Sugar is one of the essential ingredients in our food. From confectionaries to actual main course dishes, our sugar intake might be more than what we can imagine. In a time where many would worry of excessive consumption of sugar, it’s better to know more about sugar. Katie Couric consults Dr. Mark Hyman, a family physician, on what sugar does to our bodies:
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Our hormones, taste buds, and brain chemistry are all hijacked by sugar. Not metaphorically, but biologically. Simply put, you get addicted, like you would be to some of the deadliest drugs on the planet, to sugar and anything that turns to sugar in your body, like white flour.
This is because food contains not just calories or energy to fuel our cells; food contains information. When we eat sugar, it increases our blood glucose and it tells our body to increase insulin, in order to shuttle that glucose into cells. But when we constantly eat sugar and have chronically high blood glucose, we develop insulin resistance, which is the predicator to developing type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance usually comes with increased fat storage, high blood pressure, and a poor cholesterol profile. Elevated blood sugar and insulin promote inflammation and cause a hormonal cascade that makes it hard to think clearly, maintain a healthy weight, stay in a good mood, have a healthy sex drive, and so much more.
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Source: neatorama