10 REASON WHY SUGAR IS BAD FOR YOU

Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern
diet.

It can have harmful effects on metabolism and contribute
to all sorts of diseases.

Here are 10 disturbing reasons why you should avoid
added sugar like the plague.






1. ADDED SUGAR CONTAINS NO ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS AND IS BAD FOR YOUR TEETH



You've probably heard this a million times before... but
it's worth repeating.

Added sugars (like sucrose and high fructose corn
syrup) contain a whole bunch of calories with NO
essential nutrients.

For this reason, they are called "empty" calories.
There are no proteins, essential fats, vitamins or
minerals in sugar... just pure energy.

When people eat up to 10-20% of calories as sugar (or
more), this can become a major problem and contribute
to nutrient deficiencies.

Sugar is also very bad for the teeth, because it provides
easily digestible energy for the bad bacteria in the
mouth

BOTTOM LINE:
Sugar contains a lot of calories, with no essential
nutrients. It also causes tooth decay by feeding
the harmful bacteria in the mouth.



2. ADDED SUGAR IS HIGH IN FRUCTOSE, WHICH CAN OVERLOAD YOUR LIVER



In order to understand what is so bad about sugar, then
you need to understand what it is made of.

Before sugar enters the bloodstream from the digestive
tract, it is broken down into two simple sugars...
glucose and fructose.

Glucose is found in every living cell on the planet. If
we don't get it from the diet, our bodies produce it.
Fructose is different. Our bodies do not produce it in
any significant amount and there is no physiological
need for it.

The thing with fructose is that it can only be
metabolized by the liver in any significant amounts.
This is not a problem if we eat a little bit (such as from
fruit) or we just finished an exercise session. In this
case, the fructose will be turned into glycogen and
stored in the liver until we need it.

However, if the liver is full of glycogen (much more
common), eating a lot of fructose overloads the liver,
forcing it to turn the fructose into fat .

When repeatedly eating large amounts of sugar, this
process can lead to fatty liver and all sorts of serious
problems .

Keep in mind that all of this does NOT apply to fruit. It is
almost impossible to overeat fructose by eating fruit.
There is also massive individual variability here. People
who are healthy and active can tolerate more sugar than
people who are inactive and eat a Western, high-carb,
high-calorie diet.

BOTTOM LINE:
For people who are inactive and eat a Western
diet, large amounts of fructose from added sugars
get turned into fat in the liver.



3. OVERLOADING THE LIVER WITH FRUCTOSE CAN CAUSE NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY
LIVER DISEASE


When fructose get turned into fat in the liver, it is
shipped out as VLDL cholesterol particles.

However, not all of the fat gets out, some of it can lodge
in the liver.

This can lead to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
(NAFLD), a growing problem in Western countries that is
strongly associated with metabolic diseases.

Studies show that individuals with fatty liver consume
up to 2-3 times as much fructose as the average person.

BOTTOM LINE:
Excess fructose gets turned into fat, which can
lodge in the liver and cause non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease.



4.SUGAR CAN CAUSE INSULIN RESISTANCE, A STEPPING STONE TOWARDS
METABOLIC SYNDROME AND DIABETES.


Insulin is a very important hormone in the body.

It allows glucose (blood sugar) to enter cells from the
bloodstream and tells the cells to start burning glucose
instead of fat.

Having too much glucose in the blood is very harmful
and one of the reasons for complications of diabetes,
like blindness.

One feature of the metabolic dysfunction that is caused
by the Western diet, is that insulin stops working as it
should. The cells become "resistant" to it.

This is also known as insulin resistance, which is
believed to be a leading driver of many diseases...
including metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular
disease and especially type II diabetes.

Many studies show that sugar consumption is
associated with insulin resistance, especially when it is
consumed in large amounts .

BOTTOM LINE:
When people eat a lot of sugar, it can cause
resistance to the hormone insulin, which can
contribute to many diseases.



5. THE INSULIN RESISTANCE CAN PROGRESS TO TYPE II DIABETES.


When our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin,
the beta cells in our pancreas make more of it.

This is crucial, because chronically elevated blood
sugars can cause severe harm.

Eventually, as insulin resistance becomes progressively
worse, the pancreas can't keep up with the demand of
producing enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels
down.

At this point, blood sugar levels skyrocket and a
diagnosis of type II diabetes is made.

Given that sugar can cause insulin resistance, it is not
surprising to see that people who drink sugar-
sweetened beverages have up to an 83% higher risk of
Type II diabetes.

BOTTOM LINE:
Because of the harmful effects of sugar on the
function of insulin, it is a leading driver of type II
diabetes.



6. SUGAR CAN GIVE YOU CANCER


Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide
and is characterized by uncontrolled growth and
multiplication of cells.

Insulin is one of the key hormones in regulating this sort
of growth.

For this reason, many scientists believe that having
constantly elevated insulin levels (a consequence of
sugar consumption) can contribute to cancer .

In addition, the metabolic problems associated with
sugar consumption are a known driver of inflammation,
another potential cause of cancer .

Multiple studies show that people who eat a lot of sugar
are at a much higher risk of getting cancer .

BOTTOM LINE:
There is considerable evidence that sugar, due to
its harmful effects on metabolism, can contribute
to cancer.



7. DUE TO ITS EFFECTS ON HORMONES AND THE BRAIN, SUGAR HAS UNIQUE
FAT-PROMOTING EFFECTS.
Not all calories are created equal.


Different foods can have different effects on our brains
and the hormones that control food intake .

Studies show that fructose doesn't have the same kind
of effect on satiety as glucose.

In one study, people drank either a fructose-sweetened
drink or a glucose-sweetened drink.

Afterwards, the fructose drinkers had much less activity
in the satiety centers of the brain and felt hungrier .

There is also a study where fructose didn't lower the
hunger hormone ghrelin nearly as much as glucose did

Over time, because the calories from sugar aren't as
fulfilling, this can translate into an increased calorie
intake.

BOTTOM LINE:
Fructose doesn't cause satiety in the brain or
lower the hunger hormone ghrelin nearly as
much as glucose.



8. BECAUSE IT CAUSES MASSIVE DOPAMINE RELEASE IN THE BRAIN, SUGAR IS
HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.


Sugar can be addictive for a lot of people.

Like abusive drugs, sugar causes a release of dopamine
in the reward center of the brain .
The problem with sugar and many junk foods is that
they can cause massive dopamine release... much more
than we were ever exposed to from foods found in nature.

For this reason, people who have a susceptibility to
addiction can become strongly addicted to sugar and
other junk foods .

The "everything in moderation" message may be a bad
idea for people who are addicted to junk food... because
the only thing that works for true addiction is
abstinence.

BOTTOM LINE:
Because sugar causes a large release of
dopamine in the brain, it can cause addiction in a
lot of people.



9. SUGAR IS A LEADING CONTRIBUTOR TO OBESITY IN BOTH CHILDREN AND ADULTS.


The way sugar affects hormones and the brain is a recipe
for fat gain disaster.

It leads to decreased satiety... and can get people
addicted so that they lose control over their
consumption.

Not surprisingly, people who consume the most sugar
are by far the most likely to become overweight or
obese. This applies to all age groups.
Many studies have examined the link between sugar
consumption and obesity and found a strong statistical
association .

The link is especially strong in children, where each
daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverages is
associated with a whopping 60% increased risk of
obesity .

One of the most important things you can do if you need
to lose weight is to significantly cut back on sugar
consumption.

BOTTOM LINE:
Because of the effects of sugar on hormones and
the brain, sugar dramatically increases the risk of
becoming overweight or obese.



10. IT AIN'T THE FAT.... IT'S SUGAR THAT RAISES YOUR CHOLESTEROL AND
GIVES YOU HEART DISEASE


For many decades, people have blamed saturated fat for
heart disease... which is the #1 killer in the world.
However... new studies are showing that saturated fat is
harmless .

The evidence is mounting that sugar, NOT fat, may be
one of the leading drivers of heart disease via the
harmful effects of fructose on metabolism .

Studies show that large amounts of fructose can raise
triglycerides, small, dense LDL and oxidized LDL (very,
very bad), raise blood glucose and insulin levels and
increase abdominal obesity -- in as little as 10 weeks.

These are all major risk factors for heart disease.
Not surprisingly, many observational studies find a
strong statistical association between sugar
consumption and the risk of heart disease.

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