You probably already know that sugar is a major contributor to poor health, in your diet. The sad part is it’s very hard to avoid sugar. But the question often arises, should you eliminate sugar completely from your diet?
If you are like most people, you probably end up consuming more sugar per day than you should, even if you are trying
to eat healthy and trying to avoid sweets. It’s very hard to avoid sugar; it’s everywhere. You may not realize that sugar is added to many of the foods you eat regularly. You’ll only find out about sugars in your food if you read the labels carefully.
On average, a normal adult consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. This is shocking and can lead to many health problems. Recent studies have associate higher sugar intake with early aging, high cholesterol, obesity, higher risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Why do we need sugar in our diet?
Sugar is a crystalline
carbohydrate that tastes sweet and gives us energy. It provides
fuel for the brain and muscles. There are many different types of sugar like sucrose (table sugar), glucose, fructose, lactose, and maltose.
Some of these sugars such as fructose, lactose and glucose, occur naturally in fruits and vegetables. Many of the foods that we eat contain "
added sugars” - sugars that are processed, refined and added to products to make them sweeter. These foods include fruit beverages, soft drinks, pies, cakes, ice-cream, chocolate, and dessert. It’s the added refined sugar that contributes to most of the health problems.
Health Risks Associated with Consuming added Sugar
The immediate effect of sugar can be seen in your teeth and gums. There is a strong link between sugar and
tooth decay. Fructose has been shown to contribute to a fatty liver. Sugar also indirectly affects your heart health, circulatory system and aging.
Medical News Today (MNT) has reported on several studies done in February 2014, and in December 2014 that added sugar in the diet may contribute to the following diseases:
- Increase the risk of high blood pressure
- Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD)
- Obesity
In the United States, obesity is becoming a serious problem. More than a third of the population is overweight and the rate of childhood obesity has doubled in the past 30 years.
(Source: Medical News Today)
Conclusion:
Sugar gives us energy; however, refined and added sugars have been linked with many health conditions and diseases. We can easily avoid a lot of the health problems if we avoid refined and added sugars in foods. All we need to do is to look at the food labels and avoid foods with added sugars.
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Source: Alternative Health Concepts
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