Excess sugar can cause several problems. Let us understand the impact of too much sugar on the heart and other body parts.
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Sugar is a highly addictive substance, and it is available in many savory treats and desserts. People don’t realize while consuming a lot of sugar that it is not at all healthy for you. Refined sugar is one of the worst substances that you can consume regularly.
Too much sugar hurts the heart. You will get to know about these effects in detail in this article.
Impact of Sugar
Sugar has different effects on different body parts. On average, Americans consume about 270 calories of sugar daily. This amount of sugar equals 17 teaspoons of sugar in a day. This amount of sugar can be deadly, and it can also have adverse effects on your body parts. Consuming excess sugar regularly is not healthy for the body. The recommended limit for sugar consumption is 200 calories of sugar or 12 teaspoons of sugar in a day.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the sugar consumption for people above two years should be 10% of their total diet. You should switch to simpler and natural forms of sugar, such as the sweetness found in fruits, honey, maple syrup, etc.
Effect of sugar on the heart
Eating too much sugar increases the insulin in the body. Consuming extra sugar produces more insulin, and this excess insulin affects the arteries in the body. The walls of these arteries get inflamed. This means that these interior walls become thicker than average and stiffer.
The inflammation of the arteries can increase the chances of heart attack and heart-related diseases. Eating less sugar will significantly reduce your blood pressure. People with sugar in their diet greater than 25% of their total diet are twice as likely to suffer from heart diseases than an average person.
Overeating sugar increases the number of high triglycerides in our bodies. The increased quantity of this compound increases all risk factors for heart diseases.
You can also consume too much sugar from sweetened drinks. People with high sugar consumption are also prone to atherosclerosis. It is a disease that includes fatty and artery-clogging deposits remaining in the intestines.
Harmful Effects Of Sugar
Sugar has a lot of harmful effects on your body. Some of the most prominent of these effects are given below as:-
Weight gain
The growing rate of obesity in people is a serious concern these days. One of the main reasons for the rise of sugar in people is the increase in consumption of beverages with a high amount of sugar.
Beverages like sodas, juices, and other similar drinks have a high amount of fructose. Fructose is a simple sugar that our body finds difficult to break down and digest. If you consume fructose in excess, your body will build leptin resistance.
Leptin is one of the essential hormones in our body as it regulates hunger and informs our body to stop eating. In simple terms eating sugary treats will not reduce your appetite, due to which you will keep on eating them; hence eventually, it will lead to weight gain.
Diabetes
The incidence of diabetes has been increasing over the past years very rapidly. Although there are many reasons for this rapid growth, increasing sugar consumption is among the significant reasons.
If you have a habit of consuming excess sugar over a long period, your body starts to develop insulin resistance. Insulin is a particular hormone produced by our pancreas, and its primary function is to regulate the sugar levels in our body.
When your body develops a certain level of insulin resistance, then you become very vulnerable to diabetes. A research study shows that with every 150 calories of sugar consumed per day, you are 1.1% more likely to suffer from diabetes.
Excess Release of Dopamine
Dopamine is a feel-good chemical. When you consume too much sugar, then your brain releases a huge amount of dopamine. Due to this, the brain starts to crave more of this chemical, due to which we want to eat more and more sugary stuff. This is why sugary foods are habit-forming.
Sugar also gives us a quick boost of energy or adrenaline. It is also known for lifting our moods whenever we are feeling low. This is why people who are sad or depressed end up eating a lot of sugary treats.
Acne
Increased sugar consumption also results in acne. Food items with a higher glycemic index, such as processed sweets and other sugar items, raise your blood sugar level more rapidly than other items.
This spike in insulin and blood sugar causes an increase in androgen secretion. This androgen secretion plays a vital role in acne development. On the other hand, food items with a low glycemic index have significantly less effect on acne development.
Foods To Eat And Avoid For A Healthy Heart
There are plenty of foods that you should avoid eating if you want to maintain a healthy heart. Some of these foods are listed below as:-
Fats, sugar, and salts
With time increased consumption of fats, sugar and salts can raise the chances of a heart stroke or heart disease. If you want to have a healthy heart and avoid these problems, you should consume all these substances in moderation and regulation. You should not completely stop consuming these items, but you can consume these things in moderation if you follow a balanced diet.
Bacon
The majority of the calories in bacon are saturated fats; saturated fats are not suitable for our body as they cannot break these fats easily. Saturated fats start accumulating in our body, due to which there is a visible weight gain. Eating a lot of bacon can increase the low-density lipoprotein in your body.
The more common term for this compound is bad cholesterol; bad cholesterol increases the chances of heart failure as our heart needs to pump a lot faster and harder to digest bad cholesterol and saturated fats. Moreover, bacon also has other added preservatives that can cause other health-related issues.
Red meat
Consuming excess red meat can also increase your chances of suffering from heart disease. Red meat includes pork, beef, lamb, and other types of meats.
You should stay away from eating red meat because it has high amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats. A compound known as L-carnitine is found in red meat. This compound also increases the risk of heart diseases. As a result, you should limit the portion of red meat you consume.
Soda
A can of soda is filled with huge amounts of sugar. The sugar in these cans is mainly refined sugar. A small can of soda has more sugar than you should consume in an entire day. Soda drinkers are vulnerable to various diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and so on. You should completely avoid drinking them if you want to have a healthy heart.
Baked items
These are the food items known for having too much sugar in them. Regular consumption of these items will cause your blood sugar to spike. Diabetic patients, as well as seniors, should be cautious while consuming such things. Even after you consume a lot of these items, your hunger will not reduce. As a result, you will keep on eating more.
How You Can Reduce Your Sugar Consumption
Instead of processed and refined sugar, you should go for natural sweeteners. For instance, you can manually add fruits to plain yogurt rather than going for artificial fruit yogurt. Artificial fruit yogurt has artificial sweeteners. These artificial sweeteners are very bad for your health.
You can also add berries to your oatmeal instead of using refined sugar or brown sugar. Making such substitutions in your daily routine will benefit you a lot in the longer run. You can track the daily sugar intake by checking the labels on the items, as it is mandatory for these brands to display the amount of sugar in their products.
What Is The Ideal Sugar Intake?
Not all types of sugars are equal. Natural sugars are found in milk and fruit. Added sugars include many things such as white table sugar, maple syrup, honey, and so on. Most of the time, you will find added sugars in places you least expect them to be.
You can find this added sugar in canned food and even in bread. Even though you will not taste the presence of sugar in these items, it is still there.
According to the American Heart Association
- Women should have about six teaspoons (100 calories) of sugar in a day
- Men should consume about nine teaspoons (150 calories) of sugar in a day
Wrap Up
Everyone wants a healthy life and a healthy heart. Still, people don’t realize that they are following many unhealthy habits that contribute towards deteriorating the health of their hearts.
Consumption of excess sugar is among the leading causes of heart diseases around the globe. This article covers how excess sugar impacts your body and what food items you avoid if you want to have a healthy heart.
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