Beware! Too much sugar intake in childhood can alter microbiome for life

The microbiome refers to all the bacteria as well as fungi, parasites, and viruses that live on and inside a human or animal. Scared? Read to know more about it.

By: Satata Karmakar | | Updated: February 5, 2021 9:40 am

Too much sugar intake as a kid can have long-term health effects: Study

Are you feeding your child too much sugar thinking this is their age to eat everything? Well, you are doing it all wrong. A new study has revealed that eating too much fat and sugar as a child can alter your microbiome for life, even if you later learn to eat healthier. Also Read - “Stop weighing yourself and start measuring your body fat” says Nutritionist Nmami Agarwal

The microbiome refers to all the bacteria as well as fungi, parasites, and viruses that live on and inside a human or animal. Also Read - Addicted to sugar? Try this 3-day detox plan to beat the addiction and lose weight

How Does Too Much Sugar Intake Affect Your Health

“Too much of anything is never good”. Eating too much sugar or fat can make you gain too many calories. These calories can then contribute to weight gain and when you put on weight abnormally, you tend to make yourself more prone to several health complications such as – diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Also Read - Deficiency of this vitamin can cause obesity: Watch out for the warning symptoms

Scary isn’t it? The recent study by the researchers at the University of California Riverside. According to them, this is one of the first studies to show a significant decrease in the complete number and diversity of gut bacteria.

The study authors said that most of these micro-organisms are found in the intestines, and most of them are helpful, stimulating the immune system, breaking down food, and helping synthesize key vitamins.

For the study, the authors made two groups – one which was fed a healthy diet and the other one was kept on a western diet.

Too Much Sugar Intake Can Also Affect Intestinal Bacteria

Eating too much sugar can also mess up your intestinal bacteria. The researchers concluded that the number of bacteria such as Muribaculum intestine dropped among the Western diet group.

The analysis also showed that the gut bacteria are sensitive to the amount of exercise the group got. According to the researchers, this species of bacteria, and the family of bacteria that it belongs to, might influence the amount of energy available to its host.

One other effect of note was the increase in a highly similar bacteria species that were enriched after five weeks of treadmill training in a study by other researchers, suggesting that exercise alone may increase its presence.

Not only too much sugar intake increases your risk of heart diseases and obesity, but it also contributes majorly to the production of acne-causing sebum in your skin. And to some, the effects of sugar intake can also lead to the development of depression. How? When you put on weight, you tend to feel uncomfortable about yourself, this is when depression strikes.

Apart from these, a high intake of fructose can also lead to an increased risk of fatty liver, dental health deterioration, gout problems, etc.