What health issues are associated to eating excess sugar?

There is the obvious disease- type two diabetes, that is closely linked to over consumption of sugar. Sugar causes inflammation in the body. Inflammation is associated with everything from acne, and wrinkles, to arthritis, and heart disease.

If you think that you have a problem with sugar, you probably do. Slowly eliminating sugar from your diet. Get used to the taste of the natural sweetness found in nature. This is the best strategy to a sugar free or low sugar diet.

What about gum chewing?

Besides the sugar in gum being damaging to the teeth there is another harmful problem to consider and that is: “teeth and jaws weren’t designed for more than a few minutes of solid chewing per day-far less than the two hours clocked in daily by hardcore gum chewers. All this chewing results in inordinate wear on the jawbone, gum tissue and lower molars, and can change the alignment of the jaws” says Michael Elsohn, D.D.S., in the Medical Tribune.

The Sugar Addiction

Here is a list of health problems associated with eating too much sugar:

• Weak immune system
• Weight gain
• High rate of bad cholesterol
• Heart problems and arthritis
• Tooth decay and gum diseases
• Irritable bowel
• Weakness and fatigue
• Mood swings
• Osteoporosis & weakening of the bones
• Imbalance in the sex
• Preeclampsia
• depression
• mood swings
• irritability
• hyperactivity
• anxiety
• panic attacks
• mineral deficiencies
• adrenal gland depletion
• hypoglycemia
• candida overgrowth
• increased cholesterol levels
• chronic fatigue
• Cancers
• Obesity
• Herat Disease
• Diabetes

To be sure, sugar is needed by the body for energy. However, far too many people are getting too much of a good thing – way too much.

Are there other factors that could contribute to sugar addiction?

There are many other things that can make sugar even harder to get out of your diet.

Artificial sweeteners are a major problem. They fool your body into thinking that it is getting sugar. This can make your body crave the sugar even more. Artificial sweeteners also make it so you do not get used to the less sweeter flavor of natural foods.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), found in many processed foods, has replaced regular sugar in many products. It is six times sweeter than sugar. It does not act the same way as regular sugar in the body. HFCS does not stimulate insulin production, it is processed more like fat in the body. Some experts believe that it actually converts to fat faster and easier than regular sugar. It also could contribute to sugar cravings because if its super sweet flavor.

Alcohol consumption can contribute to sugar cravings. Many former alcoholics have intense sugar cravings because sugar acts very similar to alcohol in the body.

White flour, white potatoes, and white rice all convert to sugar in the body. These will all cause the high rise of insulin and the drop in blood sugar that leads to craving.

Why is sugar so addictive?

All humans are predisposed to want sugar. Back when humans were hunting and gathering, sweet was a way to know things were safe to eat. Bitter told us to stay away. Even people who say they have a "salt tooth"- it really is a sweet tooth in disguise. They crave things like potato chips, pretzels and crackers. These foods cause the same reaction as sugar in the body because they are refine carbohydrates.

When you eat allot of sugar your body over produces the hormone; insulin. The insulin reacts with the sugar causing blood sugar to drop. When your blood sugar drops, you crave more sugar. This is the cycle of sugar addiction.

The high cost of high-normal blood sugar

Normal blood sugar ranges from 60 to 90 milligrams of glucose per 100 milliliters of blood (mg/dl) before a meal.

High-normal blood sugar is defined as 100 to 125 mg/dl (full-blown type 2 diabetes is diagnosed at 126 mg/dl and above).

Without a blood sugar test, it's impossible to know whether your blood sugar falls within a normal range. And because elevated blood sugar typically does its damage silently, it's easy to brush off what few symptoms there are, like fatigue and mood swings.

Effect of sugar on neurological process

One of the keys to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, and this compound is found in many vegetables. When sugar is consumed, the bacteria in the intestines, which manufacture B vitamin complexes, begin to die-these bacteria normally thrive in a symbiotic relationship with the human body. When the B vitamin complex level declines, the glutamic acid (normally transformed into “go” “no-go” directive neural enzymes by the B vitamins) is not processed and sleepiness occurs, as well as a decreased ability for short-term memory function and numerical calculative abilities.

The removal of B vitamins when foods are “processed” makes the situation even more tenuous.

Sugar

“The first sweetened cup of hot tea to be drunk by an English worker was a significant historical event, because it prefigured the transformation of an entire society, a total remaking of its economic and social basis. We must struggle to understand fully the consequences of that and kindred events for upon them was erected an entirely different conception of the relationship between producers and consumers, of the meaning of work, of the definition of self, of the nature of things.”— Sydney Mintz, Sweetness and Power, quoted by Richard H. Robbins, in Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, (Allyn and Bacon, 1999), p.208.

The consumption of sugar and its history gives a great insight into various inter-related issues, such as economics, human rights, slavery, environmental issues, health, consumerism issues and so on. We also see a hint at the “hidden costs” and impacts to society.