When it comes to sweets, sometimes you just can’t resist. It can be candy, sugary drinks, delicious desserts, adding sugar packets to your teas and coffee or even dealing with flavored syrups. For some, sweets are just the go-to. Why? Because of this one special ingredient that children and even adults seem to love. But as you know, too much of anything can lead to complications later down the line and for some people, right then and there. Complications can develop when someone indulges in too much of anything such as smoking and consuming alcohol. With that being said, if you can develop problems from indulging too much when it comes to drinking and smoking, isn’t it possible to develop problems from overindulging in food? Absolutely, especially when those foods and or drinks contain high amounts of sugar, one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes.
There is a difference between natural sugar and added sugars. Fruits and vegetables have natural sugars in them. Foods like snacks, cookies, cakes, juice drinks and more have added sugars to them.
So to answer this simply, the reason sugar is added to many of the world’s snacks, drinks and desserts is because it tastes good and it makes the foods consumed more appealing.
Sometimes adding sugar does help when it comes to certain foods such as bread. It helps fuel the fermentation, which makes bread rise.
Sugar also helps preserve foods such as jam, gives baked goods color and texture, and balances out the acidity in foods that contain tomatoes and vinegar. (Fun Fact: this is why people put sugar in their spaghetti sauce).
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As good as sugar may make food and beverages taste and as beneficial as it can be when cooking or baking, too much sugar can lead to more than just a sugar rush. Sugar adds no type of nutrients, just calories to you and your diet, which can lead to weight gain and other health problems. One health issue is heart problems. When you consume too much sugar, it increases your triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are the fat that is found in your bloodstream and fat tissue and if its levels become too high, it can lead to heart disease.
Another health problem too much sugar can lead to is diabetes, specifically, type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes develops when the body doesn’t regulate and process sugar in the way it needs to.
This leads to too much sugar in one’s bloodstream. If your body is taking in excessive amounts of sugar, your blood sugar levels will rise and this can lead to dysfunction in your circulatory, immune and nervous systems.
The pancreas becomes affected because it cannot process insulin properly and the cells no longer respond to insulin so they don’t take in glucose as they should. This leads to type 2 diabetes.
There are many signs that your body will show if you are feeding it too much sugar. One sign is that you could be more irritable or depressed and have sudden and drastic mood swings.
Another sign is that your oral health will start to decline and you could possibly experience tooth decay or more plaque than usual.
You’ll start to crave sugar more because sugar causes you to want more of it even after you have had enough of it, sort of like an addiction.
You can become extremely hungry because your body isn’t’ getting the nutrients to keep you fuller longer. You may also experience the constant need to use the bathroom, high blood pressure, fatigue, breakouts and even trouble sleeping.
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The common cause of type 2 diabetes is your pancreas not being able to produce insulin and the cells in your muscles, fats and liver become resistant to insulin. On top of white sugar that could possibly lead to this, other forms of added sugar could do the same.
Other forms of additives can be syrups (high fructose), cane sugars and sweeteners, maple syrup, molasses, fruit juice concentrate and malt. Consuming too much of these sugars over a long period of time can cause your body to shut down and start rejecting how they are processed. A brighter and safer future starts with a healthy diet and it’s important to know what and how much of these sugars you’re consuming daily. Type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to be your fate so do your part and keep your body healthy.
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