1. Your brain
Glucose, in the form of sugar, is the primary source of energy for every cell in your body, and because your brain is particularly rich in nerve cells, it’s your most demanding organ. But while it needs glucose, too much can be a bad thing. Studies suggest a diet high in added sugar can lower production of a brain chemical known as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), without which your brain can’t form new memories properly and you can’t learn or remember as much.
Too much sugar can also affect your mood: downing a sugar-sweetened drink will give you a quick rush of energy by rapidly raising your blood sugar levels, but when these drop again, you can feel low and jittery. If you constantly reach for sweetened things to counter this, you risk worse: studies have linked high sugar consumption with an increased risk of anxiety and depression.
2. Your bodyweight
South Africans are among the most overweight in people Africa, with more than one in three women and one in 10 men overweight, raising our risk for ills from diabetes to coronary heart disease and kidney failure, reports Aviva Tugendhaft, senior researcher in the PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons for System Strengthening) unit at the Wits School of Public Health. Obesity has been linked to too much sugar (among other things).
The Food-Based Dietary Guidelines for South Africa state: “Use sugar and foods and drinks high in sugar sparingly”. And the World Health Organization advocates getting no more than 5 to 10% of your total energy intake each day from ‘free sugar’ (the type you add, against the kind occurring naturally in produce). That’s around 25 to 50g, or just 6 to 12 teaspoons: about half our current national average.
3. Your teeth
If you don’t brush and floss regularly, the bacteria that cause cavities will feast on sugar lingering in your mouth after your consume something sweet. The bacteria then forms a sticky film (dental plaque). “Left for 24 hours, the bacteria secrete acids when exposed to sugars, producing cavities, and invade gum tissue, causing inflammation and eventually loosening teeth,” says Durban dental hygienist Kesh Naicker. What’s more, when your gums get inflamed, the inflammation enters your bloodstream where it can inflame your blood vessels, putting you at risk of cardiovascular disease.
4. Your heart
According to a major study, getting more than a quarter of your daily calories from added sugar can more than double your risk of dying from heart disease, compared to someone getting less than half that. While the reasons aren’t entirely clear, it’s thought that too much sugar raises your blood pressure or releases more fats into your blood, which can cause a heart attack, stroke or other heart disease.
5. Pancreas
Sugar-sweetened beverages, especially, can increase your chances of getting Type 2 diabetes. Even ‘vitamin water’ has around 5 to 8 teaspoons of sugar per 300ml, says Gabi Steenkamp, a Cape Town dietitian with a special interest in diabetes. Liquid sugar is quickly absorbed, causing that blood sugar spike, and this leads to the sugar changing into fat in your liver, contributing to the development of diabetes. Because you don’t feel as full as you would with solid food, she says, you also tend to drink more than you may have intended.
6. Kidneys
Sugar may be more to blame for high blood pressure than the usual culprit, salt, according to a review of studies. It’s suggested that through causing your levels of insulin to spike, sugar eventually makes your blood vessels less flexible, and causes your kidneys to retain water and sodium. If you develop diabetes, and this is left uncontrolled, it can damage your kidneys and lead to kidney failure.
7. Skin
Finally, if nothing else gives you pause next time you reach for something sweet, this may: research suggests that too much sugar makes your skin age faster. Excess sugar seems to attach to proteins in your blood, forming molecules known as AGEs (advanced glycation end products), which have been shown to damage the collagen and elastin fibres that keep skin firm and young-looking, and cause sagging and wrinkles.
IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com