Maybe Sugar Isn't So Sweet

Thanks to increased awareness, most people know that excess sugar in your diet puts you at risk for diabetes, which is scary enough on its own.  Now studies are showing that sugar can also cause many other problems such as:

 

Acne

In 2008, an Australian study was published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research which suggests that insulin resistance fuels inflammation and the production of the acne-causing oil sebum.

 

Heart Disease

The American Heart Association has good reason to recommend lower sugar intake.  When you consume more sugar than you use, triglycerides are formed and stored in fat cells.  HDL (good cholesterol) is also lower when excess sugar is consumed.  Both high triglycerides and low HDL levels contribute to atherosclerosis—the hardening of your arteries—a condition that increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and heart attack.

 

Depression

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine found a correlation between sugar consumption and the annual rate of depression in six countries. While the exact mechanism that triggers excess sugar to negatively affect your mood is unknown, some believe that insulin resistance may force the release of the stress hormones cortisol and GLP-1.

 

Yeast Infection

Yeast grows by feeding on sugar.  The bacteria Candida is naturally found in your body, but the levels are kept in check by your immune system.  Increased sugar in your saliva and urine creates the perfect breeding ground for the bacteria and your immune system can't keep up. 

 

Cancer

While it’s not proven that sugar fuels cancer growth in the body, we do know that obesity—a likely effect of eating too much sugar—increases your risk of developing a number of cancers, and that both sugar and insulin fuel cancer-cell growth.  A number of studies indicate a strong relationship between sugar consumption and an increased risk of cancer. For example, University of Minnesota researchers looked at more than 60,000 patients over 14 years and found that people who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. University of Buffalo researchers found that diabetic women had a 39% increased risk of developing breast cancer.

 

But how much is too much?  The recommended sugar intake for adult women is 5 teaspoons (20 grams) of sugar per day, for adult men, it’s 9 teaspoons (36 grams) daily, and for children, it's 3 teaspoons (12 grams) a day.  It is estimated that the average American consumes around 22.2 teaspoons of added sugar every day.  Scary stuff.