● Sugar’s Effect on the Body

1. Inflammation, Joint Pain, and Aged Skin

Food with high sugar content have been shown to increase inflammation in the body,
which can increase the susceptibility of individuals having high sugar level to increased
inflammation, joint pain and even suffer from aging skin.

Scientific surveys have also found that increased sugar consumption, in particular sugar
filled soda and carbonated drinks, may increase the risk of developing rheumatoid
arthritis which is an autoimmune disorder and also worsen its symptoms.

The inflammation caused by sugar not only impact our health, but also our skin’s
texture and feel. When sugars bind to proteins in our bloodstream, advanced
glycation end products (AGEs), are formed. These harmful molecules age our
skin by causing damage to the elastin and collagen protein, which forms a major
portion of skin and bone. This leads to more wrinkles and sagging skin and hence
leads to its early aging.

2. Heart Health
When you consume simple sugar, the boost of insulin in the bloodstream can
cause artery walls to dilate more than normal which leads to lose in their
elasticity.

Over time, this can lead to heart attacks, stroke, and heart disease because loss
in arterial elasticity can increase blood pressure.

Additionally, research suggests that consuming less sugar may help in lowering
blood pressure, which is a major heart disease risk factor.
Studies have found that those who consume a lot of sugar (25% or more of their
calories as added sugar) are twice as likely to die of heart disease than those
who consume 10% or less of their total calories from sugar.

● Sugar’s Effect on the Body

1. Addiction
Sugar shares many similarities with recreational drugs. Food addiction seems as
a very plausible situation as sugar intake releases opioids and dopamine, which
are also released during drug intake.
In rat studies, the animal shows a series of behaviours which are similar to the
effects of drug abuse. Sugar has been found to lead to signs of dopamine
sensitization and opioid dependence, including cross-sensitization with alcohol
and amphetamine, neurochemical and behavioural signs of withdrawal like
depression and anxiety, and alterations in dopamine and my-opioid receptors.

When you eat sugar, your brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that
causes pleasure and a feel-good sensation.
 Whole foods, even fruits, do not cause the release of the same quantity of
dopamine as processed, sugary foods, such as donuts.

2. Depression
Studies have linked high sugar consumption to depression risk in adults.

Sugar Impacts and Adverse Effect on Long-Term Psychological Health

In a 2017 study published in Scientific Reports, researchers sought to determine

if sugar consumption leads to common mental disorder (CMD) and depression or
if the reverse is true, that individuals suffering from CMD and depression are
more likely to eat sugary foods.

Through analysis of repeated measures for 23,245 person-observations from the

Whitehall II study, mood was assessed using validated questionnaires and diet
through food frequency questionnaires.

Researchers found that neither depression not CMD predicted the intake changes
found during their analysis where positive associations between sugar
consumption and CMD and depression were found. This led the researchers to
conclude that dietary sugar intake has an adverse effect on long-term
psychological health, including both CMD and depression.

● Recommended Dosages

Currently the average adult consumes roughly 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day,
which is far more than what the American Heart Association recommends (AHA) which
is no more than 6 teaspoon/day for women and 9 teaspoon/day for men.
Roughly around (30-35g)

● Lowering Your Blood Sugar

1. Try eating carbohydrates after proteins, fats, and veggies. You see, in a 2011
study it was found that eating your carbohydrates after your protein, your veggies,
and your fats resulted in a much less post meal blood sugar than it did in those
that ate their carbs with or before their proteins and veggies. This effect didn't
just last for hours, but it lasted for generally the rest of the day and sometimes
even longer depending upon the carb source.

2. Adding garlic to your carb sources can reduce the impact in terms of your blood
sugar as well.
 3. The best way that you can lower your blood sugar in the quickest amount of time
is by doing high intensity bouts of exercise. That's basically defined by doing
quick bursts of activity followed by short rest periods and then more intense
bursts. It's basically high intensity interval training. Now, this doesn't just a ffect
blood sugar in the short term. Studies have shown that blood sugar is affected
and lowered 2 to 3 days after a single bout of high intensity exercise. All you
really need to do is 30 second sprints, a couple minutes rest, and 30 second
sprints, a couple minutes rest and you're going to basically condition your body to
have a little bit of a lower set point in terms of blood sugar.

● Sugar Alternatives
1. Raw Honey (Un Processed)
It contains powerful antioxidants, so they help get rid of reactive oxygen species
in our blood. Reactive oxygen species or ROS are highly reactive molecules as
they are free radicals derived from Oxygen. ROS are formed as a biproduct of
some metabolic reactions and are a bane to the cells. Well, honey can actually
help eradicate that.

raw honey has lower glycemic index than sugar, which means it's going to have a
lower impact on your blood sugar in general,

it contains bee pollen which has a lot of powerful properties. What this bee pollen
can do inside your body is actually act as something that's going to prevent
allergies

It sort of builds up an antibody or sort of a histamine blocker,

restore your liver glycogen

2. Dolceti
It is an apple nectar and it averages between seven and nine on the glycemic
index scale. That's ridiculously low. That's like such a low impact it’s like a
lettuce.

3. Dates
The reason that dates are so good is simply because they're super, super high in
firer which means that in addition to getting the carbohydrate sweet benefit, it
negates a lot of the negative impact by having a high amount of fibre, meaning
your overall amount of net carbs much less than if you were to just have pure
sugar.

4. Coconut Sugar
coconut sugar is extracted from the sap of coconut palm. It contains something
called inulin. Inulin is what is called a prebiotic fibre.
prebiotics are essentially the fertilizer for gut bacteria. We need that fertilizer for
our gut bacteria to grow, to flourish, to proliferate, so that we can actually have a
 healthy gut biome.

5. Agave Nectar
coming from that cactus
It has the right glycemic index.

6. Maple syrup

It is a thick, sugary liquid that is made from the sap of maple trees. It contains at
least 24 different types of antioxidants .

It also has decent amount of minerals, which includes Calcium, Potassium, iron,
zinc and manganese.

It’s glycemic index is slightly lower than sugar, so should be taken in a moderate
amount.

● How Does Sugar Affect Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is extremely common and tied to most, if not all, of our chronic
illnesses today. Processed sugar is a large component of the inflammatory foods in the
US diet today.

Excess sugar consumption, in particular processed sugars, such as high fructose corn
syrup (HFCS) and white table sugar, can lead to the overproduction of proinflammatory
cytokines. Markers used to detect inflammation levels include:

● C-reactive protein (CRP)

● Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
● Specific interleukins (IL-6 and IL-18)

Highly refined sugars, such as white table sugar and HFCS remove the beneficial aspects
of plant foods, including:
● Phytonutrients ● Fibre ● Vitamins ● Minerals ● Essential fatty acids

The removal of these beneficial aspects of foods leads to a rapid rise in insulin and blood
glucose levels. This short-term acute hyperglycaemia leads to;
● reduced nitric oxide availability (effect heart functioning)
● Increased production of free radicals (more load on the liver)
● Increased proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-18, and TNF (fatigue)

They are high in fructose, which can also cause a condition called “fructose intolerance”,
which can in some cases be life threatening as it can cause heart or kidney failure.
Studies shows that breast cancer tumour is directly related to fructose (White table
sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup). It increases lung metastasis (Increased chances of the
spread of breast cancer to lungs)
● Hidden Sugars

1. Fructose (Fruit Sugar)

2. Sucrose
3. Maltose (malt sugar)
4. Dextrose (alternative name for glucose)
5. Lactose (milk sugar)
6. Cane Sugar
7. Brown Sugar
8. Corn Syrup
9. Rice Syrup
10. Panela
11. Molasses
12. Fruit Juice Concentrate
13. Invert Sugar (Mostly used in bakery)