Sweet, sweet sugar. Who doesn’t like sugar? It tastes good, and science has even shown that sugar triggers the human brain to release dopamine, a feel-good chemical that boosts your mood. The brain also needs sugar to work since it requires a lot of energy; not enough sugar in your body and you might start to lose attention and brain function. However, too much of a good thing would lead to negative consequences, and in the case of sugar, things can turn quite ugly. Here are several reasons why you should avoid moderate your sugar intake.
Fat
Sugar contains calories. Lots and lots of calories. And any excess calories that the body has not burned up for its daily necessities will be converted by the body into fatty acid and stored as fat. This is especially when drinks such as soft drinks and milk tea are loaded with sugar and very easily contribute too much to our sugar intake. Instead, one could opt for low-sugar alternatives, if not cut down on sugar in drinks altogether.
Cavities
We’re always reminded to brush our teeth to avoid cavities, but what exactly causes them in the first place? Does it have to do with the fact that we are also advised not to take too much candy or soft drinks? Yes, it’s sugar again. Although sugar doesn’t directly cause cavities, they feed bacteria that are on our teeth, and from there it is where the bacteria would produce acid waste after they encounter and digest sugar, which in turn causes cavities if they are not mitigated in time either naturally by our saliva or by brushing our teeth.
Inflammation
Not many people know this, but sugar is an inflammatory food. That is why for some people, their skin would have very bad reactions after a bout of binging on sugary foods like sweets, cakes and ice cream.
Ageing
Sugar also contributes to ageing by a process called glycation where sugars bind with the collagen fibres in your body to form advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which leads to your skin looking and feeling older due to the collagen becoming stiff and brittle.
Health
Apart from what has been mentioned above, there are all kinds of health issues associated with overconsumption of sugar, including developing pre-diabetes which could lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, and even dementia, just to list a few.
The bottom line is this: your body cannot lack sugar, but at the same time, your body cannot handle having too much sugar. Thus, moderation is key: always strive to have a perfect balance in order to have a healthy life.
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