How Bad Can Sugar Be?

Christine Baade, lmt, chhc.
Dec 31, 2018
3 min read

Updated: Jun 7, 2019

Were you aware that the average American consumes about 152 pounds of sugar a year! That breaks down to roughly 22 teaspoons a day for each person in America.

High sugar intake has been directly related to obesity, type 2 diabetes, dementia, depression, ADHD, acne, heart disease, infertility, and impotence.

The sad truth is that sugar addiction is not an emotional disorder - sugar cravings are a biological disorder, fueled by the body’s hormones and neurotransmitters. This often leads to uncontrolled eating, which in turn gives cause to the reason why nearly 70 percent of Americans are considered overweight.

Aside from the toll sugar takes on your health, here are some other ways sugar affects you negatively:

Motivation Sugar affects motivation by reducing dopamine, the motivation neurochemical in your brain.

Brain Fog Sugar causes brain fog by spiking the hormone insulin, which gives you the rush after you eat sugar. The spike, then, leads to a crash as your insulin plummets.

Insatiability Consuming sugar only provides temporary satisfaction, which can lead to overeating as we try to satiate by eating more.

Teeth Health High sugar consumption causes tooth decay.

Hormone Imbalance & Infertility

The quick spike in sugar levels creates a ‘high’ in our bodies that lasts from 15-30 minutes. After that, our sugar levels plummet, leaving the body drained and exhausted. This creates what is referred to as the ‘fight or flight’ reaction in the body, due to continued stimulation of the adrenal glands. This drop in sugar levels signal the adrenal glands to release the hormone cortisol and adrenalin in an attempt to replenish sugar levels. Repeated stimulation of the adrenal glands to release cortisol and adrenaline weakens the adrenal glands. Hormones produced by the adrenals are not produced in abundance; the adrenals become sluggish. This may lead to hormonal imbalance and over time fertility..

Now that you have read some of the scary truths about sugar consumption, the best way to see for yourself the effect sugar is having on your body and mind is to try cutting it out for at least 10 days.

Before you start a detox, it is a good idea to have a plan in place, because the cravings will be shockingly strong for the first few days. Here are some steps to follow to help get you ready:

Get in the Right Mindset Prepare yourself by making the decision to clear your body of sugar. This is important because you won’t have success if you don’t set your mind to it.

Eat a Healthy Diet Focus on eating healthy carbs, proteins, and fats. Eating healthily will help you feel better as your body starts its detox.

Build New Routines It is hard to stop any addictive behavior cold turkey, so to soften the withdraw it is best to approach for your detox by gearing up with small changes to your routine, such as cutting cream and sugar from your morning coffee or cutting down on any beverages with sugar throughout the day.

Throw Out the Sugar Get rid of all the candies and sweets you have in your pantry. And be sure to read those ingredient lists!

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