I’m not going to sugar coat the deadly effects of sugar. Sugar is directly and indirectly linked to deaths associated with diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Sugar itself isn’t bad, but rather how it’s consumed. Sugar lights up the same pleasure center in our brain as heroin. In our more primitive days, sugar was meant to provide a boost of energy so we could run over and kill that thing and then live off of the meat and fat of that animal for days. The problem is that our brains are hard wired and will never change. We will always have the same reaction to sugar because it’s part of our survival mechanism. The problem is that the food sources have changed. Instead of eating an apple, we drink apple juice which has 10 times more sugar. And, because sugar is 8 times more addicting than heroin, it’s no wonder that we over consume sugar to level that it has become a deadly toxin.
The food industry is well aware of our brain chemistry and so has created a “bliss point” for all processed foods. The bliss point is the maximum amount of sugar added to all processed foods so we will crave these foods even when we’re not hungry. The food industry has been so effective at manipulating our food that Americans now consume, on average, 22 tsp of sugar per day. That is 130 pounds of sugar per year! It is now estimated that 17% of total calorie intake for adults is from sugar and 14% of total calorie intake for children. If we look at the trend of sugar consumption throughout history, an average person in 1700 consumed 4 pounds of sugar per year, 18 pounds in 1800, 90 pounds in 1900 and now 130 pounds in 2000. Each century brings increasing amounts of sugar consumption and also diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
It is estimated that 30-40% of healthcare expenditures in the US address medical illnesses that are closely tied to excess sugar intake. If the US spends approximately 3 trillion dollars per year on healthcare, then we can assume that 1 trillion dollars is spent on medical illnesses either directly or indirectly caused by excess intake of sugar. Some states have implemented taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., to help cover the costs associated with sugar.
The Toxic Effects of Sugar
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic Syndrome is a syndrome characterized by elevated triglycerides, low HDL, expanding waistline, high blood pressure and hyperglycemia (high glucose levels in the blood). Metabolic syndrome starts with insulin resistance (IR). IR is caused by overconsumption of sugar and the pancreas and liver are unable to keep up with the sugar load. The American Heart Association estimates that 47 million Americans have metabolic syndrome. That’s almost one out of every six people. In an analysis of 37 studies, the risk of having a heart attack or dying of cardiovascular disease was 78 percent higher for people with metabolic syndrome than for those without the syndrome.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes is directly caused by excess sugar intake which in turn leads to Insulin resistance (IR). Insulin resistance is the underlying dysfunction that then leads to Type 2 diabetes. When too much sugar is consumed, the pancreas continues to release insulin. Insulin is a hormone that drives glucose into the cells so it can be used as energy. When the cells cannot accept any more glucose, they ignore the insulin and so the glucose stays in the bloodstream. This leads to hyperglycemia. Diabetes is diagnosed when the fasting glucose is greater than 125 mg/dL.
Increased risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
Since 1920, cardiovascular disease has been the number 1 killer of Americans. The American Heart Association estimates that by 2035, close to 50% of the population will have cardiovascular disease. In 2016, cardiovascular disease cost America $555 billion. By 2035, the cost will skyrocket to $1.1 trillion. According to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who consumed between 17 and 21 percent of their calories from added sugar had a 38 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease, compared to those who consumed 8 percent or less of their calories from added sugar.
Fatty Liver
Table sugar is 50% fructose 50% glucose while High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is 55% fructose and 45 % glucose. Fructose is processed by the liver. The liver can handle the small amounts of fructose found in fiber rich fruit but not from the large amounts in sugar rich beverages like soda and fruit juice. Fructose in large quantities has the same effects on the liver as alcohol. Excessive amounts of fructose leads to Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). This is when fat infiltrates the liver cells. When this happens, the liver can’t perform its regular functions as effectively and this affects the rest of the body. Too much fat in the liver causes it to become inflamed – also known as Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). Since 1980, there have been an increasing number of cases of NAFLD and NASH. 31% of American adults and 13% of children have NAFLD. 25% of NASH patients will eventually develop cirrhosis. NASH is now the third leading cause for liver transplantation in America. This is almost entirely due to diet. The average cost of a liver transplant in the US is $330,000.
Increased Risk of Cancer
Sugar is the food of all cells, including cancer cells. Cancer cells consume 10-12 times more glucose than regular cells. In addition, they metabolize sugar differently than regular cells leading to an acidic environment in which cancer cells thrive. Sugar also increases the risk of cancer indirectly by increasing rates of obesity. Obesity is known risk factor for cancer. More than 100,000 cases of cancer each year are due to obesity including breast, colon and esophageal cancers. Sugar can also affect cancer rates due to its suppressive effects on the immune system. Our immune system is one of our main defenses against cancer. One study showed a 44% suppression of the immune system 2 hours after eating sugar. The immune function didn’t recover for 5 hours. In fact, the amount of sugar and how frequently it is ingested both affect the immune system.
Cognitive Decline
A longitudinal study, published January 2018 in the journal Diabetologia, followed 5,189 people over 10 years and found that people with high blood sugar had a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar. The study also showed that the higher the blood sugar, the faster the cognitive decline. In 2012, Rosebud Roberts, a professor of epidemiology and neurology at the Mayo Clinic divided nearly 1,000 people into four groups based on the amount of their diet came from carbohydrates. The group that ate the most carbs had an 80 percent higher chance of developing mild cognitive impairment.
Cavities
General Dentistry found that years of diet soda drinking does similar damage to one’s teeth as years of meth or cocaine smoking. The acid wears down a person’s enamel and consequently increases that individual’s chances of getting cavities, developing cracks, discoloring, and sensitivity.
What about artificial sweeteners?
Artificial sweeteners were introduced to the market in the 1950s. There are 2 concerns for artificial sweeteners. First, they desensitize the taste buds to the taste of sugar. This means that people need more sugar in their foods to appreciate the sweet taste. Secondly, when the taste buds are activated by a sweet taste, be it real or artificial, the body prepares for a glucose load. However, if you repeatedly stimulate the sweet taste buds and not deliver glucose, the body will slowly decrease the anticipatory response to the sugar load. Unfortunately, much like crying wolf, when you do eat real sugar, the body doesn’t respond as it should leaving glucose in the bloodstream longer than usual. The results of a 2017 randomized trial suggested artificial sweeteners may increase BMI, weight, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, although more information is needed to be conclusive. In another study, daily consumption of diet soda was associated with a 36% greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome and a 67% greater incidence of type 2 diabetes. There is also growing evidence that artificial sweeteners increase insulin resistance by altering the makeup of the microbiome (micro-organisms living in our gut).