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5 Reasons To Quit Sugar Even If You Do Not Have Diabetes!

Sugar sits pretty not just on your tabletops- with your morning tea and coffee, but is a part of almost every meal and snack. Your morning cereals, low fat or oil-free snacks you pick up from the shelves, most ready-to-eat sauces, spreads, even low fat yoghurt, all come loaded with sugar. Sugar is a highly processed food and all its damaging effects quietly sneak up in our diet.

5 Primary Reasons Why You Should Quit Sugar:

Starving Your Body

Most ready-to-eat foods are loaded with sugars and constitute a significant portion of on-the-go foods. Substituting a healthy meal with sugary foods means that we skip on essential carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals that should have made up our calories. We replace cereals, protein-rich pulses, and vegetables with zero nutrition foods that are high in empty calories. The body is thus literally starved of the nutrients it requires. Therefore, it is a must to quit sugar.

A 2014 study published in Nutritional Neuroscience explains how a high-fructose diet causes hippocampal insulin resistance while also exacerbating memory deficits. Another study published in Molecular Neurobiology found a link between sugar consumption and negative changes in the brain’s frontal cortex — changes associated with additional cognitive problems. If you want to stay sharp and on top of things, especially as you age, stop eating sugar. Your mind will reward you in spades.

Dr. M.G. Kartheeka, MBBS, MD

Instant High Followed by a Sluggish Feeling:

Refined sugar is instantly absorbed into the bloodstream that causes the release of the hormone insulin. Insulin helps the body to utilize the sugar and blood sugar levels crash leaving you feeling lethargic. Therefore, a lunch packed with sugary treats leaves you feeling sluggish and tired much earlier than eating fruit or meal containing vegetables. Your productivity declines, you feel sleepy and irritated.

Foods such as bread, biscuits, readymade sauces, fat-free yoghurt are all high in sugar content, even though they do not fall into the traditional ‘sweet’ foods category.

Opt for meals with lots of raw vegetables, fruits, cereals, pulses, and other protein-rich foods to keep you energetic throughout the day.

Affects Your Alertness:

The yo-yo effect of blood sugar levels does not just leave you feeling sluggish and tired physically but affects your mental alertness too. You feel disoriented and are unable to concentrate. It can even give headaches to many of you. You need to limit your sugar consumption if you wish to improve alertness at work.

Also Read: Is Sucralose Bad for You? Unraveling the Truth Based on Research

Causes of Weight Gain:

Is sugar fattening? You bet. We have believed for a long time that its fats that make us fat. This is not entirely true. Sugar is metabolized by our liver, where it is converted into fat and released into the bloodstream. This is the harmful fat that makes us gain weight and is the cause of several diseases.

Most products sold in the market as ”Fat-free” or ”low fat” have fats replaced with sugar to maintain the taste, flavour, and texture. Thus leading you down the very road of weight gain you are trying so hard to avoid.

Also Read: What Causes Low Blood Sugar In a Non-diabetic: Research-Based Analysis

Makes you Hungry:

Sugar and foods containing sugar have no healthy carbohydrates or proteins in them. The insulin spike that follows the consumption of foods high in sugars quickly lowers blood sugar levels and leaves one feeling hungry again. This makes us hungry between meals, which is usually unplanned, makes us binge on whatever is readily available. More sugar and fat!

To quit sugar, it is essential to plan your meals such that they contain adequate essential nutrients required by your body. Moreover, to quit sugar, now can save you from a gamut of future complications like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Read More: 10 Harmful Effects of Sugar

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational/awareness purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional and should not be relied upon to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The reader should consult a registered medical practitioner to determine the appropriateness of the information and before consuming any medication. PharmEasy does not provide any guarantee or warranty (express or implied) regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information; and disclaims any liability arising thereof.

Links and product recommendations in the information provided here are advertisements of third-party products available on the website. PharmEasy does not make any representation on the accuracy or suitability of such products/services. Advertisements do not influence the editorial decisions or content. The information in this blog is subject to change without notice. The authors and administrators reserve the right to modify, add, or remove content without notification. It is your responsibility to review this disclaimer regularly for any changes.

How Does Junk Food Damage Your Body?

It is a known fact that eating too much junk can be detrimental to your health and cause serious repercussions in the future. There are many chronic health conditions like obesity, high sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure that can directly be linked to the consumption of junk food.

In this blog, we unravel the impact of junk foods on health and their long-term impact on your body with Dr Mehul Choksi.

Dr Mehul Choksi is one of the leading Consultant Gastroenterologist practising in Mumbai. He is proficient and has successfully handled many Gastroenterology procedures like Gastroscopic biopsies, Endoscopic sclerotherapy, endoscopic variceal ligation, Snare polypectomy and PEG tube placement among many others.

Junk Food and Its Impact on Your Health

It’s important to know the impact junk food has on our health to understand the severity of the situation. Food like burgers, pizza, French fries can be had once a while and should be restricted to one time a day.

Foods like these contain high levels of sugar, fat and salt which together and even individually can lead to conditions like diabetes, obesity and heart diseases if not kept in check.

”A person can have junk food once in a while but whatever junk food is planned to be consumed should have been freshly prepared and served hot.”

Some of the most common ailments that such foods can cause are:

You can clearly find that junk food does more harm than good to the body. This is mainly due to the fact that these junk foods have less or no presence of necessary nutrients and also have low satiation level. This means that you would end up overeating something which is of low nutritional value.

”Long-term intake can lead to constipation and vital nutrient, vitamin and mineral deficiencies.”

Nowadays, we can see kids and the younger generation increasingly indulging in fast food. Regularly eating junk food might create various health problems like malnutrition, dental problems, etc. I would highly recommend restraining your kids from having junk food more often.

Dr. Siddharth Gupta, B.A.M.S, M.D (Ayu)

How Does It Impact the Kids and Teenagers?

The impact of junk food can be seen quite visibly among the younger generations, especially the teenagers and pre-teens as they get overly influenced by the marketing commercials seen on television. You can often see groups of young teenagers in fast food joints eating a whole assortment of unhealthy food on a regular basis.

This has lead to a drastic increase in obesity and a decrease in their daily nutritional intake which further complicates their health. Gastroenterologists see many cases of teenage obesity, high cholesterol and atherosclerosis on a daily basis due to these bad food choices.

Since foods high in sugar and salt are known to elevate the serotonin levels in the body, it also leads to constant mood swings and anxiety-like symptoms every time the sugar levels in your body crashes.

They also experience loss in concentration and extreme fatigue coupled with a drop in cognitive senses. Unlike the elderly who would have specific ailments pertaining to digestion and processing of junk food and its contents, the teenagers would also have to cope with mental ailments and cognitive disabilities if exposed to too much junk food.

”Junk food is harmful because it contains a high level of calories from sugar or fat without the presence of fibre, protein, vitamins or minerals.”

Having junk food constantly might have adverse effects on your kid’s mental health. It is been studied that kids who eat junk food frequently might experience psychological distress and show violent behaviour.

Dr. Rajeev Singh, BAMS

Junk the Junk food

Junk food tastes delectable due to the high amounts of sugar and salt present in it. Consuming it too much is sure to have negative effects on your health and has the potential to cause irreversible damage to your vital organs.

Only Permissible levels of Junk Food is advisable

These permissible limits are subjective to the amount of physical activity and exercises one does during the day.

Also Read: Best Fast Food For Weight Watchers: Making Healthy Choices on the Go

In Conclusion

Junk food may be the most preferred food but definitely not the healthiest. It is very important that you know how much is too much for your body. Consuming permissible amounts accordingly on an occasional basis should be the way to devour junk food.

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational/awareness purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional and should not be relied upon to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The reader should consult a registered medical practitioner to determine the appropriateness of the information and before consuming any medication. PharmEasy does not provide any guarantee or warranty (express or implied) regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information; and disclaims any liability arising thereof.

Links and product recommendations in the information provided here are advertisements of third-party products available on the website. PharmEasy does not make any representation on the accuracy or suitability of such products/services. Advertisements do not influence the editorial decisions or content. The information in this blog is subject to change without notice. The authors and administrators reserve the right to modify, add, or remove content without notification. It is your responsibility to review this disclaimer regularly for any changes.

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