess fructose converted to fat – this leads to excessive fat build-up around the liver.

3. Too much sugar can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Since we know chronic sugar intake causes fat to build up around the liver, this can potentially lead to a disease called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD. NAFLD is a growing problem in countries in the West, and it is strongly linked to health issues such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. [5]

 

4. Serious cardiovascular problems

Recent research has shown that fat, especially saturated fat, is not the main driver of cardiovascular disease. [6] The same cannot be said with sugar, however, as an overwhelming number of researchers agree that sugar is the main culprit behind heart disease, and it does so through the negative effects of fructose on metabolism.

The research shows large amounts of fructose elevates triglycerides, LDL and VLDL (bad and very bad cholesterol), increases blood sugar levels and expands the waistline (all of which are markers for heart disease) in just ten weeks. [7. 8]

5. Leads to developing metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is composed of a group of health issues that overall increase the risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Hypertension, elevated blood sugar levels, excess body weight, extra fat around the abdominal area, and abnormally high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides all make up metabolic syndrome.

Researchers agree that sugar consumption, especially when daily consumption becomes excessive, can lead to any or all of the conditions listed above. [9]

“There are epidemiological data, plausible mechanisms and clinical data from diet intervention studies that provide strong support for a direct causal/contributory role of sugar in the epidemics of metabolic disease, and for an indirect causal/contributory role mediated by sugar consumption promoting body weight and fat gain.”

6. It’s really bad for your teeth

Sugar is readily digestible for you, and it’s also readily digestible for the bad bacteria inside your mouth. Bacteria thrive on sugar as a food source and eating sugar contributes to their growth. In the case of your teeth, bacteria responsible for eroding teeth grow at a rapid rate when they come across sugar. [10]

7. Sugar causes inflammation

Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, are responsible for over 70% of all deaths in the United States and they all share inflammation as a common denominator. Researchers agree that a large factor that contributes to inflammation is our diet and diets that promote inflammation are exceedingly high in sugars, refined starches, trans-fats, some saturated fats, and low in antioxidant value, fiber, vegetables, fruits, and omega-3 fatty acids. [11]

8. Scientists link sugar consumption to cancer

Aside from diseases linked to metabolic syndrome, many researchers connect sugar consumption with cancer cell growth. The mechanism involves having consistently elevated levels of insulin – usually brought on by insulin resistance or even simple consumption of sugar – and they associated heightened insulin production to cancer. [12]

“Obesity has recently been linked to mortality from the majority of cancers. The insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system may partly explain this effect. The metabolic syndrome, associated with hyperinsulinemia, may modulate this effect.”

9. You increase risk of Type 2 Diabetes

This is one of the more obvious reasons, but unfortunately, many think they are immune to Type 2 Diabetes. What starts out as a simple case of insulin resistance, which is still treatable and manageable, can become a full-blown diabetic attack if left untreated or if the afflicted does nothing to prevent it from worsening.

Many don’t realize they have diabetes until it’s too late and one of the reasons involve the rather common nature of the symptoms: blurry vision, slow-healing bruises and cuts, chronic fatigue, increased frequency of urination, and constant thirst.

 

10. Sugar can be just as addictive as cocaine

There’s a reason sugar addiction is an actual term, and it’s due to how sugar triggers similar receptors in the brain that is activated by dangerous substances such as cocaine. [13]

“The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction.”

 

As you can see, there’s more to our recommendation to kick sugar than just cavities and diabetes. Processed sugar is dangerous, and we recommend and can help you to kick the habit.

 

 

References:

1. Nutritiondata.self.com. (2017). Sugars, granulated [sucrose] Nutrition Facts & Calories. [online] Available at: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5592/2 [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].
2. Cdc.gov. (2017). Consumption of Added Sugars Among U.S. Adults, 2005–2010. [online] Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db122.pdf [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].
3. Hall KD. What is the Required Energy Deficit per unit Weight Loss? International journal of obesity (2005). 2008;32(3):573-576. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803720.
4. Faeh D, Minehira K, Schwarz JM, et al. Effect of fructose overfeeding and fish oil administration on hepatic de novo lipogenesis and insulin sensitivity in healthy men. Diabetes. 2005;54(7):1907-13.
5. Farrell GC, Larter CZ. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: from steatosis to cirrhosis. Hepatology. 2006;43(2 Suppl 1):S99-S112.
6. Mente A, De koning L, Shannon HS, Anand SS. A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(7):659-69.
7. Johnson RJ, Segal MS, Sautin Y, et al. Potential role of sugar (fructose) in the epidemic of hypertension, obesity and the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;86(4):899-906.
8. Stanhope KL, Schwarz JM, Keim NL, et al. Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2009;119(5):1322-1334. doi:10.1172/JCI37385.
9. Stanhope KL. Sugar consumption, metabolic disease and obesity: The state of the controversy. Critical reviews in clinical laboratory sciences. 2016;53(1):52-67. doi:10.3109/10408363.2015.1084990.
10. Touger-decker R, Van loveren C. Sugars and dental caries. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;78(4):881S-892S.
11. Giugliano D, Ceriello A, Esposito K. The effects of diet on inflammation: emphasis on the metabolic syndrome. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006;48(4):677-85.
12. Boyd DB. Insulin and cancer. Integr Cancer Ther. 2003;2(4):315-29.
13. Lenoir M, Serre F, Cantin L, Ahmed SH. Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward. Baune B, ed. PLoS ONE. 2007;2(8):e698. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000698.