To understand the negative impact of sugar on your health and body weight, it is important to know how it spikes your insulin level. And it is pretty basic. When you eat any food that has carbohydrates, your digestive system goes to work breaking them down. Any sugar that is processed is pushed out into your blood. This raises your sugar level, and causes your pancreas to produce insulin.
What is Insulin and Why Does Your Body Produce It?
Insulin is a hormone that regulates your blood sugar level. When everything in your body is working properly, insulin easily monitors and regulates a healthy blood sugar level. But when you do not produce insulin properly, it cannot regulate the amount of sugar in your body, and this can lead to diabetes and other unhealthy conditions.
So once you ingest sugar your pancreas begins to make insulin, and your cells are prompted to absorb blood sugar, either for storage or energy. As this sugar is absorbed into your cells naturally, the amount in your bloodstream begins to drop. Your pancreas notices and begins developing glucagon. This is a hormone which sends a signal to your liver to start releasing stored sugar.
Insulin and glucagon, when working properly, helps all the cells in your body and your brain a steady and regulated supply of blood sugar. But when you get too much sugar in your diet, including artificial sweeteners like Splenda, your natural insulin levels are raised to deal with the excess amount of sugar.
Sugar Begins to Pile Up in Your Blood
Aside from a feeling of sluggishness and weight gain, you can experience hearing loss, gum disease, high blood pressure and even a loss of vision if these unnaturally high insulin levels are not treated properly. In some people, high levels of sugar consumption can even cause diabetes.
However, the body is an amazing machine. If you eat just a little bit of sugar here or there, your pancreas and insulin will probably be able to function properly. It is an overabundance of sugar, and the unnatural fructose it contains, that begins to create problems.
How Much Sugar is Too Much?
The American Heart Association recommends that men eat no more than 150 calories of sugar in a day. Women are recommended to eat no more than 100 calories of sugar daily. Watch your sugar consumption and you will promote normal levels of insulin, which contributes to healthy blood sugar levels and your ideal body weight.
