Ever get a sugar rush? Understand the connection between body, sugar and diabetes

Excess sugar can lead to a sugar rush. Read on to know what happens to your body when you eat too much sugar.

By: Arushi Bidhuri | | Updated: December 2, 2020 9:01 am

Excess sugar can lead to a sugar rush. Read on to know what happens to your body when you eat too much sugar.

Ever felt a rush after delving into a huge piece of your favourite chocolate brownie? Almost all of us have had these cravings. While the satisfaction of those few minutes is inimitable, heavy amounts of sugar are not so healthy for your body. It can have a drastic impact on your body and make you tired. So, if you have experienced a sudden stomachache, felt shaky or crashed after a large serving of a dessert – blame sugar rush! Also Read - Addicted to sugar? Try this 3-day detox plan to beat the addiction and lose weight

How Sugar Rush Affects Your Body?

Given the number of articles written on the health effects of eating sugary foods, chances are you already know that sugar is bad for your health. But you eat it anyway. Sugary drinks, candy, donuts, sweetened dairy – added sugar in any form can be harmful to your body. In excess, it can have detrimental effects on your health. Also Read - 5 foods diabetic patients should avoid eating at restaurants

Sugar Addiction

Eating sugar gives you a surge of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. So, your body starts cravings for the initial high and satisfaction it provides you. You then become addicted to sugar and eat way more than you should. Also Read - Good sleep helps in reducing your appetite for sweet and salty foods

Sugar Crash

High levels of sugar in the bloodstream can cause a spike and make you feel energetic. Once your blood glucose levels drops, you may feel anxious and drained – this condition is known as sugar crash. If this happens often, it can drastically affect your mood. A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Plos One found that intense levels of it in the system can even lead to depression.

Joint Pain

Overconsumption of sugar can increase the risk of osteoporosis, according to a study published in the journal of the Missouri State Medical Association. Too much of it in the system can cause inflammation and lead to joint pain. You might want to lay off the candies and sweets if you have joint stiffness.

Skin Problems

When you eat a lot of sugar, it latches on to your bloodstream and creates molecules called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which can be harmful to your skin. It damages the collagen and leads to premature ageing.

Heart Diseases

Studies suggest that excess sugar can lead to extra insulin in the system. It causes the walls of your arteries to become inflamed, which stresses the heart and may lead to heart diseases such as heart attack and stroke. Eating too much can cause spikes in your blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease.

Kidney Damage

If you have diabetes, too much sugar in the system can lead to kidney damage. If left unnoticed, diabetes can damage the kidneys and lead to kidney failure.

Weight Gain

You probably already know that eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain. Studies have shown that too much sugar combined with obesity can lead to type-2 diabetes.

The Link Between Diabetes And Sugar

There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. In type 1 diabetes, your immune system destroys the pancreatic cells that produce insulin.

Type-2 diabetes, on the other hand, is a lifestyle disease that happens due to problems like being overweight, inactive, etc. Even though it doesn’t cause type-2 diabetes, it can contribute to its onset.

You gain weight when you eat more calories, and sugary foods and drinks contain a lot of calories. However, sugar is unlikely to be the only cause of diabetes, according to the British Diabetic Association. To conclude, we can say that sugary foods can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes but doesn’t cause the disease.

Published : December 2, 2020 9:00 am | Updated:December 2, 2020 9:01 am

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