Harm of sugar. How harmful is the sweet?

Harm of sugar - does it really exist? What kinds of sugar are there? The harm of what type of sugar is considered to be the strongest, and what is "white death"? How is the harm of sugar manifested in relation to the cardiovascular system? How does sugar break blood circulation and lead to a heart attack or stroke? How does sugar lead to diabetes of the first and second type? What is lipogenesis? Why excessive consumption of sugar leads to obesity? Why dependence on sugar can contribute to the emergence of dependence on real drugs?

Harm of sugar. Refined sugar - "white death"!

Talking about the harm that sugar can cause to the body, we immediately determine what we will mean, because the household and chemical, or rather, biochemical concepts of the term "sugar" differ from each other. What in life we ​​call sugar is chemically a carbohydrate called sucrose, which refers to the so-called disaccharides. In addition, there are monosaccharides - lactose (which is found in dairy products, so-called milk sugar), fructose (which is found in almost all sweet fruits and berries, and sometimes used as food in the form of dietary sugar) and glucose (the so-called grape sugar ). There are polysaccharides, for example, fiber and starch.

Basically, we will go further on namely sucrose - refined, i.e. purified from additives product obtained from sugar beet or sugar cane. The harm of sugar in the refined form is considered to be the strongest and has long been discussed by medical professionals, in addition, even got the name "white death". Is this name justified and what is particularly harmful to sugar?

Harm of sugar. Diabetes, heart attack, stroke.

Carbohydrates in the body perform basically an energy function. Rapidly splitting, they deliver energy to needy cells. Therefore, in the sense of a rapid replenishment of energy reserves, when there is a shortage in the body, sugars have no equal. In order to get into the cells from the blood, there is a special "carrier" - the hormone insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. However, in our life there are often enough situations where the harm of sugar can be very palpable. These are situations where we absorb excess food energy, not only with sugar, but also with proteins and fats, and these resources exceed the body's needs. In this case, excess sugar, not needed by the cells, remains circulating in the blood, maintaining a consistently high level of insulin in it. If we eat often and a lot of sweet, the cells can stop reacting to blood insulin, as if "getting used" to its high level. This is how the disease develops - type 2 diabetes.

The harm of sugar can manifest itself differently, namely, that a constantly high level of insulin in the blood will lead to a decrease in its production by the pancreas. All our endocrine organs are arranged in such a way that if there is a lot of hormone, for example, we take it as medicines, then our "native" hormone ceases to be produced. And then the true insufficiency of insulin comes - the first type of diabetes. Although I must say that more often it occurs when the gland is damaged, her injury or inflammation.

When is sugar harmful? With a constantly high level of glucose in the blood (and sucrose is split into glucose), the walls of the blood vessels, arteries, are damaged. The damaged wall serves as a "target" for the formation of an atherosclerotic plaque - in the thickness of the wall cholesterol begins to be deposited. For this, he does not even need to be promoted, well, and if he is promoted - the more so. Soon, it begins to protrude into the lumen of the vessel, is covered with a "cap" of calcium - a plaque is formed that interferes with the blood flow. This condition is called atherosclerosis, and is clinically manifested in diseases such as angina, circulatory disorders in the brain, extremities, which often results in a heart attack or stroke.

Harm of sugar. Drug dependence on sugar leads to obesity.

Not so long ago it was found that sugar causes a kind of addiction, as it mobilizes in the brain from the depot a neurotransmitter serotonin, one of the so-called hormones of happiness. This substance plays the role of a kind of antidepressant, increases the overall background of a positive mood. And since it is pleasant, a person tends to the next, more frequent reception of sweet. There is a pathological "narcotic chain", characteristic for the process of getting used to any drugs. Those. people eat sweet, the mood improves, then the sweet effect passes, the mood worsens, and the person again eats the sweet in order to cheer up the mood. That's why there are people who literally can not live a day without a sweet. And that's why many people literally "seize sorrow and stress" with sweet foods. Well, the harm of sugar, caused by the regular consumption of a large amount of sweet, leads to the problems already considered, which are manifested in the form of diabetes, a heart attack or stroke and the obesity considered further.

Harm of sugar can manifest itself in obesity. Sugar is very caloric, 100 grams of sugar give more than 400 kilocalories of energy. Only a small part of it is spent by the cell, because usually we lead a passive lifestyle, we move a little and a lot of calories we do not need. Therefore, under the influence of the same insulin, unused sugar "turns" into fat - this process is called lipogenesis - and the fat itself is deposited under the skin and in the abdominal cavity, which is extremely harmful to health, both from the point of accumulation in the body of excess fat, and harm , caused by excess weight of the cardiovascular and other body systems.

In addition, the harm of sugar can manifest itself not only in the fact that sugar itself turns into fat and leads to obesity, but also that sugar is already consumed with fat, which further contributes to its accumulation. The harm of sugar, which manifests itself in its pure form, for example, in sweet tea, is inferior to the harmful effects of sugar, taken together with fat, for example, in the form of cake or chocolate. Since the energy needed for a cell is quicker and easier to obtain directly from sugar, the fat itself is completely deposited in the subcutaneous tissue or internal organs, opening the way, as already mentioned, to a number of diseases and pathological conditions.

But overweight - this is not all that can wait for "sweet tooth". It has been found that excessive sugar intake, including the "narcotic chain" described above, leads some people to desire to enhance the effect. This is a very original harm to sugar. It turned out that people, especially teenagers, who love sweets, are more prone to dependence on real drugs and various addictions in general. Such people, against the background of constant "sugar positive emotions," have all kinds of desires to expand the range of pleasures. Therefore, for such special lovers of sweet there is an increased risk of drug addiction.

Be reasonable and do not eat much sweet. Know the measure! Remember also that the harm of sugar is manifested in relation to the enamel of the teeth. If after the reception of sweet food the teeth are not cleaned of sugar residues, then the fermentation process begins, leading to damage to the enamel in the form of caries. Although the development of this process involves not only sugar, its frequent use greatly accelerates the development of carious damage to the teeth.