Does Eating Excess Sugar Cause Diabetes? (4 Health Issues)

Last Updated on July 25, 2021 by Dr Sharon Baisil MD

Sugar is, without a doubt, one of the most dangerous items for almost all health issues. It is especially harmful to conditions related to the metabolism of the body, such as diabetes.

Eating more sugar is one of the factors that give rise to diabetes. However, it is not the sole reason that your body develops trouble in managing blood sugar levels.

Diabetes is directly affected by the way your body functions, metabolism, and immunity. Diabetes is a chronic health disease that impairs the way your body controls its sugar flow into the blood. It is like a dysfunction that usually starts from the pancreas.

Diabetes is caused by factors within your body that are often beyond your control. Type 1 diabetes is caused when your pancreas produces very little or no insulin. Insulin is the major hormone that looks into metabolic functions, including the proper digestion of sugar.

On the other hand, Type 2 diabetes arises when your body cannot utilize the insulin produced in the body efficiently. This leads to improper digestion of carbohydrates, which raises blood sugar levels.

Carbohydrates are the major contributors to rising sugar levels in the body. They are broken down into sugars and glucose to be utilized by the body to produce energy. Now, when it is not broken down well due to insufficient insulin, it can accumulate in the blood flow instead of producing energy.

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate and it can be directly responsible for contributing to spiking blood sugar levels. Thus, diabetic patients or pre-diabetics have to be overly conscious about taking sugar.

Controlling your sugar intake is necessary to make sure that you manage your diabetic blood sugar levels. It must be very obvious that diabetic patients must excessively limit their sugar intake.

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It can be had in low quantities, eliminated, or even replaced by healthy sugar-free options available for diabetic individuals.

What health issues can occur, when you eat excess sugar?

Eating a lot of sugar, of course, affects your blood sugar levels. Although excess sugar is not exactly a reason for diabetes, it is a reason that can fuel the risk of developing or severing diabetes.

Sugars affect all parts of the body, from blood glucose levels to your physical, internal, and oral health.

All your body organs, functions, and levels can be disturbed due to excess consumption of sugar. Too much sugar can lead to adding weight to the body, leading to further complications such as cardiovascular risks, metabolic disturbances, joint issues, etc.

The primary effect on the body’s blood sugar levels due to excess consumption of sugar is that the diabetic causes may worsen. The body’s capacity to produce or react to insulin decreases due to constant unmanaged and high blood glucose levels. This can give rise to either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.

Eating too much sugar can make you gain weight, which is an increasing factor for developing Type 2 diabetes. Excess fructose from sugars can lead to liver fat buildup. These, in turn, cause resistance to insulin functioning that is the main reason for diabetes Type 2.

Apart from just diabetes, taking too much sugar can have several other disadvantages to health. They include:

It can be damaging to the liver. Fructose that gets broken down in the liver turns into fat. This condition, over time, can wound the liver beyond its ability to function as an organ and lead to many health complications and liver diseases.

Too much sugar is also bad for the heart. It impacts the arteries that carry blood. The arteries get stiffer and thicker over time, making it more difficult for the heart to circulate blood. Stress on the heart is responsible for risks of heart strokes, blood pressure, heart failures, etc.

Excess sugar also leads to causing certain negative impacts on the kidney. The kidney functions to filter the blood. When there is too much of sugar in the blood, the kidney releases this sugar out of the body via urine. This is also why diabetic patients urinate frequently. This can be stressful on the kidneys if left unattended and hamper their function to filter blood.

Another problem is that a lot of sugar in the body also causes inflammation that can lead to several different health disturbances. It is quite common for diabetics to experience joint pains, skin issues, premature skin aging, etc., due to the inflammation caused by eating too much sugar.

Apart from this, excess sugar also affects oral health and may lead to unhealthy teeth and gums.

Overall, uncontrolled sugar consumption can be very dangerous and may influence various body parts and functions.

So are there any quick tips to get rid of the sugar from your body to decrease the occurrence of the above health risks?

Well, let us find out.

How can I flush sugar out of my system fast?

How can I flush sugar out of my system fast

So by now, you would be aware that sugar is bad for you and how it can harm your immune system and body. Sweet dishes and sugary goods are, however, very exciting and inviting.

Most of us have a sugar craving frequently, be it chocolates, ice-creams, cakes, or those cookies that are kept hidden from us. As diabetic patients, you might have various ways to fight these cravings.

But what if you consume some extra sugars or want to detoxify sugar from your body? Well, nutritionists have suggested many simple and effective ways to carry out a sugar cleanse.

Let us have a look at how you can flush sugar out of your system fast:

1. Drink water

This is one of the most widely-used tips for keeping the body detoxified from various harmful materials. Water is best for washing away the excess risk factors and removing them from your body.

Drinking around 6 to 8 glasses of water can assist the kidney in filtering out the waste along with this water. However, it is advised not to drink water immediately after or during meals as the water can dilute your stomach acids and cause poor digestion.

2. Control your dietary habits

This is rather a wide subject, but one that is already known to diabetic patients.

You must be including more complex carbohydrates in your diets so that the fiber in them can help improve your digestion process to reduce blood sugar levels. Go for – sweet potatoes, beans, nuts, etc.

Eat more leafy greens as they are rich in many vitamins and minerals useful for the body. They also have fewer calories and carbs.

Include more healthy fats and proteins in your diets. These fulfill the energy requirements of the body and reduce your carbohydrate cravings.

3. Move and rest well

Keeping the body active and fit is a way to ensure that all the systems are smooth and our sugar intakes are being used up. Moreover, good rest is also necessary to reduce stress levels that lead to sugar cravings.

These methods can begin to be effective within three days of following them. Your body will begin acting against excess stored sugars and lead to flushing it out.

How much sugar is too much daily?

If you are a diabetic patient or diagnosed pre-diabetic, you might want to limit yourself to only six teaspoons or 25 grams of sugar daily. It is good to go lower, but make sure that you do not cross this limit.

For a non-diabetic, around 9 to 10 teaspoons of sugar must be the daily limit. Going beyond this limit can be harmful.

How to control your sugar cravings?

We have here some steps that you can follow to avoid craving sugar:

Dehydration can often be a trigger to raise your sugar cravings. You can resort to drinking water. It keeps your appetite fuller and also helps to cleanse your body.

Next time you have a sugar craving, fulfill it by having healthy fruit. They are sweet and very nutritious too.

Snack on stuff like – nuts, seeds, and Greek yogurt.

Next time you are stuck craving for something sweet, replace it with walking for some time. It is helpful and clears your mind.

Reduce having processed, packed, carb-rich, and fried foods.

Dr Sharon Baisil MD

Medical Doctor at Beat Diabetes

Dr Sharon Baisil MD is an international award-winning doctor, known for creating innovative technologies for the prevention and treatment of Diabetes. He developed the android app called Beat Diabetes, which is presently the most downloaded diabetes app in India. It was chosen as ‘Diabetes-App of the Year’ globally by Healthline. Dr Sharon has helped over 100,000 individuals with Diabetes from 140 countries, during the past 4 years, to control their sugar levels. You can read all the best-selling Diabetes eBooks by Dr Sharon Baisil MD , by clicking here . All the diabetes articles written by Dr. Sharon are thoroughly researched and draw from peer-reviewed journals like the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, ensuring the highest quality and reliability of information.

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