Harmful Effects Health-Wise of Sugar - Essay Example

Harmful Effects of Sugar Sugar is an important ingredient in our day to day lives because it is used in most food substances such as tea, cake and drinks just to mention a few. Though it is mostly used, research has shown that sugar has its disadvantages because processed sugar nowadays has been overused most processed food contain a lot of sugar and its misuse has its medical disadvantages such as it increases the chances of having diseases (Cox, 2012). It is hard to control the amount of sugar someone takes in a day. Sugar can be consumed subconsciously because if someone is not keen to check the sugar level in most processed food and most people just don’t have the time for that. Due to this reason replacing the usage of processed sugar with natural substances such as honey, maple syrup and has been advocated for. Below is an highlight of the various harmful effects of sugar consumption. Sugar increases the chances of contracting diseases. Most people consume processed food and most of this processed food contains sugar in large quantities. A lot of sugar causes dental problems such as decaying of the tooth decaying and cavities. A lot of people have had to go to the dentist because of dental issues as a lot of people especially kids like processed food. One other fatal disease which is brought about by excess sugar is the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (2min2x.org, n.d). This causes abnormal levels of fat in the body .Other disease include type 2diabetes, hypertension, heart disease among other diseases. Another effect of excess consumption of sugar is that it causes damage to the liver. This will definitely encourage insulin resistance. All the sugar in the body goes to the liver. If an excess amount of processed sugar is consumed which is the case in most occasions. The liver gets overloaded with sugar and this may result to having liver diseases. The effects of sugar to the liver is the same as the effects of alcohol to the liver. This may be fatal to someone and may even reduce someone’s mortality rate. Another harmful effect of sugar is that it encourages gaining of weight. This is because the body tends to metabolize sugar the same way as it metabolizes alcohol. This means that sugar is converted to fat (ATKINS, n.d). This leads to metabolic dysfunction. Fructose which is a component in sugar disables the body’s system for appetite control. This in turn reduces the production of insulin which suppresses the ghrelin hormone which makes us feel hungry; this in turn fails to stimulate the leptin hormone which makes us feel satisfied. This will cause someone to overeat and also develop resistance to insulin. This will ultimately make someone gain a lot of unwanted weight. Excess is a major cause in the contraction of diseases such as obesity, heart diseases, hypertension etc. Excess consumption of sugar increases the uric acid levels. Fructose corn syrup, which is a man-made sweetener made from corn mostly contains a high percentage of fructose. Most processed drinks and sodas contain fructose. During the breaking down of fructose by the body, purines which are chemical compounds are produced. The purines are then broken down to produce uric acid. The uric acid levels increase significantly when one consumes drinks like soda. Excess uric acid is harmful to the body because uric acid forms crystals in joints which lead to someone having gout. Gout is a form of arthritis and it was known as “rich man’s disease” because at one point in time only wealthy people who could afford rich foods were mostly diagnosed with this disease. Research has it that around 85% percent of people who drink more than one sugary soda in a month can acquire this disease as compared to those who only take one soda in a month. Hence the need of some soda companies to reduce the amount of sugar in soda such as coca cola who introduces dietary soda. More so, sugar Increases the spread of cancerous cells. Research has shown that fructose which is a substance found in sugar is used by cancerous cells and it increases their proliferation. The fructose feeds these cancerous cells by doing so, it increases and promotes cell division of the cancerous cells and spread their growth (Gunnars, n.d). This enables the cancer to spread rapidly in the body. This is harmful to people with cancer undergoing treatment. It may even reduce the individual’s life span and cause death instead of recovering. Most processed food contains a lot of fructose which is a component of sugar. Hence cancer patients are encouraged to be on a healthy diet with little or no sugar. Since the consumption of excess sugar is harmful to one’s health, it is important to reduce or use no sugar in one’s diet. Amount of sugar consumed can be reduced by having a healthy diet which has minimal or less sugar. Checking for the amount of sugar in processed food is important before buying such food substances. Also drinking pure clean water instead of drinking soda and fruit juices is advisable. It is recommended to drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day an also some should go to the bathroom around eight to seven times a day. The color of the urine can also help someone gauge if someone has drank enough water. The color of the urine should be pale yellow. Adding fermented foods to someone’s diet is an efficient way to help the body deal with sugar problem. The beneficial bacteria that is found in fermented food substances like organic yoghurt, fermented vegetables, kimchi helps in detoxifying the body hence get rid of the harmful fructose that is a component of sugar and harmful to the body. This in turn helps the burden of overloading fructose in the liver. Another way is to suppress or assume the need for sugar craving. Most people are tempted to consume food with a lot of sugar because that is the most appealing food to the mouth and it is also very tasty. A psychological technique called Emotional Freedom Technique which can help someone control their sugar craving. In conclusion, we have seen that processed sugar has a number of harmful effect. In addition to that purchasing a lot of sugar can cause economic strain on someone especially the person uses a lot of sugar. Not forgetting the number of harmful effects health wise. People should strive to replace processed sugar with natural sugar substance such as honey instead of sugar in tea. This is because sugar can be quite addictive and someone might find it difficult to stop using it. Countries should also come up with a system that controls the amount of sugar that is used in processed food to ensure that companies do not exceed a certain level. The harmful effect of excess consumption of processed sugar should also be taught to children in schools. It should be incorporated into the school curriculum. This will enable them to know the harmful effect and know how to live without excess consumption, also the alternative to sugar and how to eat healthy foods that do not contain sugar. This will ensure a healthy future and healthy nation also the mortality rate will increase with the consumption of no processed sugars. References 2min2x.org. (n.d). The Disadvantages of Sugar. Retrieved from sfGATE: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/disadvantages-sugar-2024.html ATKINS. (n.d). 10 Ways Sugar Harms Your Health. Retrieved from HOW IT WORKS: https://www.atkins.com/how-it-works/library/articles/10-ways-sugar-harms-your-health Cox, L. (2012, March 8). Why Is Too Much Sugar Bad for You? Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/36188-sugar-bad.html Gunnars, K. (n.d). 10 Disturbing Reasons Why Sugar is Bad For You. Retrieved from AUTHORITY NUTRITION: https://authoritynutrition.com/10-disturbing-reasons-why-sugar-is-bad/ Read More