Hmm, do you know how much sugar you are taking in on a daily basis? With all the food devouring that goes on, it can be hard to tell. Let’s put our hands up if we often just grab whatever snack we feel like eating and then eat it without realizing how many calories or sugars we are taking in. It’s vital that you track your nutrition in order to ensure you are eating the right amount of macros that will help you reach your health/fitness goals.
Sugar is hard to resist. There are many foods that contain this sweet crystalline carbohydrate such as pastries, and we sometimes find ourselves daydreaming about our favorite desserts when we feel hungry. But these sweets damage the systems in our body, causing different levels of harm.
Sugar today is unavoidable as it’s in every processed food, even those that are sugar-free. We’re unknowingly addicted to sweet stuff because of syrups, soft drinks, candy, and cereals. But consuming too much of it can be harmful to our health.
Sugar is bad for you. I know, I know. You’ve heard that a million times before. But this is the first time you’ve heard that you should stay away from it. If you see any of the following 11 signs, you’re probably consuming too much sugar.
11. Muscle and joint pain
Has your body been feeling so stiff and sore? It may be due to inflammation. Your muscles and joints may be complaining about the lack of exercise you have been providing. It could be that you haven’t been walking or golfing in a few days, and they want to get its regular dose of activity to keep them healthy.
A study has found that eating sugar-heavy food increases the amount of toxin, advanced glycation end-product (AGE), which causes the immune cells to secrete cytokines pro-inflammatory substances, to break down these AGEs.
The higher the amount of sugar you eat, the more AGEs your body produces. These break down quickly, creating even more inflammation in your joints. This is a vicious cycle with only bad outcomes – no positives – such as arthritis, heart disease, cataracts, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or wrinkles.
10. Craving sweets and other sugary foods
Sugar is an addictive substance — even if you just ate a muffin for breakfast, you’re probably still hungry. That’s because sugar triggers the release of opioids and dopamine, which can provide the same feeling as some addictive street drugs. Dopamine plays a vital role in the development of addictive behaviors. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is released into our body system when we experience rewarding events, such as eating sugar. When we have too much dopamine, it causes us to experience a pleasurable “high” that we want again and again.
9. You seem to be very moody like it’s your time of the month
In order to maintain a healthy blood sugar level, it is crucial to eat right. Each person has a set amount of sugar they need in their bloodstream in order to function properly. When there is not enough glucose in the blood, an individual may experience energy highs and lows. Eating a candy bar will give you a quick high as the body converts the sugar into glucose.
To power up your cells, the pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream to help glucose get to the cells. When blood sugar levels drop quickly, it can leave you feeling dizzy, weak, and craving more sugar sweets.
8. You find your skin is constantly breaking out
Your skin is not happy lately. You may want to take a look at the food you eat. Eating too much sugar can cause inflammation and breakouts in the skin. The reason for this is that eating sugar releases substances that are producing inflammation in the skin, and these breakouts happen around the mouth and chin. Eating too much sugar is a recipe for disaster when it comes to your skin.
Wrinkles are natural and there’s nothing you can do to get rid of them. But sugar makes them worse by breaking down collagen and elastin, the proteins that make the skin elastic and give its youthful appearance. The more sugar you eat, the faster your skin ages.
7. You seem to be putting on weight
You’re never excited to find out that you’ve gained weight. You may have had a few slices of cake or a cookie here and there. It shouldn’t make a difference, right? Except when you experience weight gain, it’s one of the telltale signs that your sugar intake is more than healthy. If you keep going like this, it’ll be hard to find pants that fit.
If you eat too many sweets and cakes, then your body stores the excess sugar as fat in your stomach, hips, or thighs. This happens because high blood sugar levels cause an increase in insulin production, which converts the sugar into fatty acids. These are then stored in your body as adipose tissue.
6. Tooth decay
You know, those endless lectures from your parents about the dangers of sugar may actually have a point. It is in fact one of the leading causes of tooth decay. But it’s not just as simple as brushing the sugar away. Once you eat something sugary, the sugar remains in your mouth and starts a chain reaction that ends up in cavities.
Your mouth houses a bacterial balance that you must maintain for healthy teeth. Eating sugar causes acid to form while saliva helps to heal the damage. The bad bacteria in your mouth thrive from too much sugar, which is why it’s important to brush and floss regularly.
5. Your mouth is dry, or excessive thirst
Does this sound familiar? You feel like your mouth is dry and you are always thirsty? It might be because you are dehydrated.
Excessive sugar can make you go dry in the mouth and produce intense thirst. When your body assimilates the high sugar levels, it moves water from the cells and into your bloodstream. This increase in water levels in your body necessitates an increase in water intake. The result is dry mouth and intense thirst.
4. Bloating, Gassiness, and Abdominal Discomforts
There are many reasons for bloating, such as gassiness and abdominal discomfort, but sugar is the culprit. There is a direct link between gas and bloating, so the foods you eat and digest can have an effect on your gas. Sugar can be a cause of this gas. Sugar is hard to digest by the small intestine, so it moves on to the large intestine. There, it is broken down into smaller bits by the gut bacteria. This leads to gassiness or abdominal discomfort.
Consuming too much sugar can make your stomach unhappy. To avoid sugar-filled drinks, sweeteners, and snack bars, you should try to eat more healthy foods like vegetables. Also, some people have a hard time digesting sugar alcohols, found in sugar-free food, so be careful of that.
3. You find you’re lacking mental clarity
Brain fog? Brain fog is what happens when your blood sugar levels drop too low or go too high. The brain needs a consistent supply of sugar to function, and dropping blood sugar can lead to brain cell damage and poor concentration. Maintaining a healthy blood sugar level is crucial as you don’t want either scenario to happen.
You might be eating too many refined carbohydrates. When we eat these types of foods, our blood sugar spikes and then falls, creating an imbalance in our hormones and brain chemicals. This leads to a foggy brain, irritability, and fatigue.
2. Frequent urination
If you’re finding yourself going to the bathroom a lot, it might be due to the fact that you’re consuming too much sugar.
If your blood sugar is high, the kidneys can’t reabsorb all the fluid in your body. So your body tries to make a more equal balance of glucose in your blood and your cells. It does this by dissolving some of your blood in the fluid that’s inside your cells. This causes you to urinate a lot.
1. Irritability
People who have high sugar levels are more prone to mood swings, including anxiety, irritability, and depression. The brain depends on an equal supply of glucose to work properly, and sharp spikes in its level lead to a decrease in our mood. As a result, people with high sugar levels often experience the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and irritability.
Sugar intake can have a significant impact on the absorption of chromium, which is essential for maintaining stable blood glucose levels. An absence of this mineral leads to insulin not being able to work properly, which means the body is unable to properly eliminate sugar out of the blood stream.
