A sugary diet does not always lead to weight gain, but can cause serious health problems, such as heart diseases. It has been noted that the average American eats 10% of added sugar in his/her everyday diet. Moreover, it will be surprising to note that only one out of 10 people suffer from weight gain problem due to it. Nevertheless, to say, the rest are prone to life-threatening health problems. What is more shocking is that there is no specific age or sex orientation to it.
The primary beverages containing highest added sugar are sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks. Another source is fruit drinks, ice cream, cookies, pastries, candies, etc. Added sugar related problems are many. To start, the primary ones are weight gain and tooth cavities.
Secondly, sugar is considered as empty calorie, which means that it does not have any supplementary nutrient such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc. As a result, too much of added sugar consumption could cause lack of nutritious intake of an individual.
One might argue that added sugar if had with regular nutritious and healthy diet cannot be a problem. However, that is not true. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, an individual who balances healthy food with added sugar is prone to heart diseases and obesity.
Doctors also observe that added sugar beverages increases blood pressure levels. Moreover, due to lack of digestion the liver gives out harmful fats that mix with the blood. This increases the risk of heart diseases. It has been observed that females consume not more than 100 calories of added sugar every day, whereas males consumer not more than 150 calories per day.
Talking about soda drinks, they contain nine teaspoons of added sugar per 12-ounce of the drink. Hence, having a can of aerated soda drink can cause a long-term heart problem.
However, a sweet tooth person might always ask, are we not supposed to have anything that is sweet? Well that is not true. You can always have a fruit based dessert. It will surely help you add some nutrients to your body and garner to your sweet cravings. Soda habits, however, need to be kept at bay to some extent.
Summary:
Anything that we have in excess can be problematic to the body and mind. Having major proportion of added sugar food or drinks can be dangerous in the long run.