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As a nation, we’ve got a problem with sugar. Our damaging relationship with the sweet stuff is the impetus behind the creation of SugarScience, a new website from researchers at University of California San Francisco. Thanks to their extensive analysis of more than 8,000 papers about the health-wrecking properties of too much sugar, they’ve gathered compelling evidence about just how harmful sugar can actually be. Read on for the jaw-dropping facts.
Liquid Sugar Is Wreaking Havoc On Americans' Diets
Desserts aren't the only culprit! Sugar in a liquid form via beverages like sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks is the largest single source of added sugar in Americans’ diets, according to the USDA. It comprises 36% of the added sugar Americans take in. Think about how much easier it is to overdo it with an energy drink than it is to do the same with a bowl of ice cream, and you’ll start to realize how this works. Science even says so: It's hard to feel as full from a high-calorie drink as it is from chowing down on the same amount of calories, according to research in Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
Soda Is Straight-Up Terrible
Time to kick that cola habit to the curb: Chugging one can of soda per day can increase your risk of dying from heart disease by almost one-third, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Even worse, a study in Current Diabetes Reports showed that, compared to drinking sugary beverages like soda less than once a month, indulging one to two times per day results in a 26% higher chance of struggling with type 2 diabetes.
Your Liver Might Suffer
Fructose, an increasingly popular type of sugar, can harm the liver much like alcohol, according to research in Journal of Hepatology Nature. Fructose is what makes fruit taste so delicious, and as you know, sugar in fruit is a-okay since it’s naturally occurring. The problem is when fructose is manipulated: manufacturers take it from corn, beets, and sugarcane. Much like grain when it undergoes the refining process, fructose loses fiber and nutrients that help your body handle it properly—so it taxes the liver. Specifically, scientists are starting to link fructose consumption to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (too much fat build-up) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (liver scarring, inflammation, and fat build-up).
There Are At Least 61 Different Names for Sugar
From sucrose, which is table sugar, to high-fructose corn syrup, which is liquid sugar, food producers have come up with a plethora of ways to list this nutrient on labels. This makes it even easier to skim over a long ingredient name in a shopping hurry and inadvertently take in more sugar than you meant to. Check out an extensive list of the names for sugar.
"Sugar Belly" May Lead to Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is an umbrella term for chronic issues like heart disease, diabetes, and liver disease. High blood sugar is one of the five risk factors, according to research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. That's because it can affect organs like the pancreas and liver, leading to screwed-up blood-sugar regulation. One of the biggest signs of metabolic syndrome, according to SugarScience, is the apple body shape known as "sugar belly." If you or a family member have a waist measurement that's larger than that of your hips, that can be a sign you should monitor your health more closely so as to ward off problems in the future. (Read more about what sugar does to your body.)
Women Consume Triple the Recommended Limit Per Day
The American Heart Association suggests no more than six teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day for women. That backs up the World Health Organization's recommendation that adults get less than 10% of their daily calories from added sugar or natural sugar present in honey, syrup, or fruit juice. Ideally, they say less than 5% of your diet should come from the sweet stuff—and that comes out to 25 grams for a 2,000 calorie diet. At the same time, the average American takes in a whopping 19.5 teaspoons (82 grams) every single day, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It Can Cause Major Cravings
Eating sugar might lead to just wanting more of it down the line. Sugar can affect the brain much like cocaine and alcohol, according to a brain-scan study from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Those changes, in turn, can lead to more cravings for sugar. There's the good kind of cycle that follows the word "Soul," then there's the bad kind that turns into an endless loop of sugar cravings. Thankfully, there are ways to wean your brain off and train it to go gaga for the healthy stuff.
Added Sugar Is Hiding in Plain Sight
You'd think you can reduce your sugar intake by just saying no to cookies and ice cream, right? Wrong. Added sugar is present in 74% of packaged foods in supermarkets, says a report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It's an ingredient in things that don’t seem sweet, like bread and pasta sauce. Since you don't expect them to have sugar, you might miss out on the sky-high levels on the labels.
Too Much Sugar Is Potentially Linked to Tons of Diseases
New studies are showing possible links between too much added sugar and various diseases beyond the ones covered in metabolic syndrome. Although none of them are confirmed, the research is mounting. Overconsumption of sugars and refined carbs might raise the risk of certain cancers and bring about higher rates of recurrence and lower rates of survival after therapy, according to research in the New England Journal of Medicine, Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology, and The Journal of Physiology. It’'s also potentially connected to Alzheimer's disease, per a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. If that isn't enough to convince you, there might be an association between how much sugar you eat and how quickly your skin ages (think: wrinkles!), says research in The Journal of Physiology, Clinics in Dermatology, and Physiological Research / Academia Scientiarum Bohemoslovaca.
MORE: Sneaky Sources of Sugar