Inflammation: Does Sugar Contribute to it?
Inflammation can be super helpful in some situations. For instance, acute inflammation can help your body protect and heal itself when you get sick or injured. When inflammation is chronic and long-term, it’s another story. Lots of factors that can play a part in this type of inflammation but one of the biggest culprits is sugar.
Eating a ton of sugar every day can lead to low-grade inflammation in your body. This might not sound so bad. But this type of inflammation is commonly linked with health problems and obesity.
Refined and processed added sugars that contribute to this — not the natural sugars that you’ll find in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, for example. Processed foods contain refined or processed sugars. It’s not just about the sugar you add yourself.
Let’s talk about why sugar can be such a super common factor in inflammation and the effects this can have on your body.
Link between Sugar and Inflammation
According to the results of several studies, there’s a super strong link between added sugars and inflammation. The more sugar you consume, the higher you can expect your inflammatory markers to be.
In a small-scale study, drinking 40g of added sugar in a can of soda every day for 6 months increased the amount of uric acid in the body, especially for people who were already overweight. This is super important since high amounts of uric acid lead to crystals forming in the joints and tendons and high-level inflammation.
Sugary drinks are a super common culprit for inflammation, and this can happen very quickly. According to one study, drinking 50g of fructose spikes levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker, in just 30 minutes. This might sound like a ton of fructose but a lot of us consume this (and more!) on an average day.
Studies have also suggested that cutting back on sugary foods and drinks can decrease levels of inflammatory markers. This is very crucial, as it indicates that you can reduce inflammation and improve your health if your diet isn’t loaded with added sugars.
So, what does sugar actually do to your body to encourage inflammation to develop? Here are a few of the things that can happen if your diet is full of refined/processed sugars. Especially if your diet is unhealthy in other ways.
High LDL Cholesterol and Heart Disease
According to some studies, sugary drinks are strongly linked to higher levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol. This causes high LDL cholesterol levels. So what does this mean? When this bad cholesterol level is chronic one would be looking at dealing with heart disease from plaque buildup in the arteries. If you have a buildup of cholesterol-rich plaque inside your arteries, that puts you at risk for heart attack and stroke. Addressing inflammation is vital and important to your wellbeing. So what can you do? With chronic high levels of LDL cholesterol you may have to go on statins, a medication to lower your bad cholesterol. Working with your doctor can help you address this. It is important to work with a doctor who supports and encourages you in practicing a healthy lifestyle and mindfulness. If you are a smoker, that means throw those cigarettes out. Other things to consider would be getting more exercise and eat more vegetables. Your doctor may even recommend having a health coach work with you if you are having difficulty with lifestyle and food habit changes
Some studies have shown a link between high sugar intake and a greater risk of developing heart disease. Especially for sugary drinks. A study of 75,000 women found that a sugar and carb-heavy diet raised the risk of heart disease. This was probably due to the effects on cardiovascular health, insulin resistance, and inflammatory markers.
Permeability of Intestinal Walls
Eating a ton of sugar may affect the permeability of the intestinal walls. This means that undigested food particles, toxins, and bacteria can pass through into the bloodstream. When this occurs, they are seen as foreign invaders. The end result? Inflammation can be a whole heap more likely. Fructose is a super common culprit for a “leaky” gut. This condition is often leads to an immune system reaction. The best approach to this is eating clean foods. That means it would be a good idea to eat nutritious, unprocessed foods. Another words avoid foods that can trigger inflammation. If you are having excessive gas, bloating, discomfort or other digestive issues (triggers) this is a sign that something is not right. Clean nutritious foods can help your gut lining heal.
Glycation End Products
When protein and fat mix with sugar our body produces glycation end products (AGEs). This is also known as glycotoxins. Commonly seen in diabetes. The process occurs in our bloodstream. If there are too many AGEs in your body, oxidative stress and inflammation are more likely to happen. Certain types of foods are high in glycation end products. The key is to select foods that reduce the formation of advanced glycation end products.
Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
Refined sugars are a major culprit in weight gain and obesity. This will increase inflammation levels in the body. Sugar and artificial sweeteners are also super likely to stop you feeling full. Even if you’re eating a ton of food (and consuming a whole lot of calories!). This can lead to overeating and weight gain. Unfortunately, chronic over eating and weight gain can lead to diabetes. Inflammation that is a constant state of existence in the body causes insulin resistance. The key is to manage over eating. This will help reduce inflammation. In addition, swapping out diary, gluten and sugar with healthy foods such as unsweetened almond milk, fruit, vegetables can reduce inflammation. Portion control is also important.
Eating lots of sugar can make you more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. According to one study, having one sugary drink per day can raise your risk factor by almost 20%.
Increased Cancer Risks
Studies on mice have shown that eating excess sugar may increase the risk of developing some types of cancer. Mice fed a lot of sugar went on to develop breast cancer. In humans, one study has suggested a potential link between high-sugar diets and colon cancer. To determine this case, more research needs to be performed. However, inflammation from a sugar-rich diet may play a big part in in contributing to cancer risks.
We have just explored how sugar has such an impact on our body. By creating inflammation. Dealing with chronic inflammation can also affect our energy levels, mood and immunity. So by making a few changes in your daily habits, you can drastically lower your body’s inflammation level. You might even enjoy those healthier habits. It sure beats feeling poorly with symptoms that we can develop over time if we don’t listen to our body.