One of the first things a doctor says to a fat person is the need to cut down the sweet things. Many of you would have thought as well; how does sugar make me fat?
First of all, our body needs sugar to survive. It is a significant part of our metabolism. We get the energy for our daily activities from sugar. There are different types of sugars, including glucose and fructose. Our body produces glucose and uses it for energy. But the sugar in the food we take in contains mainly fructose. It can only be processed by liver cells.
Too much of sugar is certainly harmful for us. Despite not having any fats, there are a number of ways sugar can make one fat.
As mentioned earlier, fructose is metabolized by liver. When we consume more sugar than necessary, the additional amount of sugar is converted by the liver into fatty acids. They get absorbed into the bloodstream, and are stored in various parts of the body, including the stomach, breasts, hips, and butt. These fatty acids later gradually enter our organs such as heart, liver, and kidneys triggering various health problems.
Another way sugar makes one fat is linked with insulin. Insulin, produced by pancreas, is a key hormone that regulates our metabolism. Whenever we consume sugar, insulin is produced to compensate it. The hormone has a few functions like sending signal to peripheral cells like muscles to absorb glucose. When we eat more sugar, the insulin production also goes higher. The other duty of insulin is to inform fat cells to take more fat from bloodstream. So, when insulin is produced in high levels, more glucose gets turned to fat and stored in our body. This also causes our energy levels to drop and makes us hungry, even though we have had enough food. This makes us eat even more and triggers an unhealthy cycle. Also be sure to check out the best Bluetooth Glucose Meter helps you to measure sugar and BP level in your body.
Sugar also makes us fat with the effects on the hormone named leptin. Leptin is produced by fat cells. The more fats we have, more leptin is secreted. Our brain determines whether we are hungry or not by checking the leptin levels. Constant eating of sugar produces more leptin and the brain eventually becomes resistant to leptin levels. It means it will be unable to decide we had enough food and keeps us hungry. We would eat more and trigger the aforementioned processes continuously. This is the reason why fat people eat more and keep on getting fatter. Not because they need more food, but because they feel hungry even when their body has had enough food.
Another reason why sugar results in an increase in weight is due to calories. You will come across a variety of foods that contain added sugar, which is sweeteners. Mostly found in soft drinks, this excess sugar results in gaining weight because all they have to offer is calories and nothing of nutritional benefit. In other words, as compared to calories, these things are void of vitamins, calcium, proteins, and all the other essential nutrients required by the body.
Foods with added sugar also displace nutrient-rich, healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. If you are consuming foods with a comparatively large amount of sugar such as pastries and icecream etc. it will result in the proteins and carbohydrates etc. to be displaced, which could have a negative effect on your health in terms of weight gain. Scientists today claim that sugar can become addictive and, in fact, have termed it the “New Nicotine.”
A human body, on average, requires 25g of sugar a day to function normally, whereas an apple contains 18g of sugar but with fiber to slow its absorption. However, if you are consuming drinks with added sugar and bakery items on a daily basis, this means that you are consuming more than recommended. This will ultimately result in sugar cravings more often and force an individual to consume food that is high on sugar rather than healthy nutrients.
Lastly, consuming too much added sugar, especially in foods that contain fructose, promotes the production of ghrelin, which is a hunger-promoting hormone while decreasing the levels of peptide YY hormone, responsible for suppressing appetite. As it is the case, you will always feel hungry, even though you have already consumed sufficient meals for the day.