The Harm of Sugar and Its Effect on Insulin

As a team of passionate health enthusiasts who spent years researching nutrition in and out of labs, K Nutri understands the importance of creating products that contain only the highest quality ingredients. We hope to support you in the pursuit of optimal health and wellness with our impressive line-up of supplements, while providing the advice you need to avoid potentially harmful substances like sugar.

Most of us understand that sugar isn’t the healthiest thing to put into your body. But do you know how bad it is? To help put it in perspective, some studies, including 2014 research published in the American Journal of Public Health, found it may be just as unhealthy as cigarettes.

Some of the harm sugar can cause includes:

Weight gain. This one may be obvious, the results of consuming too much sugar are often clear just by looking in the mirror. But it goes beyond that, leading to many different internal physiological changes that occur simultaneously – and they can be life threatening. Another study, published in the journal Obesity in October 2015, found that eliminating sugar from one’s diet could significantly decrease the chances of developing metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity in just 10 days.

It’s addictive. Binging on sugar causes neurological reactions that are similar to cocaine. Like the drug, it induces a flood of serotonin and dopamine in the brain that makes it addictive, creating a vicious cycle that can be hard to break.

Fatigue. Feeling tired all the time? It might be due to sugar and you may not even realize it if you’re consuming it in products where you might not expect it to be, from canned to frozen foods and all sorts of processed items. Many people don’t really understand how much sugar is too much or how much they’re actually getting in things like spaghetti sauce, premade soups, cereal bars, low-fat yogurts and even canned baked beans. The University of California at San Francisco reports that the average U.S. adult consumes 17 teaspoons of sugar a day or 57 pounds per year, yet the recommended daily amount is a maximum of six teaspoons for women and nine for men. As one 12-ounce soda contains as many as 11 teaspoons, you could easily exceed that with a single beverage.

Cravings. Additionally, sugar can cause cravings that make it difficult to stick to a healthy diet. If you feel hungry all the time or have a very active sweet tooth, there’s a good chance that your diet contains more sugar than it should.

Sugar and Insulin

Insulin is a hormone that the pancreas produces to help sugar move out of the bloodstream and into body cells where it can be used as energy. In other words, when you eat, your body breaks down food into sugar, sending it into the blood. Insulin then helps get the sugar moved from the bloodstream and into the cells where it can be used as fuel for energy immediately or stored and used later. Many people are familiar with the word in relation to diabetes - when you have type 2 diabetes that means that your body isn't making enough insulin, and the insulin that it is producing doesn't work as well as it should.

Insulin rushes from the pancreas, seeking out excess glucose that comes from binging on sugary foods. Once the insulin has depleted that excess glucose, the body experiences a “crash,” which follows the well-known “sugar rush.” Consuming a lot of sugar raises blood sugar levels, and when the body is no longer responding like it should to insulin, such as when one is obese, blood sugar can significantly increase, putting the person at serious risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Your blood sugar level is important – that’s your body's primary source of energy.

With too much sugar over time, the pancreas can’t make enough insulin to maintain the body’s blood sugar at normal levels, which leads to the development of type 2 diabetes. While it most often develops in adults who are middle-aged and older, it can appear in younger people too. All that excess sugar pumping through the body can also damage vital organs by causing circulation to slow and both the arteries and organs to work harder than they should. This serious condition, if left untreated, is known to lead to kidney damage and the need for dialysis, blindness, a higher risk for stroke or heart disease and other consequences.

Avoiding the Harmful Effects Sugar Has on Insulin and Your Body

When it comes to sugar, your best bet is to avoid all added sugar along with sugary drinks like soda and processed foods. Instead use natural alternatives like raw organic honey, but only in moderation. Keep in mind that whole fruits are better than fruit juice which can spike blood sugar levels even if you’re juicing your own fruit. You’ll get all the health benefits without the eventual sugar crash.

As we understand how hard it can be to kick the sugar habit, we avoid all potentially harmful substances, including sugar, when making all our quality products to help ensure your good health.