Why does something that tastes so amazing has to be so bad for us? Refined sugar is nothing but an “empty calorie” as they don’t supply us with any nutrient value. Excess sugar in any form can develop various health problems such as weight gain, diabetes, lowered immunity, adrenal fatigue, delayed wound healing, etc.
Though the maximum sugar dosage recommended [1] is about 25 grams (6 teaspoons), but let’s admit, who stops at just 6 teaspoons, right? Unfortunately, sugar, in excess amounts is really harmful for your health. Once you get to know about the harmful changes sugar initiates in the body over the years, the way you look at it right now will definitely change.
So, how do we know if we are binge eating sugar or not? So, clinical nutritionist Autumn Bates explains some of the signs which tell you are eating too much sugar and need to cut back.
Symptoms Associated with Too Much Sugar Consumption
Mood Swings: A high-sugar diet can lead to mood swings. This happens due to fluctuations in the blood glucose levels. Sudden changes in the glucose levels are likely to cause an increase in your mood swings and make you feel anxious, crabby, angry, and hungry. Limiting sweets intake may help balance out the mood and give positive feelings.
Breakouts and Acne: Consuming sugar in high amounts can cause hormonal imbalance. This can reflect on your skin through acne breakouts. Cutting down on sugar can help in maintaining hormonal balance and getting an acne-free skin.
Headaches: It is common to experience headaches. Sudden fluctuations in the blood glucose level due to high-sugar diet can cause hypoglycemia. Headaches and migraines are the common symptoms of hypoglycemia. Hence, if you tend to have headaches very often, your sugary diet might be the reason for it.
Inability to Lose Weight: Are you exercising on a regular basis? Having a comparatively healthy diet? Still having problems shedding off the extra pounds? Well, it’s time to revise the sugar content in your diet. To lose weight, you need to limit sugar content in your diet. It is easier for the body to use sugar as an energy source when it is available. So, a high-sugar diet will make it difficult to use energy stored as fat. Therefore, it’s time to ditch the sweets.
Hormone Imbalance: Hormonal imbalance is linked with various health issues. But what causes this imbalance? In women, high-sugar diet is most likely to cause hormone imbalance. In women, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) has become an epidemic in their early 20s and 30s. It has been found that PCOS is linked to stress and high-sugary diet. In fact, while dealing with hormonal imbalances, you crave for sugar even more. So, keeping an eye on your sugar intake is crucial.
Frequent Urination: With the increase in the blood sugar levels, the kidneys fail to reabsorb the fluids efficiently. Too much sugar running in your blood tends to damage the kidneys. And this will the make the reabsorption process weaker, resulting in frequent urination.
