Eating too much sugar can be addictive.

Sweet ice cream bars or cold soft drinks... are very attractive to all ages in the hot, stuffy weather of summer. But hidden behind the appeal of sweetness are health risks that not everyone knows.

According to the World Health Organization, an adult with a normal body mass index (BMI) should not consume more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. Eating too much sugar can cause problems for the body.

Whole body fatigue

If you eat a lot of sugar, you will feel sluggish all the time or always feel hungry and thirsty. Explaining this phenomenon, nutritionist Kristen F. Gradney - Institute of Nutrition and Diet (USA) said, if you eat simple sugars, you will feel hungry and tired because you cannot get enough other nutrients to maintain energy, such as protein and fiber.

Sugar causes skin aging.

Addictive

Your brain reacts to sugar in a similar way to cocaine. Sugar increases feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. Your body then craves more and more sugar to make you feel better the next time you eat it. So every time you eat sugar, you want more.

Weight gain

Science has long known a simple formula: excess sugar equals excess calories. Foods that are high in sugar but low in protein and fiber, so you tend to eat more before you feel full.

“If you only eat sugar, you will gain weight but still feel hungry,” says Gradney. She adds that you can easily gain half a kilo in a week if you eat one candy bar and one 600ml can of soda a day, enough for an extra 500 calories.

Have diabetes

A high-sugar diet is a major contributor to obesity in more than one-third of Americans. When you are overweight or obese, your cells can become resistant to insulin, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Fatty liver and liver failure

The liver plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism by removing excess glucose from the blood and storing it for later use. As such, the liver also regulates blood sugar levels.

Cells use glucose in the blood to convert it into energy. The liver takes the remaining glucose and stores it as glycogen. When cells need energy, such as between meals, the liver releases glucose into the blood.

But the liver can only store a certain amount of glucose, so the rest is stored as fat. If you exceed this amount, the sugar is converted into fatty acids. And that's when you get fat stored in the liver.

The result is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Sugar is not the only cause, but glycogen stores contribute a lot to this outcome.

Arterial damage

“The pipes eventually get tired. That’s what happens to your blood vessels,” Gradney explains. “It can lead to chronic kidney disease or kidney failure, high blood pressure, and you increase your risk of stroke if you have high blood pressure.” Any organ that has small blood vessels can be damaged, like the kidneys, brain, eyes, heart.

Rapid aging

Sugar affects the skin by breaking down collagen and causing it to age faster. When glucose attaches to proteins in the body, the proteins found in connective tissue responsible for keeping the skin smooth make it difficult for these proteins to repair, leading to wrinkles. So, in addition to complex anti-aging measures, you can look younger simply by cutting down on sugar.

According to SK&DS