Does Sugar Cause Inflammation? Side Effects and More

Sugar can lead to chronic inflammation, which is bad for your overall health. Studies have reported that chronic inflammation may lead to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, and cancer. A high-sugar diet can induce inflammation in the body in a variety of ways.

Seven possible ways in which a high-sugar diet may contribute to an inflammatory response in the body include:

1. Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs):
   • When protein or fat interacts with excess sugar in our blood, dangerous chemicals known as AGEs are formed. An excess of these compounds can lead to oxidative stress, leading to inflammation.
2. Affects the intestines:
   • High-sugar diets may make our gut more porous, allowing bacteria and other inflammatory particles to enter our bloodstream more easily, leading to chronic inflammation and diseases.
3. Increased bad cholesterol:
   • Sugar and other inflammatory foods increase our "bad" (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, which leads to an increase in C-reactive protein. C-reactive protein is generally a marker of chronic inflammation in the body.
4. Insulin resistance:
   • High-sugar diets can induce insulin resistance, which causes your pancreas to work overtime because it must release more and more insulin to keep blood sugar stable.
   • Insulin resistance can then progress to metabolic syndrome, a key cause of diabetes, vascular, and heart disease.
   • If your body is continuously inflammatory, it will exacerbate insulin resistance, leading to a chain reaction.
5. Obesity:
   • High-sugar diets are risk factors for obesity, which is characterized by low-grade chronic inflammation both systemically and in fatty tissues. An increased immune response is observed within the fat tissue of obese people, which is called metabolic inflammation.
6. Leptin resistance:
   • Insulin resistance causes a slew of additional abnormalities, increasing inflammation levels even higher. With insulin resistance, the body may become resistant to the hormone leptin, which governs feelings of fullness. 
   • Obese people do not respond to leptin even if they have high quantities of leptin hormones in their blood. As a result, the brain does not detect high levels to alert the body that it is full and should stop eating. 
   • This causes you to feel hungry even after you've eaten plenty. A lot of sugar causes insulin resistance, which can lead to leptin resistance and weight gain, all of which will increase inflammation as a chain reaction.
7. Neuroinflammation:
   • When blood sugar levels are excessively high or if they are frequently oscillating between low and high, microglia (the brain's immune cells) get activated. 
   • This causes an inflammatory cascade in the brain, known as neuroinflammation. When brain inflammation occurs, it has both acute and long-term consequences. 
   • It quickly slows down signal transmission speed in the brain, causing brain fog and hampered brain functioning. Chronic brain inflammation will eventually lead to neuronal death due to continuous microglial activation. 

When the body is injured or infected, it produces substances to help defend itself and fight off any dangerous organisms. This can cause flushing, warmth, and edema (inflammation). Sugar, for example, causes inflammation in the body, which is natural. However, consuming too many inflammatory foods, such as a high-sugar diet, can lead to persistent low-grade inflammation, which can lead to major health concerns.

High blood sugar is connected to various major health problems and should never be ignored. Uncontrolled glucose levels can lead to a variety of health issues, including heart disease, renal failure, retinopathy, and the need for limb amputation (surgical removal).

An occasional sugar overdose is one thing, but consuming too much sugar daily might have long-term consequences and increase your risk of certain illnesses. 

• Eyes:
  • Regular consumption of high-sugar foods or drinks may lead to the risk of diabetes. Diabetes puts you at a higher risk of retinopathy, a condition in which the blood vessels in the retina are damaged eventually leading to vision problems and blindness.
• Teeth:
  • Sugary foods and drinks disrupt the balance of microorganisms in the mouth, increasing your risk of gum disease, halitosis, and oral thrush. This can damage the enamel of your teeth, resulting in tooth decay.
• Skin:
  • Excess sugar and inflammation can cause collagen and elastin breakdown within the skin, resulting in wrinkles, sagging, and aging. Over time, you are more likely to develop a variety of skin disorders, including acne and rosacea.
• Pancreas:
  • Excess sugar consumption increases insulin levels as your body attempts to remove glucose from your bloodstream. Your cells will grow less responsive to increased insulin production over time. 
  • The pancreas will have to work harder to meet the body’s insulin needs. This increases your risk of pancreatitis and impairs your capacity to manage blood sugar levels and food digestion.
• Liver:
  • Excess glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver, which is frequently depleted in people with diabetes because glucose cannot enter the cells due to insulin resistance. As a result, the body produces glucose from fat cells, increasing blood fats (triglycerides) and bad cholesterol.
  • However, because the body is intolerant to glucose, this procedure becomes ineffective and repetitively harmful. The body is unable to retain glucose properly, and you have little energy, which increases your risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, and cancer.
  • Continued insulin resistance increases your risk of fat deposition in the liver (fatty liver) along with other patterns of liver injury or damage.
• Blood vessels:
  • Increased hyperglycemia inhibits the synthesis of nitric oxide (which allows the smooth muscles around the blood vessels to relax, reducing blood pressure). 
  • A deficiency of nitric oxide may result in elevated blood pressure and blood vessel constriction. High blood sugar levels regularly may result in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
• Heart:
  • Excessive sugar consumption can contribute to weight gain and obesity. This weight gain can have serious effects on your heart health, putting you at a higher risk of heart disease, hypertension, and an elevated heart rate.
  • Increases in blood lipid levels consequent to excess sugar consumption harm the heart.
• Kidneys:
  • Kidneys filter any extra glucose that the cells do not need for energy. Sugar consumption regularly means that the kidneys are always working hard to filter glucose from the body, which can harm them. 
  • If you have diabetes, your kidneys lose efficiency over time, and as a result of high sugar consumption, you may increase your risk of renal difficulties.
• Brain:
  • Sugar crashes frequently might lead to mood fluctuations, increased exhaustion, and irritation. 
  • High blood sugar levels have been related to brain inflammation, which increases your risk of anxiety and depression, as well as neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
• Digestive system:
  • High sugar consumption can increase appetite, increasing the risk of obesity and various other health issues. 
  • Excess sugar can create infection inside the digestive tract, which can result in bloating and gas. 
  • Undigested food particles can enter the bloodstream through the intestinal lining. This is known as a leaky gut syndrome, and it is caused by excess sugar consumption.
  • If the body develops a leaky gut, it is prone to developing a variety of autoimmune illnesses because the body perceives undigested food particles as foreign intruders and can begin to attack organs and systems.

To be clear, sugar does not have any inherent flaws. In truth, glucose, a basic type of sugar, is one of the human body's principal fuel sources. When consumed in excess, sugar can hurt the body. Whether you have a one-time sugar binge or eat too much sugar daily, the consequences of excess sugar on your system might leave you feeling more sour than sweet.

Natural sugars found in unprocessed foods are considered good for our health.

• Sugar occurs naturally in all carbohydrate-containing foods, such as fruits and vegetables, grains, and dairy. It is safe to consume whole foods that contain natural sugar.
• Plant foods are abundant in fiber, vital minerals, and antioxidants, whereas dairy foods are heavy in protein and calcium.
• Because these foods are slowly digested by your body, the sugar in them provides a consistent source of energy to your cells.

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains has been found to lower the risk of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and several malignancies. 

Difficulties arise when you consume too much-added sugar, which is the sugar that is added to foods to enhance flavor or lengthen shelf life. The leading sugar sources in the American diet include:

• Soft drinks
• Fruit drinks
• Flavored yogurts
• Cereals
• Cookies
• Cakes
• Candies
• Most processed foods

However, added sugar can be found in foods that you might not think of as sweetened, such as soups, bread, cured meats, and ketchup. As a result, we consume much too much-refined sugar.

Adult men take in an average of 24 teaspoons of added sugar each day, according to the National Cancer Institute. This equates to 384 calories. The influence of excess sugar on obesity, diabetes, and chronic diseases is widely known and science confirms the same. 

The American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of sugar daily for women and nine teaspoons daily for men, whereas the World Health Organization recommends that no more than 10 percent (ideally less than five percent) of your calories should come from added sugar or sugars such as honey, syrups, and fruit juice.

The goal is to educate yourself on your daily sugar intake, limit added sugars, and find adequate substitutes. Begin by reading the label of a product or ingredient. The U.S. FDA has established a new Nutrition Facts label added sugars column.