Is 18-20 Teaspoons of Sugar Too Much?
According to various studies conducted by the USDA and universities, the average American takes in between 18 and 20 teaspoons of sugar on average every day. That is three to four times the recommended daily intake. It translates to an extra 500 calories a day. And, to answer the title question, yes, 18 to 20 teaspoons of sugar is too much.
What is excess sugar doing to your body?
Stressing out your pancreas and adrenal glands. When you eat or drink something with excessive sugar, your pancreas will start releasing extra insulin to handle the glucose overload. The adrenal gland will start releasing cortisol for the same reason. If you regularly intake large amounts of sugar, these glands will be under
…show more content…
Large amounts of glucose and fructose has been linked with silent liver damage, similar to the damage done by excessive alcohol. Sugars and alcohol take similar pathways in the liver. This leads to similar amounts of damage. And this kind of damage is not confined to someone who is overweight. It can appear no matter the body size.
Rising chances of obesity. Ingesting large amounts of sugar triggers the maturation of certain fat cells in the abdominal area. These cells form the large fatty deposits associated with obesity. These large fatty deposits increase the chances of developing diabetes or heart damage.
Disrupting cognitive health and memory. A number of medical studies have linked large amounts of sugar intake with how fast brain cells age. These studies have also shown that people with consistently high levels of blood glucose have noticeable deficiencies in cognition and memory.
Increasing insulin resistance. Insulin is a critical hormone that helps regulate blood glucose use throughout the body. People who eat or drink large amounts of sugar can develop a condition known as insulin resistance. The body can still produce insulin, but the body's ability to use it for blood glucose regulation goes down, which triggers the body to produce more insulin. This is known as metabolic syndrome, which is a precursor to Type 2
Listening to the Dana Farber Podcast: Sugar and Cancer, reinforces that not promoting healthy eating habits early on in childhood can be detrimental to your health in more ways than one. Hilary Wright the speaker speaking in the podcast states that the excessive intake of sugar can lead to an overgrowth of hormones like insulin and insulin like growth ultimately, overloading the body with glucose. As the body works to process this excess and eliminate the insulin
leads to high sugar levels within the blood. Insulin is a hormone that takes the sugar from the
The glucose builds up into the bloodstream instead of moving into your cells. The pancreas will try to keep up with the body and make extra insulin to keep your blood glucose levels normal. Overtime your pancreas will not be able to keep up and make enough insulin for your body. This is called being insulin resistant. Diabetes is caused by a problem in the way your body makes or uses insulin. Insulin is needed to move glucose into cells, where it is stored and later used for energy. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into the cells it can cause two problems. Cells are in need for energy and high blood glucose levels occur affecting many major organs, including your heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidney. Practicing a healthy lifestyle can help prevent health complications. Moderate physical activity and incorporating a healthier diet can stop an individual from getting type 2 diabetes.
Sugar can make organs fat because fructose, which is in sugar, makes livers and other organs store fat
As the glucose increases in the bloodstream, damage occurs to various parts of the body, including the:
Sugar is sometimes fine in an everyday diet, but it is not essential like Konie said in the opposing article. According to Konie in the article “Is Sugar Bad? Why I Say NO!” She states “So when I say sugar is essential to good health, I’m talking about the right kinds of sugar as part of a real food diet.” She did make a good point about the right kinds of sugar, but all sugars are just as bad for you in the long run, including “healthy” sugars. All types of sugars that are over consumed by the public can lead to obesity and disease, the real way to stop over consumption is to limit yourself and create a
Studies have shown that eating too much sugar has a negative effect on our bodies. Sugar from regular sodas, cakes, cookies, and candy have been proven as risk factors for heart disease. In 2010 adults in the United States consumed about 300 calories a day, based on a 2,000 calorie diet from added sugars. The American Heart Association recommends that women don’t consume more than 100 calories a day from added sugars; and men don’t consume more than 150 calories a day. Other research has also tied a high intake of added sugars to many poor health conditions like; obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, risk factors for heart disease, and stroke (Hellmich). All of the research has proven that too much added sugars has a negative effect on our bodies.
Consuming too much sugar can cause a mass of negative side effects. These side effects include weight gain, abdominal obesity, and an elevated blood sugar
Given that diabetes and obesity both directly affect the heart, we can conclude that sugar leads to the damage of that muscle. However, a 2013 (http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/2/3/e004796) study in the Journal of the American Heart Association showed that sugar actually affects the pumping mechanism of the heart. A 2008 study also showed us that excess sugar consumption was linked to leptin resistance. (http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/295/5/R1370) Leptin is a natural hormone that is released when we are full to let us know it’s time to stop eating, but when a person suffers from leptin resistance, their body simply does not make this chemical and therefore has no signal to let them know they are full. The Huffington Post has a complete list of other ways that excess sugars negatively affect the body.
Thus, with the characteristics listed above leads to how type II diabetes affects the body. Each cell in the body needs energy to function. The body 's essential energy source is glucose, sugar that comes from the absorption of sustenance containing carbohydrates. Glucose is what cells need for energy (Fundukian, 2009). What is insulin? Insulin is a hormone delivered by cells secreted in the pancreas, and discharged into the circulatory system. In spite of this, glucose is put away in the liver and muscle as glycogen and prevents the body from utilizing fat as a source of energy. However, when insulin production or resistance can make the pancreas discharge an excessive amount of glucose. At first, the pancreas delivers enough insulin to conquer these issues. However throughout the span of time the pancreas no more makes enough insulin or discharges it too gradually (American Diabetes Association, 2011). At this point when insufficient insulin is created resulting in insulin resistance, glucose stays in the blood as opposed to entering the cells. This outcome causes high blood glucose levels, which is called hyperglycemia. For the body to function normally, the level of glucose in the blood must remain stable. Consequently, when the blood glucose levels get too high the body
This could lead to 'insulin resistance' in which the body has to produce increasing amounts of insulin to clear circulating blood sugar.
Like drugs, sugar can become addicting and may have a negative effect on your body. For instance, "like abusive drugs, sugar causes a release of dopamine in the reward center of the brain" https://authoritynutrition.com/10-disturbing-reasons-why-sugar-is-bad/This can lead to cancer as well as diabetes in some cases. The most common side effects of sugar is no other than obesity. Being overweight is an embarrassing trait that many humans deal with each day and are trying to overcome. Since sugar is found in a variety of foods that we eat each day, it is hard to fend off the material as well as becoming
Not only does sugar cause diabetes and obesity, but it causes acne, gum disease, which can lead to heart disease, and much more terrifying diseases. children that are on a high sugar diet aren't living as long as their parents, kids are becoming obse, getting diabets and diseases that are majorly impacting them. These obese people have the risk of stroke, artery disease, and even
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average American consumes anywhere between 150 to 170 pounds of refined sugars in one year. [That is between 30 and 35 five-pound bags of sugar.] If you consume sugar in those quantities, it is very possible that you are dealing with an addiction without even realizing it. Even though the sweets may be delicious and completely enjoyable when we are consuming them, the horrific downside that is often ignored is excessive sugar consumption can cause life-threatening illnesses.
Dr. Omar Kassaar, also from the University of Bath, further added that “excess sugar is well known to be bad for us when it comes to diabetes and obesity, but this potential link with Alzheimer’s disease is yet another reason that we should be controlling our sugar intake in our diets.”