I used to be a total sugar addict. Until about 10 years ago I felt I had to have something sugary sweet ever single day. I craved it. I needed it. And then the day came that I learned about sugar’s shocking side effects the hard way.
When I say I learned about the shocking side effects, I don’t mean in the scholastic sense. I didn’t read about them in a book. I didn’t see an article on Facebook. And it wasn’t something I discovered from memes. I abstained from sugar for just a month. And what happened next shocked me.
After I took a break from the sweet stuff, my body changed. The way I felt day to day changed. And my waistline shrunk without dieting. I knew sugar wasn’t healthy. I just didn’t realize it had such an impact.
And you know what? I wasn’t alone. These side effects of sugar are proven. You might be experiencing them too and not realize the culprit. So today I’m gonna go over 5 side effects of eating too much sugar that will shock you!
Your body thinks it’s starving
One of the shocking side effects of eating too much sugar is that you can run out of fuel so your body thinks it’s starving, Eating sugar triggers the release of insulin into your bloodstream. Insulin helps store what you eat as fat. So how does this make your body think it’s starving?
You just ate something high-calorie, but your body doesn’t have any readily available fuel. Your calories are already in long-term storage as fat! And now you’re hungry.
And here’s the crazy thing. When you’re out of fuel, your body craves sugar. It provides quick fuel. So this can become a vicious cycle of sugar cravings. And it’s no surprise this will help you pack on the pounds.
You’ll dull an essential weight loss hormone
Leptin is a vital weight loss hormone. It’s job is to communicate to your brain that you’re full. If leptin isn’t working, you’ll feel hungry even after eating a huge meal. So a leptin malfunction is a serious problem.
And now remember – eating sugar causes a large insulin response. If this happens often enough, the excess insulin will eventually make your brain blind to leptin. This is a real thing called leptin resistance. And your brain stops being able to see leptin and read the signals you’re full.
So what happens next? You’re hungry absolutely all the time. And you’ll probably get angry at yourself for your lack of willpower. And maybe you’ll eat more sugar because you’re so hungry. So now you know, being hungry all the time isn’t all in your head.
You’ll become increasingly malnourished
Sugar will make you malnourished in a couple of ways. First, sugar uses up precious nutrients when it’s digested. But sugar doesn’t offer any nutritional value in return. So it’s not just that sugar doesn’t have nutrition. It’s that it leaves you with a nutritional deficit.
Second, sugar makes you crave other nutrient depleted quick sources of energy like pasta, bread, and potato chips. So the more sugar you eat, the more you’ll likely fill up on other empty calories. So malnutrition is another one of the shocking side effects of too much sugar.
You’ll store everything you eat as fat
We’ve established that sugar gets quickly turned into fat. But when you eat too much sugar on a regular basis, pretty much everything you eat turns right into fat. So here’s another weight loss obstacles.
Remember, it’s the hormone insulin that turns sugar into fat. Well, when you eat lots of sugar over an extended period, you make insulin work really hard. And it causes insulin dysfunction.
Instead of insulin doing its job correctly by providing your body with energy as needed, and turning only the leftovers into fat, it goes into overdrive. It stops communicating with your brain. And it robs your body of fuel by storing everything as fat.
You’ll likely have PMS, missed periods, and more hormonal dysfunction
You probably don’t appreciate the effect sugar has on your hormone function. Around the time I gave up sugar, my hormones mysteriously normalized. I didn’t even make the connection at first. But I later learned that sugar has a powerful effect on hormone health.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a common disorder that’s often triggered by excess sugar. It’s characterized by irregular periods, acne, and excess body hair growth. And one of the best ways to treat P.O.S. is to reduce sugar intake.
Sugar can lead to a high production of estrogen. And estrogen dominance is a main factor in PMS. So if you’re sick of relying on pain relievers once a month, you might want to reduce your sugar consumption.
And those are 5 shocking side effects of eating too much sugar. Like I said, I didn’t believe it until I saw what it did to my own health. Sugar sure tastes sweet. But what it does to your body can just be shocking.
All very true. I started drinking a lot of diet soda a couple years ago to satisfy my sweet tooth but it totally backfired on me. I have lost weight, but I am now so addicted to the stuff it isn’t funny.
Eek, yes… sugar can wreak havoc on our bodies (and minds). And it can become so normal to consume a lot of sugar in our daily lives without even thinking about it.
Wow, I’ve always known too much sugar wasn’t good but not why. In fact, many years ago I completely cut out soda and from there cut out sugar from coffee, tea, etc. It made a huge difference.
Good post! Ugh. Unfortunately, I eat a lot of sugar, although I’ve been trying to cut back! There’s so much “hidden” sugar in what we eat, too!
I was just thinking it’s definitely time to curb the sugar intake. In the past, I’ve always preferred salt over sugar, but lately…
So, I’m going to set myself a goal to start right now to cutting the sugar out and see how I feel in 30 days. I’ll be checking back! Thanks for the information.