Despite the fact that our bodies can use sugar to create the energy that they require to function well throughout the day, sugar poses a certain danger to our health. Yes, we all love to eat chocolate and candy, some of us more than others having that sweet tooth. However, the question is – would you still choose to eat processed sugars as often as you do now if you knew what sugar is actually doing to your body?

Which type of sugar is the deadliest?

Basically, there are four types of sugar – glucose, sucrose, fructose, and dextrose. And then we have natural and processed sugars, of which, if we are honest, most of us tend to choose the processed ones in order to satisfy their sweet tooth. But which one is the deadliest? The answer is – sucrose! Sucrose is the other term for table sugar which contains both glucose and fructose in itself letting them both to absorb in the body as soon as they are introduced through diet. This is where we go wrong. Yes, sugar has a vital role in our diet, of course. However, we should rethink the way that we choose to intake them. Instead of choosing processed sugars such as cookies, junk food, crackers, chips, etc., we should always tend to intake as much as fresh fruits and vegetables that contain healthy, natural sugars and with that, help our body produce the energy that it needs in order to function well.

The dangerous effects of sugar on our health

• It causes weight gain – By eating a lot of junk food filled with processed sugars, among unhealthy fats, you are not reducing your hunger – in fact, consuming glucose is what increases your hunger even more and makes you intake a lot of additional empty calories. Unfortunately, eating a lot of processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages is what leads to weight gain and eventually, obesity.
• It increases the risk of heart disease and heart attack – High-sugar diets have been found guilty for leading towards increased blood pressure, obesity, and inflammation. These are all risk factors for heart disease and heart attack. Scientific research has proven that high-sugar diets have been associated with an increased risk of numerous medical diseases and disorders, among which is heart disease and heart attack.
• It increases the risk of diabetes – Like it or not, and our lifestyle has led to an increase in diabetes cases in the last 30 years! And obesity, which as we mentioned earlier is commonly caused by high-sugar diets, is one of the major risk factors, if not the strongest for diabetes.
• It increases the risk of depression – Although taking a bite of a little chocolate might make some people feel better instantly, it has been proven that following a diet that is rich in unhealthy, processed sugars have been linked to a higher risk of one of the most common mental health issues – depression!
• Has a negative impact on your dental health – We all have heard out parents and dentists growing up that eating too much sugar will ruin our teeth. And with a good reason, that is! Eating too many processed sugars increases the risk of dental cavities which if not treated in time, increases the risk of bigger dental issues in the future.
• Can speed up the cognitive decline – With the normal aging process, we all face a certain cognitive decline. However, eating a high-sugar diet has been found to speed up this process of cognitive decline, impairing our memory and even leading to dementia!
• It increases the risk of gout – Gout or Gouty arthritis is a serious chronic disease of the joints. The patient experiences pain, stiffness and reduced range of motion in the affected joints, among other symptoms. It is a condition that causes reoccurring symptoms throughout life, and it is also a condition that is most commonly caused by extensive drinking alcohol, and an unhealthy diet rich in processed sugars and fats. Added sugars are known to increase the levels of uric acid in the blood and with that – increasing the risk of Gout.

Well, research has shown that your gut acts like your second brain. There is a connection between the brain and the gut called the gut-brain axis.

What happens in your gut can influence what happens in your brain. Stretching this thought, if you let the bad bacteria run amok, you are likely to affect your brain negatively. You may also be able to undo the damage to the brain by healing your gut.

Take for instance research done on patients with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a condition that impairs the brain and leaves patients with limited cognitive ability. Normally, when someone has Alzheimer’s the condition is irreversible.

But as the research found, when patients were given probiotics for 12 weeks, their cognition improved significantly.

Final Thoughts

We constantly hear that eating too much sugar puts our health in danger and now you know why. From increased risk of Gout, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, heart disease, and heart attack – the list just goes on and on. All on all – processed sugars endanger our lives every day, and we let them. This is why we kindly recommend to all of our readers to rethink their eating habits and think about replacing all of the processed sugars with healthy ones because the fact that our bodies require sugars in order for us to survive cannot be denied.