Sugar is the nutrition world’s newest villain, and it’s drawing all kinds of scrutiny from every angle. It’s little wonder that this sweet, sneaky siren has attracted so much attention these days. It has invaded almost every part of our diet slowly and silently and is thought to be responsible for health issues ranging from rotting teeth to obesity and cardiovascular disease. Researchers have even begun linking processed sugar with cancer.
Sugar Overdose Effects
Read on to see why processed sugar should be on the top of your list of things to eliminate.
Sugar Is Everywhere!
Sugar is a carbohydrate and is found in many of the foods we eat every day. When we consume sugar in its natural form, such as a piece of fresh fruit, we get the sugar along with minerals, vitamins, and fiber, and our bodies are very good at breaking it down. It can then either be used immediately for energy or stored for use later.
Processed sugar, however, is a whole different matter. These types of sugars, added to foods to make them taste better, are just empty calories that your body has a difficult time processing.
Too Much Of A Good Thing!
The average person in the US consumes over 20 teaspoons of sugar per day. That’s way above the recommended amount of 6 teaspoons for women and 9 for men. Many years ago, sugary foods and drinks would be considered a special treat to be enjoyed only occasionally.
Today that has all changed, as sugar has successfully worked its way into our daily lives. It’s no doubt that all this excess sugar causes weight gain, and this is one of the links between sugar and cancer.
A Weighty Question!
Obesity is emerging as one of the top health issues in the US. Over one-third of the adults in the US are considered to be obese. To make matters worse, about 20 percent of children and adolescents are considered obese as well.
Studies have shown that there is a pretty strong link between obesity and certain forms of cancer, including liver, prostate, gallbladder, and ovarian cancer, to name just a few.1
Fat stored in our bodies may seem to be dormant, but it’s really busy producing substances like estrogen, which can fuel cell growth.
Fat may also be responsible for promoting inflammation and insulin resistance. Chronic inflammation is known to weaken your body’s immune system. When your immune system is not in a tip-top shape, you’re susceptible to all kinds of diseases, including cancer.
What’s In The Name!
Sugar is sugar, right? Well, not exactly. Sugar hides very well on nutrition labels, disguising itself in almost 60 different ways so that even those who take the time to do some label reading are challenged with finding where it’s hiding.
Learning to decipher nutrition labels is a necessary skill if when you’re trying to limit your intake of added sugar. And remember the golden rule about reading nutrition labels; the higher up on the list an ingredient appears, the more the product contains.
Does Sugar Cause Cancer?
While we know that eating too much-added sugar is not good for our health, there’s a myth surrounding sugar and cancer that we should dispel.
Some people are of the opinion that a person who has been diagnosed with cancer shouldn’t eat sugar because it makes cancer cells grow faster. This is a false claim. There is actually no evidence that supports this statement, according to this source.2
Statements like this are very controversial, and there are many sources who claim exactly the opposite, so it’s sometimes difficult to know exactly who to trust.
One thing is for sure; no matter what your health status is at the moment, you should strive to fuel your body with the healthiest and most nutritious food possible, and sugary foods and drinks are not on that list.
No Sugar Coating The Truth!
The plain truth is that eating too much sugar may significantly increase your risk of developing certain diseases, and there is a solid link between sugar and cancer. Right now, that link seems to be obesity and certain cancers that are more prone to occur in obese individuals.
Knowledge is power, and application of knowledge will empower you to change the direction of your life and take control of your health. Processed sugar is silently making people ill. Avoid it whenever possible and you’ll be rewarded with better health.
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