3 Reasons to Avoid Sugar
By Sara Butler
Sugar in any of its forms is a common ingredient in the foods you buy. Processed foods are full of sugar and you may not even realize it! The National Institutes of Health report that Americans are eating a heaping 53 teaspoons of sugar each and every day. It should come as no surprise that this isn’t great for your overall health and wellness. Here are a few reasons you should keep an eye on just how much sugar you’re eating.
It’s Empty Calories
A lot of foods aren’t especially healthy for you, but many of them at least have some sort of nutritional value in the form of vitamins and minerals your body needs to be healthy. Sugar just happens to not be one of them.
There are absolutely no vitamins or minerals supplied by sugar. Even those candy bars with nuts and dark chocolate (which on their own have redeemable value) can’t save you from the high amount of sugar contained it in. If you eat a lot of sugar, then you’re missing out on other foods that actually do contain proper nutrition, so you may find yourself deficient in important nutrients if sugary foods are taking the place of healthier foods.
Avoid empty calories and you’ll be much healthier!
It Causes Fatty Liver
The sugar you eat is turned into fructose by the body. When it gets to the liver, the fructose will be used to replace glycogen if stores are low. Stores of glycogen usually get used up if you’ve worked out for a long period of time. But if the fructose hits your liver and it doesn’t need to replace its glycogen stores, then fructose gets turned into fat. Some of the fat gets sent to other places in the body, but some of it stays. If that fat builds up over time in the liver, it can lead to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease -- which is just as bad as it sounds.
It Raises Your Risk of Disease
When you eat a lot of sugar, then you raise your risk of disease. Sugar consumption is associated with:
- Heart disease – Sugar raises triglycerides and bad cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease
- Obesity – Sugar can cause you to gain weight by elevating leptin and insulin resistance
- Diabetes – Obesity leads to weight gain and weight gain and insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes in adults
You don’t need sugar to live or to be healthy, so make sure you pay attention to how much you eat each day!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Woodland Hills, Calif.