What's Wrong With Sugar?
It’s natural… it’s delicious, and it gives the body energy. So what’s the problem with sugar?
Sugar is a carbohydrate and there are two types of carb that provide the body with energy – sugars and starches, and they break down into energy in the body at different rates. Sugars break down into glucose really fast, and starches quite slow (though some starches, like foods made from white flour break down into glucose as fast as sugars)
So if you get too many sugars in your diet, you get too much energy (calories), at a faster rate than your body is able to burn it as energy, so what happens?
First of all your blood-sugar level goes up as the sugar in your food quickly breaks down into glucose in your bloodstream, causing a sugar rush.
Sugar alert! High blood sugar is dangerous, and your body has a chemical to get the sugar out of your bloodstream to transport it elsewhere – insulin.
Insulin causes the glucose to be:
(i) stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver, but once these stores are full
(ii) converted into fat in your liver then stored in your fat cells
Cells can become resistant to insulin resulting in high blood sugar, and insulin resistance can result in developing type 2 diabetes.
When insulin is released, as your blood sugar level drops you feel sluggish, lethargic and hungry. So your body craves energy fast – often more sugary foods.
Did you know that when you feel hungry or have cravings, your body is calling out for NUTRIENTS not calories!!
But sugary foods like chocolate snack bars, biscuits, cookies, doughnuts, and sweets, provide calories but no nutrients.
So when you feed that hunger with junk food you’ll still feel hunger and cravings because you haven’t provided your body with the nutrients that it wants.
And the empty calories will be stored – most likely in your fat cells causing weight gain.
It is better to fuel your body with nutrient dense food which provide your body with the nutrients it wants and needs.