IS THERE A CORRELATION BETWEEN SUGAR AND HEART DISEASE?!

Watching a news program recently and reading more online, I discovered some disturbing facts. Some is old news, however, some is brand new to me. Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet - what else is new?! Sugar has harmful effects on our metabolism, is filled with a lot of empty calories, bad for our teeth, and overloads the liver, causing all sorts of serious health problems. The most surprising statistic I read, sugar, Not fat, may be one of the leading drivers of heart disease!

I am not a scientist, but I like to be health conscious and found this fascinating. Please bare with me with a few details. Healthy, active people can tolerate more sugar than people who are inactive, and primarily eat a high-carb, high-calorie diet. All sugars are basically the same. Sugars create insulin, lead to fat storage, and slow metabolism. These large amounts of added sugars get turned into fat in the liver. This fatty liver can lead to Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), a growing problem in Western countries. When fructose gets turned into fat in the liver, not all of the fat gets out. Some of the fat gets lodged in the liver which leads to NAFLD.

About the liver. First, what is sugar made of? Before it enters the bloodstream from the digestive track, it is broken down into 2 simple sugars - glucose and fructose. Glucose is in all living cells. If we don't get it from our diet, our bodies produce it. Fructose is different, our bodies don't produce it, and we don't need it. It can only be metabolized by the liver in significant amounts. This is not a problem if we eat a little (perhaps from fruit), or if we just exercised. When we repeatedly eat large amounts of sugar, it can lead to fatty liver, and other serious health concerns. It is almost impossible to overeat fructose by eating fruit - good news!

There is also a correlation between a diet high in sugar and cancer. Very disturbing. Insulin is one of the key hormones in regulating the uncontrolled growth in cancer cells. For this reason, there is considerable evidence that sugar, due to its harmful effects on metabolism, can contribute to cancer. We all know sugar is very addictive. Sugar and many junk foods, cause a huge release of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter released by the brain that plays different roles in humans, and animals. Such as: memory, pleasure, behavior, sleep, and mood. Dopamine is a fascinating read and I suggest you look it up to learn more.

Like abusive drugs, sugar causes a release of dopamine in the reward center of the brain - hence, we run to it to improve our mood, etc. Everyone knows sugar is a leading contributor to obesity. But new studies show it isn't only the fat that raises cholesterol and gives us heart disease.

There is a lot of conflicting news out there, and doctors often disagree. I read and re-read my posts and try hard to be accurate. Please take this information as an introduction that I hope will pique your interest to learn more. Thank you!

Good night and God Bless!    Aleta