What Sugar Does To Your Body
Do you love your sweets? You might rethink all of those sweet treats after you hear what they are doing to your body.
Your Mind
It starts right when anything sweet touches your tongue. You're sending signals to your brain that's similar to a satisfaction and rewards sensation. Your brain releases dopamine, the same hormone you experience when you're in love, or if you ingest a methamphetamine drug, and you'll quickly begin to crave more. But is that a bad thing? Sugar might taste great but it can have some negative effects on your body.
Your Skin
"When your body digests sugar molecules such as fructose or glucose, they bind onto proteins and fats and form new molecules called glycation end products, or AGEs," says David E. Bank, a dermatologist in Mount Kisco, NY. As AGEs collect in your cells, they start to destroy skin's support system, collagen and elastin, which are the proteins responsible for keeping the elasticity in your skin and warding off wrinkles and sagging.
Your Pancreas
The pancreas goes into help mode by releasing its stores of insulin, a hormone that takes glucose and transfers it to cells throughout the body to be used as energy, in an attempt to bring down blood sugar. When sugar is eaten in excess, the pancreas has to work harder to keep up and produce more insulin. If overworked, the organ can shut down and stop producing insulin altogether, ultimately accounting for type 2 diabetes.
Your Heart
"Sugar contributes to inflammation of arterial walls," says Marci Clow, R.D., a senior dietician at vitamin manufacturer Rainbow Light. "When insulin spikes, it damages the lining of the blood vessels and can cause can heart damage." Too much sugar can also lead to weight gain, which, combined with insulin resistance, contributes to metabolic syndrome and will increase your risk for cardiovascular disease.
Your Gut
Artificial sweeteners, which often contain naturally occuring sugar alcohols, don't initially cause your blood sugar to spike as high as completely natural sugars, but the trick here is that these faux sugars cannot be completely broken down and absorbed by your body. This can cause digestive stress, bloating, or even a laxative effect.
Your Hips
The sugar your body doesn't immediately use as energy , is stored as fat. Those love handles you can't seem to whittle away might have more to do with your candy habit than your gym rut.
Your Joints
Inflammation and weight gain can greatly impact the health of your joints, and both can be caused by sugar. The same AEGs that destroy collagen in your skin also destroy the collagen the surrounds and protects your joints. What's damaging to the body is how high your blood sugar level gets, and how many times throughout the day you're doing that. A little bit of glucose throughout the day won't be as bad as one big spike.