Not as Sweet as You May Think

Many think of sugar as their best friend, something sweet, yummy, and always there for you. I know I do. But this edible happiness is proving to be an enemy. Sugar consumption in the United States continues to increase due to various reasons, some of which include the easy, available processed foods that dominant the food markets. Sugar has been an extremely hot topic in the news lately because sugar lobbyists are trying to protect big sugar companies by attempting to limit the amount of knowledge given to the public, such as a healthy daily amount of sugar. On many processed food items, the daily percentage value for sugar is never listed because for many products, the number would be extremely large, due to the immense amount of added sugar. Now how can something be so bad, when it tastes just so darn good? Sugary beverages and foods, many times, do not contain a great amount of fiber. Fiber takes a longer time to be digested and makes you feel full for longer. When a person drinks a soda, however, with large amounts of sugar in it, this will cause their blood-sugar levels to rise. This then stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin which allows the sugar to be taken from the blood into the liver. When this occurs, the sugar is processed and converted into glycogen, glucose storage for later use, and fat. More fibrous foods allow for the necessary glucose to be absorbed and the rest excreted, while sugary foods lead to more production of fat by the liver.

The fats that are created by the liver, as a result of sugar consumption, are called triglycerides. When too much sugar is eaten and there is a great increase in triglyceride production, this can cause the amount of good cholesterol or HDL cholesterol to diminish in body. These higher levels of triglycerides in the blood and reduced levels of HDL cholesterol can have negative effects on a person's health and is a major contributor to heart disease.

How insulin is produced and used in the body

 

Vs.

Snack comparison (fibrous vs. sugary)

In recent years there has been a greater push toward fat-free foods because of the ideas that foods containing lower fat content would help to decrease weight gain. Seems logical enough, however, after foods started to transition to more fat-free or reduced-fat products, there was actually a rise in obesity and weight gain among many. Fat adds flavor, and when this flavor was taken out it left the food ideas bland and boring. To make up for this, food companies decided to add sugar in many cases to bring back the flavor into their items. These increased sugar levels therefore lead to greater amounts of weight gain.
This documentary goes more in depth.

Sugar can greatly affect health aspects of a persons' life. Too much sugar can lead to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and much more. While too little sugar than blood glucose levels may be too low and affect brain activity. Glucose is needed to help promote brain activity. Sugar is even thought by many researches to be addictive or have addictive affects. It is not known for sure, however, when a person eats sugar dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, is released, similar to alcohol or other drugs. This is different because in the case of sugar, the release of dopamine is not as severe. When sugar is continuously eaten dopamine levels that are produced are not lowered or decreased after many consecutive consumption, like more foods are. This is why people may crave sugar or not get tired of eating sugary foods because it makes you feel so good.

Sugar craving

After reading this you may be thinking that sugar is a scary thing. In moderation, sugar can be good and acceptable, as long as you know to keep it in control. It is important to know that while sugar may not be so good for you, the alternative, fake sugars are not a better option and in many cases may be worse. Artificial sweeteners may deter many from real sugar options, and it is always better to consume the real deal, rather than something unknown. Diet kind may not actually be helping anyone.

Examples of common artificial sweeteners used

We can all admit that sugar is a wonderful thing. It is used to make so many wonderful things, dessert, candy, chocolate (yummm), but we have to keep in mind some of it s negative effects. Natural sugar is always a better option as well. You may being thinking, how is sugar from fruit any better compared to other kinds of sugar? The truth is that your body cannot tell the difference between the different kinds of sugar (sucrose, fructose) sugar is sugar, but fruit is different because it also contains many good components along with the sugar.  Fruit has fiber, making it a healthier option, so if you are ever in need of something sweet, try an apple :)

Decisions, Decisions...