Sugar Addiction and Your Heart

Posted by: Tampa Cardio

On: December 17, 2019

sugar and your heart health tampa cardio

Sugar targets the pleasure center in the brain. It is highly addictive and hazardous to your health when not eaten in moderation. Not much was known in regard to the dangers of sugar until many years after it had become a common household staple. The harmful effects of a diet high in sugar are becoming more publicly known, many are still unaware.

How Your Sweet Tooth Could Be Damaging Your Health

  1. Sugar can lead to heart disease. Heart disease is still the top cause of death worldwide. Recent studies show that a high sugar diet could be a major contributing factor. Elevated levels of fructose can raise your insulin and blood glucose, as well as lead to obesity.
  2. Sugar can add to depression. Sugar contributes to your overall mental and cognitive health and may offer one explanation as to why you feel so drained shortly after eating something sugary. It has been linked to anxiety and memory lapses later in life.
  3. Sugar is bad for your teeth. The obvious statement of the bunch,  sugar sticks to your teeth and feeds the bacteria. Over time, teeth can decay as a result causing cavities.
  4. Sugar adds to weight gain. If you eat a lot of sugar, you are going to have a higher risk of being overweight.
  5. Sugar is harmful to your liver. Excessive sugar consumption will have a similar effect on the liver as if you were an alcoholic. This is because sugar, which turns into fat, becomes lodged in the liver. That can develop into non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
  6. Sugar feeds cancer cells. Numerous studies have shown that there is a connection between sugar consumption and cancer. Sugar consumption creates elevated insulin levels so the body can’t properly regulate the abnormal growth and multiplication of unwanted cells potentially leading to cancer or feeding already existing cancerous cells.
  7. Sugar can cause type II diabetes. Excess sugar can result in insulin resistance, which in turn can result in a highly toxic excess of glucose in the blood. This can cause a number of conditions to develop, perhaps the worst of which is type II diabetes.
  8. Sugar is extremely addictive. Sugar attaches to the same pleasure centers in the brain that result from doing street drugs and opiates. It is equally as addictive. It may be hard for people to practice moderation when it comes to junk food, and when trying to quit, they may experience withdrawal symptoms.

For further guidance and diet advice that you can trust, make an appointment with the onsite nutritionist available at Tampa Cardiovascular Associates by calling (813) 975-2800. Our physicians dedicated to keeping your heart health at its best. We’ll do anything we can to help you improve your everyday quality of life through important lifestyle choices. Visit www.tampacardio.com to learn more about our practice.

Posted by: Tampa Cardio

On: 17/12/2019

Leave a Reply