Sugar High: Time To Watch Our Intake
Did you know that the average American ingests 2-3 pounds of sugar every week? This unhealthy trend has been increasing for years, and is a huge contributing factor to the United States’ growing obesity problem.
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In the past 20 years, the average yearly sugar consumption of Americans has increased from 26 pounds of sugar per person to 135 pounds per person. In order to give you some perspective, between 1887 and 1890, the average American only consumed five founds of sugar annually. Not coincidentally, heart disease and cancer were nowhere near as common then as they are today.
These astounding levels of sugar intake are largely because of the high levels of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup that appear in countless processed foods. The list of foods containing sugar is long, and contains many foods you would not have expected to see.
If you check the ingredients list next time you’re in the grocery store, you can find sugar in everything from mayonnaise and peanut butter to bread and spaghetti.
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Sugar contributes to several health problems
One of the fastest, easiest ways to promote weight loss and avoid several weight problems is to severely reduce your sugar intake, or to stop eating sugar entirely.
One of the many negative effects of sugar is that is causes your body to release large levels of insulin. Large amounts of insulin in the body can decrease the amount of growth hormones released, which can weaken the body’s immune system, leaving you more susceptible to many diseases.
Excessive sugar intake can also condition your body to mainly use carbohydrates for energy. This can lead to a condition known as glucogenesis, which causes your body to solely use ingested substances for energy. This allows your fat cells to rapidly accumulate as they go unused.
Sugar is also a source of glucose, which studies have shown is one of the main sources of energy for cancer cells.
Sugar is one of the biggest contributors to obesity for a single reason: it is an addictive substance. People can become hooked to sugar without even knowing it, and unconsciously depend on it for its mood altering qualities.
In addition to causing mood swings, sugar has been observed to aggravate or contribute to the following conditions:
- Asthma
- Diabetes
- Gallstones
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Nervous disorders
So while it’s ok to have a sweet tooth, we really should be mindful to watch our intake of this, the sweetest of all substances.
