Party McFarty asked:


I’ve always liked lots of sugar in my coffee, in my tea. Would this cause certain health problems when I get older, if so, what would they be?

vincentv247
December 6th, 2009

Be sure you make a distinction between sugar from fructose (”bad”) and glucose (”good”). Humans are anatomically and physiologically designed to seek and consume sugar. The tip of our tongue tastes with pleasure only one calorie-containing substance, sugar (carbohydrate). Some tissues of our body, such as red blood cells and kidney cells (glomeruli cells) will only burn carbohydrates.

Under experimental laboratory conditions, however, where people are overfed large amounts of simple sugars, the human body will resort to converting a small amount of sugar into a small amount of fat (triglycerides) in the liver.

Yet other studies comparing sugar intake with risk of developing type-2 diabetes show people on high sugar diets are less likely to get diabetes. There is, however, a strong relationship between red meat consumption and diabetes… The lowest rates of diabetes in the world are found among populations that consume the most carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, refined sugars actually make the body’s insulin work more efficiently though large quantities do cause a spike in insulin production. Sugar is rarely eaten alone, but rather in combinations with fat as single foods, like cake, ice cream, pies and candy bars, or a combination of foods, like the standard American diet which is about half fat and half sugar. The sugar spikes insulin production, pushing the readily available fat from the spoonful of dessert right into the belly fat.

There can be some real drawbacks and health hazards caused by consuming simple sugars, especially for those in poor health. It’s generally best to eat only complex and unprocessed sugars. As the carbohydrate becomes more purified through refining, weight control becomes less efficient. Also, the more sugar is consumed, and the more often it is consumed between meals, the more likely the teeth will decay. Pure sugars have been stripped of all their nutrients, except for the simple carbohydrate—thus they are called “empty calories.” To metabolize the sugar, nutrients stored in the body or from other foods must be scavenged—in this sense “sugar robs your body of vitamins and minerals.

Hope this helps!

Joey
December 7th, 2009

Loose teeth