15 health problems caused by sugar

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The average person eats 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. This leads to very unpleasant consequences in terms of health: excess weight, heart disease, impaired insulin and leptin sensitivity, memory impairment. And this is not a complete list.

In 1957, John Yudkin, a British professor of nutrition, tried to prove that sugar is the main culprit in heart disease and other chronic diseases, not fat, as is commonly believed.

Yudkin's book "Pure, White, Deadly" was a success among readers. But prominent nutritionists teamed up with food manufacturers to wipe out his reputation and career. Yudkin's hypothesis was buried, and fat became public enemy number one. We talked about this scientific injustice in more detail in the article "".

Today, there is enough open data and research to confirm that excessive sugar consumption has negative consequences. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends limiting your daily sugar intake to 50 grams per day (4 tablespoons, slightly more than a can of Coca-Cola). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting yourself to 2 tablespoons a day.

But what if you eat more than the recommended sugar intake? Let's see what the latest scientific research has to say about it.

1. Caries

Tooth decay occurs when bacteria in the oral cavity feed on simple sugars S. N. Wagoner, T. A. Marshall, F. Qian. … … As a result of their vital activity, acid is formed, which destroys tooth enamel, and then soft dentin - the tissue of which the tooth is composed. Therefore, the recommendations of dentists regarding the use of sugar are much stricter than in popular diets.

2. Constant hunger

The hormone leptin tells your brain that you are full. But fructose prevents leptin from reaching the brain and makes you feel hungry.

In people with leptin resistance, the brain does not receive the correct signal, so it is more difficult for them to control their appetite.

Studies in rats have shown Alexandra Shapiro, Wei Mu, Carlos Roncal. that animals that consumed fructose produced more leptin than usual. Therefore, the body's sensitivity to it decreased. When fructose was removed from the rat's diet, leptin levels returned to normal.

3. Weight gain

In addition to a sedentary lifestyle, there is another proven way to gain extra pounds quickly and confidently: making sugar a staple in your diet.

Sweets are high in calories, but not enough to satisfy hunger.

Scientists from New Zealand conducted a study by Lisa Te Morenga, Simonette Mallard, Jim Mann. … among adult men and tried to find a connection between excess weight and other factors: age, total caloric intake, sugar, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking. The strongest link was between weight gain and sugar intake. So if you want to lose weight, cut out sugar first.

4. Impaired insulin sensitivity

When you eat a lot of high sugar foods, like breakfast donuts, your body needs more insulin, a hormone that helps convert food into energy. But when insulin levels are consistently high, the body gets used to it and becomes less sensitive to it. This leads to an increase in blood glucose levels.

Scientists rapidly induced insulin resistance in rats by feeding them a very high sugar diet Sharon S. Elliott, Nancy L. Keim, Judith S. Stern. … …

Symptoms of impaired insulin sensitivity are fatigue, constant hunger, blurred consciousness, and high blood pressure. Fat begins to accumulate in the abdomen. Most people usually don't notice their insulin resistance until it develops into diabetes.

5. Diabetes

At the beginning of 2014, 3, 96 million people were diagnosed in Russia, while the real numbers are much higher (according to unofficial estimates, the number of patients is more than 11 million).

In one experiment V. S. Malik, B. M. Popkin, G. A. Bray. … scientists tracked health indicators in 51 thousand people in the period from 1991 to 1999. It turned out that people who drank a lot of sweetened drinks - lemonade, tea, energy drinks - had a higher risk of diabetes. The same conclusion was reached by scientists who conducted a similar study among 310 thousand participants.

6. Obesity

If you drink a glass of sweet lemonade every day, you have every chance of gaining about 6 kilograms of weight per year.

Every extra glass of soda can lead to obesity.

Of course, there is a chance that people who drink a glass of lemonade daily are not consuming more calories than a person needs per day. But, as a rule, "empty calories" contribute to excessive food intake in general.

7. Liver failure

The need to process large amounts of fructose can lead to stress and inflammation of the liver. Therefore, excess fructose is the main cause of the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In people with this diagnosis, fat begins to accumulate throughout the liver. Scientists have found that, as a rule, they drink more lemonade than the average person Shira Zelber-Sagi, Dorit Nitzan-Kaluski, Rebecca Goldsmith. … … However, scientists have not been able to determine exactly what is the main cause of the disease - sugar or excess weight (which, as we have already found out, often appears due to sugar).

Most people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are usually oblivious to their symptoms and may not even be aware that they have the disease. But in some, the accumulated fat can lead to scarring of the liver, and ultimately the disease can progress to liver failure.

8. Pancreatic cancer

Some researchers argue that high sugar consumption may increase the risk of developing N. Tasevska, L. Jiao, A. J. Cross. … pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

Although other scientists disagree and argue that cancer and sugar are indirectly related: eating large amounts of sugar leads to obesity and diabetes, and they, in turn, affect the development of pancreatic cancer.

9. Kidney disease

There is speculation that excessive sugar consumption can lead to kidney disease. While this is only a hypothesis to date, there are reasons for concern.

Research results Richard J. Johnson, L. Gabriela Sanchez-Lozada, Takahiko Nakagawa. … among 9 358 participants showed that the consumption of lemonades and other sugary drinks may be associated with kidney disease.

A similar study was conducted on rats. The rats' diet included excessive amounts of sugar (12 times higher than the WHO recommendations). As a result, their kidneys grew in size and functioned less well.

10. High blood pressure

Sugar can also lead to high blood pressure. In one study, Marilda Mazzali, Jeremy Hughes, Yoon-Goo Kim. … 4,528 adults who have never had hypertension consumed 74 g of sugar every day. The risk of high blood pressure has increased significantly.

In another small study, the following experiment was conducted: 15 people drank 60 g of fructose. Two hours later, they had a sharp jump in blood pressure. This reaction can occur due to the fact that during the decomposition of fructose, a by-product is formed - uric acid, which in large quantities negatively affects blood pressure.

11. Diseases of the cardiovascular system

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Smoking and a sedentary lifestyle influence their appearance most of all, but among the risk factors there are also excessive sugar consumption, excess weight, diabetes.

Recent studies show that eating a lot of sugar can cause irreparable harm to your heart health. This is especially true for women.

According to research by Q. Yang, Z. Zhang, E. W. Gregg. … The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which attended 11,733 people, there is a link between sugar consumption and an increased risk of developing heart disease and subsequent death. Participants who ate 17 to 21% of their daily calories from sugar had a 38% chance of dying from heart disease, compared with those who restricted their calories from sugar to 8% of their total intake.

12. Addiction

Despite the fact that not all doctors support the idea of the existence of food addiction, this is a very real phenomenon, although somewhat different from alcohol dependence or drug addiction.

For example, it is a known fact that people who are trying to get rid of addiction to opioids (heroin) or simply quit smoking, begin to eat more sweets. One hypothesis is that in this way the brain replaces the action of addictive substances.

Although it can be much simpler: people get used to the food they like, and it doesn't matter if there is sugar or not.

13. Decreased cognitive ability

Obesity and diabetes are directly linked to cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, it is not surprising that new studies are finding a link between excess sugar consumption and the effect of such behavior on the brain.

Scientists recently conducted an experiment: a group of rats were fed foods with a high sugar content. This had a negative effect on their memory, dulling emotional arousal. A similar reaction was found in the human body: a link was found between the consumption of foods high in fat and carbohydrates and a decrease in the performance of the hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for memory E. K. Naderali, S. H. Ratcliffe, M. C. Dale. … …

14. Nutrient Deficiency

When you eat too much sugar, you are most likely cutting out many of the nutrients your body really needs.

Foods high in sugar replace natural foods - like soda instead of juice and milk - and thus lead to nutritional deficiencies in the body. You are consuming a lot of calories from sugar, but not getting enough vitamin D, calcium, or potassium.

Lack of nutrients manifests itself in the form of fatigue, increased fragility of bones, muscle weakness.

A 1999 study found that people getting 18% or more of their daily calories from sugar had the lowest levels of essential vitamins and minerals such as folate, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C. …

15. Gout

Gout is called the "disease of kings" because it is caused by excessive eating and drinking. And although our diet has changed, this painful form of arthritis is becoming more common in different sectors of society.

Foods that trigger gout are usually high in purines. When purines are processed, uric acid is formed. It builds up and leads to gout.

But uric acid is not only produced by the breakdown of purines, it is also a byproduct of sugar metabolism. Therefore, excessive consumption of sugar increases the risk of developing gout, especially in men Hyon K. Choi, Gary Curhan. … …