The Effects of Sugar and Processed Foods on Health
By now, it’s widely understood that consuming too much sugar or regularly indulging in processed foods isn’t great for your health. However, many people aren’t fully aware of just how much these dietary choices can impact their bodies.
Side Effects of Sugar and Processed Foods
If you’re worried about your sugar intake or thinking about getting continuous glucose monitoring, it’s important to grasp the consequences of relying heavily on processed foods and sugar in your diet.
Weight Gain
One of the most common outcomes of eating lots of sugar and processed foods is weight gain. These foods are often packed with calories, thanks to ingredients that our bodies don’t really need.
Unlike natural foods, processed options tend to be high in fat and carbohydrates, which means you end up consuming more calories than you might realize. For example, a medium-sized Big Mac meal has over 1000 calories—about half of what a woman needs in a day and nearly half for a man.
Lack of Nutritional Value
Ideally, food should give our bodies the essential nutrients they need to function well. But many processed foods fall short in this department, mainly offering up saturated fats, sugar, and carbs.
Without these essential nutrients, our bodies can’t work as effectively, leading to lower energy levels, a higher risk of getting sick, and even skin problems.
Inclusion of Harmful Ingredients
Processed foods often contain various additives like preservatives, lots of salt, and stabilizers. Over time, consuming too many of these additives can have negative effects on our health, including potentially increasing the risk of cancer.
Quick Caloric Intake
Processed foods are designed to give us lots of calories quickly and make us feel full—for a little while. But because they’re usually low in fiber, we end up feeling hungry again soon after eating them. This is why people can eat a lot of fast food without feeling satisfied.
Skin Issues
Having healthy skin depends a lot on what we eat. Eating too much sugar, fats, and unhealthy foods can quickly lead to problems like acne and premature aging.
Risk of Diabetes
While it’s not completely clear if eating too much sugar directly causes diabetes, having a diet that’s high in sugars and fats can lead to weight gain and more fat in your body, which raises the risk of getting diabetes.
Low Energy and Motivation
Processed foods don’t give us the essential nutrients we need to keep our energy levels up. Even though they might give us a quick energy boost, we often end up feeling even more tired later on.
Dental Health
Too much sugar is bad news for our teeth. But it’s not just about sugar—eating poorly in general can lead to bad breath, sensitive gums, and not-so-great oral hygiene.
Impact on Mental Health
A diet that’s heavy on sugar can cause chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and changes in our dopamine levels. All of this can make depression worse and affect our mood and motivation overall.
