I, like many others, have personally suffered from the harmful effects of sugar when consumed excessively. I ate massive amounts of sugar daily by eating fast food, drinking artificial juices and eating unhealthy sweets regularly. As a result of my mindless eating, my body took a big hit! At my largest, I weighed 40 pounds over my normal weight, I was tired all of the time and started developing aches and pain due to the excess weight. I made a conscious decision to change my eating habits and consuming excessive sugar was one of the first habits I kicked! This was not an easy lifestyle change to make and I still struggle with it today, however when I think about the harmful effects of sugar and how it contributes to various chronic diseases, I JUST SAY NO!
According to the book, Beyond Diet, The Complete Guide, Stop Dieting Start Eating Start Living, 2013*, "Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body. When the liver has stored all the sugar that it can, the excess is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids. These fatty acids are then stored as fat in the most inactive areas of the body: belly, buttocks, breasts, and thighs. When these areas become completely filled with fat, fatty acids are then distributed among active organs (heart, liver,and kidneys),increasing the risk of developing diabetes and disease in these organs, Sugar consumption causes a hormonal roller coaster of alternating high levels of insulin and blood sugar. These hormonal shifts can dramatically affect your attitude and your ability to concentrate during the day. Even if you don’t consume candy or sweets, when you begin to read the labels of most snacks, cereals, and drinks you consume, you will notice that it doesn’t take much to consume approximately 80 grams of sugar—the equivalent of 20 teaspoons [100 m] in a day! When reading labels, don’t be thrown off by strange words like sucrose, maltose, dextrose, glucose, and the like —any word ending in -ose is a sugar. Quite often, one product will contain five or six different types of sugar. When you add up all its many forms, sugar is frequently the greatest source of total calories".
What about fruit?
Beyond Diet states, "Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose, whereas processed sugar(sucrose) is made up of both glucose and fructose. By itself, fructose breaks down more slowly in the body; sugar and insulin levels remain relatively constant. In contrast, sucrose is processed extremely quickly, causing a “spike” in insulin levels, like a power surge followed by a rapid return to baseline level, that is stressful for the body. Fructose puts much less stress on the body than sucrose, and most fruits have a low glycemic index".
Excess sugar in your diet may be harmful. Be mindful of how much sugar you are consuming. Especially hidden sugars in snacks, drinks and cereals. Your health is important.
Deshondra
Asst Trainer
Bfit Athletic Club LLC
www.bfitathleticclub.com
BE STRONG, BE HEALTHY, BFIT
*De Los Rios, Isabel. Beyond Diet, The Complete Guide, Stop Dieting Start Eating Start Living, 2013.
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