Sugary food tastes good but ends up bad. Here are a few more bits of information to add to our already definitive knowledge that what’s laden with sugars may be considered junk.
Taking in simple sugars such as in a piece of cake ‘causes a huge rush of glucose (what sugar is broken down to) into the blood, and the pancreas releases extra insulin to turn the glucose into glycogen, which the liver and muscles use up.’
What happens after the sugar rush is decidedly more dramatic: ‘blood sugar levels drop dramatically, triggering the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to activate stored sugar supplies. Stress hormones raise our heart rate, make our stomachs clench in anticipation of an attack, and leave us shaky and nauseated once our bodies realize there’s no danger to respond to.’
Sugar increases disease susceptibility as it lowers immunity. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that ‘people’s white blood cell counts were reduced for up to five hours after they ate one hundred grams of sugar.’
We have also heard of the other ill effects of eating sugary foods such as obesity as glycogen gets converted into fat, as well as the risk of heart disease and increased blood pressure.
We’ve also been told by now that sugary food is addictive, and that no matter how bad we know it to be, we keep on going back to eating it. What causes the backsliding is the ‘surge of pleasure hormones like dopamine and serotonin’ that occurs when sugary foods are consumed.
Via AlterNet
