Researchers found that men who consumed more than 67 grams of sugar daily from sweetened foods and beverages were much more likely to develop anxiety, depression, and other common mental disorders.
While a healthy diet can help improve your mood, a diet high in added sugar and processed foods may increase your chances of developing depression.
Sugar has drug-like effects in the reward center of the brain. Scientists have proposed that sweet foods, along with salty and fatty foods, can produce addiction-like effects in the human brain, driving the loss of self-control, overeating, and subsequent weight gain
The same applies to an individual portion of fruit. An apple might contain around 11g of total sugar, depending on the size of the fruit selected, the variety, and the stage of ripeness.
Adding it to foods and drinks significantly increases their calorie content without adding any nutritional benefit. The body usually digests these foods and drinks quickly. This means that they are not a good source of energy.
your cells absorb the sugar, you may feel jittery and anxious But if you’re reaching into the candy jar too often, sugar starts to have an effect on your mood beyond that 3 p.m.
Psychological Stress
Sugar can also impact long-term psychological health. Insulin sometimes over-compensates and pulls your blood sugar down too low, creating mood swings, fatigue, and mental fog that can make your day stressful.
By reviving the brain’s reward and appetite center, fructose can interfere with feelings of satiety, research reveals. Translation: That extra cookie may not curb your craving after all.
You know saturated fats are bad for your heart, but sugar can also have a damaging effect on your cardiac health. A high intake of added sugars seems to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.
It is a healthy choice to limit both the fat and the sugar content in the foods you eat. Lots of commercially produced sweet foods contain high levels of saturated fat, which will increase your blood cholesterol levels and your risk of heart disease.
Sugar accelerates aging.
It even contributes to that telltale sign of aging: sagging skin. Some of the sugar you consume, after hitting your bloodstream, ends up attaching itself to proteins, in a process called glycation.
The report those Harvard scientists published transformed the American diet, causing people to steer clear of fatty foods, which led many to sugar-packed snacks instead.
Excess weight increases the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes. Research by Ndumele and colleagues has shown that those factors usually explain the link between obesity and heart disease.
Sugar puts you at risk for diabetes
Research Center on Aging at Tufts University says. “Over time, the pancreas can become fatigued by this excess production and stop being able to secrete adequate insulin.
Over the course of the 15-year study, people who got 17% to 21% of their calories from added sugar had a 38% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with those who consumed 8% of their calories as added sugar.
Sugary foods quickly spike blood sugar and insulin levels, causing increased androgen secretion, oil production, and inflammation, all of which play a role in acne development (12Trusted Source).
Looking to cut back on sugar but not sure where to start?
Check out our infographic below to see how much added sugar is in some of America’s most popular foods. And, be sure to talk to your healthcare provider about safe and easy ways to eliminate excess added sugar from your diet.
But it is difficult to extract from this research the specific effects of sugar on gut health. We’re only now beginning to see a handful of studies investigating sugar’s effects on the microbiome.
Free sugars are found in a wide range of foods such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, juices, and fizzy drinks, and these can be detrimental to health if consumed in excess.
Obesity is a complex problem with multiple causes. But among the likely suspects, sugar is high on the list. As sugar consumption has increased, so too has our national waistline.
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