Dietary guidelines recommend limiting calories from added sugar to less than 10% of total calories consumed per day.
Sugar consumption, according to experts, is a major cause of obesity and many chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.
Here are six ways that eating too much sugar can harm your health.
Here are 6 ways eating too much sugar can harm your health.
1. Can lead to obesity.
Obesity rates are rising worldwide, and added sugar, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, is thought to be a major cause.
Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, juices, and sweet teas, are high in fructose, a type of simple sugar.
Fructose, the main type of sugar found in starchy foods, increases your hunger and desire for food more than glucose.
Excess fructose consumption may also lead to resistance to leptin, an important hormone that regulates hunger and tells your body when to stop eating.
2. May Increase Your Chances of Developing Heart Disease.
High-sugar diets have been linked to an increased risk of a variety of diseases, including heart disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide.
Obesity, inflammation, and high triglyceride, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels are all risk factors for heart disease, according to evidence.
Furthermore, excessive sugar consumption, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, has been linked to atherosclerosis, a disease characterized by fatty, artery-clogging deposits.
3. Type 2 Diabetes.
Excess sugar consumption is linked to an increased risk of diabetes. Obesity, which is frequently caused by consuming too much sugar, is regarded as the most significant risk factor for diabetes.
Furthermore, long-term high-sugar consumption leads to insulin resistance, a pancreatic hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
Insulin resistance raises blood sugar levels, increasing your risk of diabetes significantly.
4. Can result in fatty liver.
A high fructose intake has consistently been linked to an increased risk of fatty liver.
In contrast to glucose and other sugars, which are taken up by many cells throughout the body, fructose is almost entirely broken down by the liver.
Fructose us converted into energy or stored as glycogen in the liver.
However, the liver can only store so much glycogen before it converts it to fat.
Excessive added sugar in the form of fructose overloads your liver, causing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition characterized by excessive fat buildup in the liver.
