increase energy and leads to heightened arousal by increase in sympathetic activity.
So after consuming white sugar, we may notice an increase in heart rates, a slight lifts in blood pressure, increase in respiratory rate and in the entire tone of Autonomic Nervous System.
Since all these changes in body’s biochemistry are not accompanied by corresponding physical activity so as to dissipate this energy which is being produced by increase in sympathetic tone, we feel stressed. This is why sugar is often termed as ‘stress food’
Sugar can cause calcium loss from the body leading to bone decay. Eating sugar changes the calcium/phosphorus ratio in the blood, with the calcium usually going up and phosphorus going down and therefore upsets homeostasis of the body.
This calcium/phosphorus ratio remains disturbed for as long as 48 hours after the ingestion of sugar and therefore people remain out of homeostasis for a long time after eating sugar. Because of disturbance of this ratio, calcium is not fully absorbed by the body.
Calcium and phosphorus work best in the ratio of 2.5 to 1. If calcium is more than 2.5 times the phosphorus, then extra calcium will not be absorbed or utilized by the body and will be excreted in urine or may form hard deposits in soft tissue.
So you can be putting the right amount of calcium into your body, but when eating with sugar, that calcium will not be absorbed efficiently. This is why the calcium of sweetened milk is never absorbed properly and may even induce a calcium deficiency disease called ‘Rickets’.
In fact, sugar for its own metabolism and burning also requires calcium and since it is devoid of any minerals, this calcium is taken out of bones. This loss of calcium from the body will cause weakening of bones and teeth leading sometimes to ‘osteoporoses. Rickets, a calcium deficiency disease, can be attributed partly to intakes of excess white sugar.
Excess sugar affects pancreas and diabetes. The eating of white sugar in large amounts may place a burden on the pancreas which secretes hormone ‘insulin’ to enable the body to use sugar as fuel. Overworking of pancreas due to eating too much sugar will impair its functioning.
Impaired or an injured pancreas will lose the ability to secrete enough insulin thus causing the body to lose its ability to burn sugar. This condition eventually turns into disease called ‘Diabetes’.
Excessive consumption of white sugar and sweets also affects the tooth. This is because of sugar particles which get stuck in the teeth. They encourage the growth of certain bacteria which act upon the sugar and produce an acid which attacks the enamel of teeth.
For instance, Pyrrohea – an inflamed condition of the gums is caused by consumption of large quantities of sugar. Excess of sugar which can’t be stored as glycogen in the body, gets converted into fat in the form of triglycerides and leads to increase in blood triglycerides level, which can clog the arteries if present in excess and may affect the functioning of heart if coronary arteries are involved, sugar also stimulates liver to produce more triglycerides endogenously.
Sugar undergoes no digestion in the mouth and stomach. They are digested in the intestine. If taken alone, they are not held in the stomach for long but are quickly sent into the intestine.
Sugar when eaten with other foods, either protein or starch, is held up in the stomach for a prolonged period awaiting the digestion of other foods and undergoes fermentation. The fermentation of sugar leads to problems like acidity.
Source- Vanguard
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