The Truth About Sugar: Natural, Processed, and Artificial
Hey Angels and Alphas,
Sugar, sugar, sugar! It’s in everything from our drinks to our desserts to our breads, and many of us consume too much of it on a daily basis. And while excess sugar isn’t great for anyone, it can be especially harmful to your health if you have diabetes or heart disease. So how do you figure out what’s what?
Well, here’s the truth about natural, processed, and artificial sugars so you can make healthy food choices that won’t hurt your body or help you lose weight (and won’t affect your waistline either).
What is sugar?
Sugar is a type of carbohydrate that the body breaks down into glucose and fructose. Glucose is the body’s main source of energy, and fructose is metabolized in the liver.
Sugar occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. It is also added to processed foods like candy, baked goods, and soft drinks.
There are three main types of sugar: natural sugar, processed sugar, and artificial sugar.
Natural sugar is found in fruits and vegetables. Processed sugar is found in table sugar, honey, molasses, and corn syrup. Artificial sugar is found in high-fructose corn syrup and diet sodas. So what’s the difference between these three types of sugar?
How does your body respond to natural sugar?
Your body responds to natural sugar the way it was designed to respond to any food: by digesting it. Digestion begins in the mouth with saliva, which contains enzymes that break down carbohydrates like sugar into smaller molecules. These smaller molecules are then absorbed into the bloodstream, where they are used for energy or stored for later use.
How does your body respond to processed sugar?
Your body responds to processed sugar the same way it does to any other foreign substance: with an immune response. When you eat processed sugar, your body produces inflammation-causing chemicals called cytokines. These cytokines trigger a series of events that can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.
Most processed sugars are made with processed corn syrup, or high-fructose corn syrup. It was originally developed by scientists at the University of Illinois in 1967, but they had no idea it would soon be in almost every packaged food product on our grocery shelves today!
Eating too much of this refined sugar actually changes our brain chemistry over time – we start wanting more and more sweets just to feel normal! And that’s why we’re seeing so many adults struggle with binge eating disorder and other addictive behaviors – because processed sugars trigger addictive pathways in our brains.
How does your body respond to artificial sugar?
Your body doesn’t know how to process artificial sugar because it’s not a real food. When you eat it, your liver gets overwhelmed trying to break it down and store it as fat. This can lead to insulin resistance, which is when your body can’t properly use the hormone insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. It also causes inflammation in the pancreas (which leads to pancreatitis) and has been linked to heart disease.
Which type of sugar should you consume (if any?)
It’s no secret that sugar has gotten a bad rap in recent years. And with good reason – too much sugar can lead to serious health problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. But not all sugar is created equal. In fact, there are three different types of sugar: natural, processed, and artificial. So even though it’s best to keep your sugar intake down to a minimum, you’d still be better off consuming your sugar from natural sources like fruit.
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