#biology | What does sugar do to the human body?

The habit of adding sugar to drinks and foodcommon to many people. Of course, everyone decides for himself whether to continue to follow the habit further or, by limiting the use of this sweet product, to lose the usual coffee with sugar. A lot of words have been said about the fact that “sugar is bad”, and everyone knows this, but not every person will be able to immediately say what exactly its harm is, what hormones it affects, why it does not create a feeling of satiety and can cause fat metamorphosis. liver.

Sugar probably has some good ones too.qualities, but in this case only those that are harmful are considered. They were collected and reviewed in Kris Gunnars' 10 Disturbing Reasons Why Sugar is Bad For You, published by Authority Nutrition, which believes that sugar is the main harmful ingredient in the modern diet. This note not only tells that sugar is harmful, but also tells what processes in the body it causes, which it contributes to and why these processes are not useful for humans.

Without a doubt, on different people sugaraffects differently. In some people, the harmful effects of sugar can be much stronger than in others. In this case, we are talking about intolerance to this product. In addition, in his note, Chris Gunnars relies on the results of certain studies. It is possible that other studies have yielded different results. After all, any information from the Internet is intended only for reflection. Recommendations for maintaining and restoring health can only be given by a doctor.

Content

• 1 Is sugar bad for teeth?
• 2 Fructose can lead to fatty liver metamorphosis
• 3 What is the danger of converting fructose to fat?
• 4 What diseases can sugar consumption lead to?
• 5 Insulin resistance can develop into type 2 diabetes
• 6 Can Sugar Cause Cancer?
• 7 Sugar almost does not reduce the feeling of hunger
• 8 The Body's Addiction to Sugar
• 9 Sugar is the path to obesity in children and adults
• 10 Sugar Raises Cholesterol And Leads To Heart Disease
• 11 What are the benefits of sugar?

Is sugar bad for teeth?

Most likely, you have heard about this millions of times, but these simple facts are worth repeating.

Sugars added to food and drink (such as sucrose,and fructose) are high in calories and do not contain beneficial nutrients. This is called "empty calories". In sugars there are no proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals necessary for a person, only energy.

If a person receives 10-20% of calories from sugar (or even more), this can lead to significant complications and cause nutritional deficiencies.

In addition, sugar has a very bad effect on dental health, since it provides easily digestible energy for pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavity.

Fructose can lead to fatty liver metamorphosis

To understand why this happens, one shouldunderstand how sugar is processed by the body. Once in the blood from the digestive tract, it breaks down into two simple sugars: glucose and fructose.

Glucose is found in all living cells on the planet, it usually does not need to be obtained from food, the body itself produces it.

The situation is different with fructose. The human body does not produce it, at least in any significant quantities, and simply does not have a physiological need for it.

For the reason that the body does not need it,fructose in any noticeable quantities can only be metabolized by the liver. This does not create complications if it is eaten a little (in fruits, for example). Fructose is simply converted to glycogen (animal starch) and stored in the liver until the body needs it.

If the liver is much more loaded with glycogen than usual, eating large amounts of fructose overloads the liver, causing it to convert fructose into fat.

If you constantly add significant amounts of sugar to food and drinks, fatty liver metamorphosis and other significant complications can occur.

It should be remembered that all this does not apply to fruits. Eating fruits, it is simply impossible to overeat fructose.

The individual characteristics of the human body also play a role. Healthy and active people can tolerate more sugar than inactive people whose diets are rich in carbohydrates and high in calories.

What is the danger of converting fructose to fat?

When fructose is converted to fat in the liver, it is made up of very low density "bad" cholesterol (VLDL) particles. Of course, not all fat comes out, some of it may remain in the liver.

This can lead to alcohol-likefatty liver disease - non-alcoholic steatosis (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) - Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is a growing health problem in the West, closely associated with metabolic disorders.

Studies show that patients with fatty liver consume 2-3 times more fructose than the average person.

What diseases can be caused by sugar consumption?

Insulin is a very important hormone in the human body. It allows glucose (blood sugar) to reach the cells through the blood stream and “tells” the cells to start burning glucose, not fat.

Excess blood glucose is highly toxic and is one of the causes of complications of diabetes such as blindness.

One of the consequences of metabolic dysfunction,caused by malnutrition is that insulin stops working the way it should. Cells become "resistant" (resisting) to it.

This condition is known as insulinresistance and is considered a leading factor in many diseases, including metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and especially type 2 diabetes.

Many studies show that sugar intake is closely associated with insulin resistance, especially when sugar is consumed in high amounts.

Insulin resistance can develop into type 2 diabetes

When body cells become resistant tothe effect of insulin, the beta cells in the pancreas begin to produce more of it. And this becomes a critical moment, as chronically elevated blood sugar levels can cause serious harm.

Insulin resistance progresses, and the pancreas is unable to cope with the task of producing insulin in quantities sufficient to lower blood sugar levels.

In this case, the blood sugar levelrises and type 2 diabetes is diagnosed. Considering that eating sugar can lead to insulin resistance, it's no surprise that people who drink sugar-sweetened beverages have an 83% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who abstain from such beverages.

Can sugar lead to cancer?

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth and division of cells. Insulin is one of the key hormones that regulate this growth.

For this reason, many scientists believe that the persistently elevated levels of insulin caused by sugar consumption contribute to the development of cancer.

In addition, metabolic complications associated with sugar consumption are a known factor in promoting inflammation, another potential cause of cancer.

Numerous studies show that people who eat a lot of sugar have a significantly higher risk of getting cancer.

Sugar hardly reduces hunger

Not all calories are the same.Different types of food can have different effects on the human brain and the hormones that control food intake. Studies show that fructose does not provide the satiety that glucose provides.

In one study, people drankdrinks sweetened with fructose or glucose. Those who drank fructose drinks had less activity in the brain's satiety center and felt more hungry. There was also a study that found that fructose does not come close to reducing levels of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin to the same extent as glucose.

Since the calories in sugar are not "filled" with nutrients, indulging in sugar can lead to an increased calorie intake.

The body's addiction to sugar

Sugar can be addictive for many peoplebecause it leads to the production of dopamine in the brain. The problem with sugar and junk food is that it causes a strong release of dopamine, much more than natural food.

For this reason, people who tend to quickly formtheir habits, can become heavily addicted to sugar and junk food. “Everything is good in moderation” in this case can be a bad consolation for those people who are already accustomed to such food, since the only way to overcome addiction is to abstain from what caused it.

Sugar is the path to obesity in children and adults

The effect that sugar has on hormones andbrain leads to weight gain. Because sugar reduces satiety and makes it addictive, people lose control over how much they eat.

Therefore, it is not surprising that those people who consume a lot of sugar are more likely to become overweight or even obese. And this applies to all age groups.

Numerous studies have identifiedstatistical relationship between sugar consumption and obesity. This association is especially strong in children who drink sugar-sweetened beverages daily. They have a 60% higher risk of obesity than those children who abstain from such drinks.

If a person wants to lose weight, he should significantly reduce his sugar intake.

Sugar Raises Cholesterol and Leads to Heart Disease

For many decades, people blamed the heartailments saturated fats, considering them the number one food hazard. The new research cited by Chris Gunnars in his post shows that saturated fats are harmless.

According to new ideas, it is sugar, not fat, that is one of the main factors in the development of heart disease. And the reason for this is the harmful effect of fructose on metabolism.

Research shows that the usefructose in significant amounts can increase triglycerides, small dense low-density lipoproteins, and oxidized low-density lipoproteins (very, very "bad" cholesterol). In addition, it increases blood glucose and insulin levels, leading to the development of abdominal obesity.

All of these processes are factorsrisk for developing heart disease. Therefore, it is not surprising that many studies have found a strong statistical relationship between sugar consumption and the risk of developing heart disease.

What is the benefit of sugar?

In parentheses is the percentage of the daily norm.consumption. Nutritional information is based on 100 grams of granulated sugar as reported by the USDA on the NutritionData resource pages.

General Information:
energy value - 387 kilocalories (19%);
carbohydrates - 100 grams (33%);
protein - 0 grams (0%);
fats - 0 grams (0%);
fiber, which is part of the food - 0 grams (0%).

Electrolytes:
sodium - 0 milligrams (0%);
potassium - 2 milligrams (~0%).

Minerals:
calcium - 1.0 milligrams (~0%);
selenium - 0.6 micrograms (1%);
fluoride - 1 microgram.

Are there any arguments in favor of adding sugar to tea, the benefits and harms of which were discussed earlier, and coffee, about which there are many myths?