Sugar: Are you getting too much of a good thing?

By Nebil Abdillahi

It has been discovered in the last few years that sugar has been a cause of some serious problems to our health. If people 100 years ago knew what we know today about sugar, this substance would have been banned like illegal drugs. Like cocaine and heroin sugar is very addictive and it can be lethal to our health, but few people are aware of the impact of this substance.
Sure, we are told by nutritionists that the intake of sugar tends to increase insulin levels, which makes it difficult to lose weight,but, this substance plays a bigger role in contributing to serious health problems. To most people, when the word “sugar” is mentioned, they think of white table sugar, but in the dietary guidelines sugar means all forms of caloric sweetness, including white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, corn syrup, honey, and molasses. The average American eats more than 32 teaspoons of sugar each day. That’s 512 calories daily! For example, the major problem resulting from eating too much sugar is tooth decay. With the rise in sugar usage comes an increase of cavities in teeth, which leads to bleeding gums and loss of teeth.

According to Hamilton and Whitney, the authors of Nutrition Concepts and Controversies, “Dental cares are a serious public health problem-cavities are actually caused by the acid byproduct of bacterial growth in the mouth. Bacteria thrive on food particles, especially if they contain sweets and so it is logical to implicate sugar as the cause of cavities.” Obviously, most of these problems can be avoided if people would eliminate eating sweet products.

Sugar is also a big enemy of energy, but still people believe it is a source of energy. Some people get confused between simple and complex carbohydrates. For example, simple carbohydrate are sometimes referred to as simple sugars and provide few nutrients. Simple carbohydrates are founds in food such as fruit, fruit juices, candy, honey and highly refined white flours. They provide short term energy and are quickly broken down by the body. When we use complex carbohydrates as a source of energy, it takes several hours for our body to break them down and use them as a this as energy, so there is no immediate lift. On the other hand, as soon as we eat products with simple sugars, such as candy, cookies, or ice cream as a source of energy, the body breaks these substances down immediately, which causes insulin levels to rise. But then, shortly after, these levels crash makes us sluggish. In this way, too much sugar actually acts as a depressant in the body.
For example, a person who has junk food for lunch may blame his lack of evening energy on his demanding job or school work, when it is more than likely caused by his sweet tooth or craving for junk food. Over the years my experience has taught me one basic thing, if a person is tired all the time and eliminates sugar from his diet, you can usually get him to feel better in a matter of a few days. Sure, most nutritionists agree that the body needs sugar for energy, but we do not need to eat food that contains a lot of sugars. Most fresh fruits contain plenty of sugar to satisfy our sugar cravings without spiking our insulin levels.

back to nutrition

This article is for information purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease or condition. Consult your primary health care provider if you have or suspect you have any physical ailments