2nd blog of January

You should enjoy being young because when you eat a lot of sugar it may accelerate the aging process.  A 2009 study found a positive relationship between glucose consumption and the aging of our cells.  Aging of the cells consequently can be the cause of something simple as wrinkles to something as dire as chronic disease.  But there is other alarming evidence that sugar may affect the aging in your brain as well.  A 2012 study found that excess sugar consumption was linked to cognitive health.  A 2009 study in rats showed similar findings.  A 2013 study estimated that 180,000 deaths worldwide may be attributed to sweetened beverage consumption.  While you may be aware that too many calories from any source will be stored fat if not burned, what you may not connect is the lack of other nutrients in sugar actually makes it easier to eat gobs of it with no physical effects to warn us of the danger that lurks.  Food rich in fiber, fat and protein all have been associated with increased fullness.  Sugar will give you the calories, but not the feeling that you've had enough.  That's why you can have an entire king-size bag of licorice with it's sky high gycemic index at the movies and come out afterwards ready to go for dinner.

1st blog post of january

Excessive sugar in the diet is not the best idea when it comes to healthy living. 500 extra calories a day from sugar is just what you need to gain 1 pound.  While its been widely noted that excess sugar can increase the overall risk of heart disease, a 2013 study in the journal of the american heart association displayed strong evidence that sugar can actually affect the pumping mechanism of your heart and could increase the rate of heart failure.  The findings specifically pinpointed a molecule from sugar (as well as from starch) called glucose metabolite glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) that was responsible for the changes in the muscle protein of the heart. These changes could eventually lead to heart failure. Approximately half of the people that are diagnosed with heart failure die within five years.  Move over salt and hypertension, you've got competition. Sugar, as it turns out, is just as much of a silent killer. A 2008 study found that excess fructose consumption was linked to an increase in a condition called leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that tells you when you've had enough food. The problem is, we often ignore the signal our brain sends to us. For some people though, leptin simply does not want to work, leaving the person with no signal whatsoever that the body has enough food to function. This in turn can lead to over consumption of food and consequently, obesity. Why the silent killer? Because it all happens without symptoms or warning bells. If you've gained weight in the past year and can't quite figure out why, perhaps you should look at how much fructose you're feeding your body.