Whether you have a sweet tooth or not, sugar in one form or another is added to almost every packaged food you buy. You’re likely consuming more sugar—perhaps even too much—without even realizing it. So the question is: how much sugar is too much?
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Rice syrup
Fructose
Sucrose
Refined sugar and its substitutes are a real scourge on human existence, causing all sorts of illnesses and ailments. A packaged food may not explicitly list “sugar” in its ingredients, but it can be hidden under other names, such as:
Corn syrup or sweetener
Dextrin
Dextrose
Diglycerides
Disaccharides
Evaporated cane juice
Fructose
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Hydrolyzed starch
Malt syrup
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Rice syrup
Sorbitol
Sucrose
Faced with all these sources of sugar, how do you determine the limit you shouldn’t cross? If you experience the following symptoms, it’s time to significantly reduce your sugar intake:
1. Sugar and carbohydrate cravings. Sugar is addictive, just like cocaine, and its effects are similar. It stimulates the production of dopamine, the pleasure hormone. Often, without even thinking about it, we can be tempted by sweets and simple carbohydrates to get our “fix.” As with other addictions, our bodies develop a tolerance to sugar, meaning that the more we consume, the more we crave, even when we’re not hungry.
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Drink
Sugar
2. Lack of energy and fatigue
Orexins, a type of neuropeptide, play a role in the sleep-wake cycle. Sensitive to sugars, they react to glucose levels in the body. A slight increase in blood sugar can inhibit the transmission of neuronal signals by orexins, leading to drowsiness. Thus, after the fleeting energy provided by sugar, fatigue quickly follows, resulting from the inhibition of neurotransmitters.
3. Weight gain
Excessive sugar consumption leads to weight gain. Of course, other factors such as activity level and metabolic rate play a role, but the body first burns sugar for energy. What it cannot use immediately is stored as fat.
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Sugar
Supplies
sugars
Furthermore, eating too much sugar makes you overeat by suppressing the hormone leptin, which signals to the body when to stop eating. If you feel tired and lethargic after consuming sugar, you are also less inclined to exercise.
A rise in blood sugar stimulates insulin production to bring it back to normal levels. Insulin lowers blood sugar levels: when it fluctuates or becomes too low, your body thinks it needs more fuel. Thus, you eat even when you don’t really need to.
4. Frequent colds and flu: Too much sugar weakens the immune system. This is because glucose reduces the activity of white blood cells, which are responsible for eliminating pathogens like viruses. Regularly eating too much sugar makes us more susceptible to infections because our bodies are less able to fight them.
5. Dulled Taste Buds
Many people find the taste of sweetness appealing. Our tongues become accustomed to different flavors, and sugar is no exception.
British researchers discovered that overweight individuals have a decreased sensitivity to sweet tastes and a preference for sugary foods. In the same study, healthy, fit individuals who started drinking two soft drinks a day experienced dulled taste buds and sugar cravings after just four weeks.
A 2016 study found that after one month of reducing their sugar intake, the experimental group found they were more sensitive to sweet flavors. Therefore, if you reduce your sugar consumption, foods will start to taste sweeter without it.
6. Brain Fog: A study published in the journal Neuroscience found that mice fed a diet “similar in composition to the typical diet of most Western industrialized societies, high in saturated fats and refined sugar,” experienced a reduction in brain function in just two months. This is because large amounts of sugar affect the proteins and neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for learning and memory. In short: sugar makes you dumber.
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Bread
7. Skin Problems
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is responsible for skin elasticity. By nature, sugar molecules bind to collagen and help collagen cells move.
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