How Does Sugar Affect The Human Body

Sugar is in nearly every food there is, but that doesn’t mean it is healthy for the human body. Over time, sugar has weaved its way into more and more of the human diet, causing it to be used in almost every food a human can consume. Naturally, sugar is necessary to the human bodies, but too much will no longer help the body, instead harm it. If used in excess or in wrong conditions, sugar can very negatively affect a person’s body health and mental stability. A large reason why sugar is very unhealthy for humans is because it has direct effects on the body itself. “Bacteria living in plaque thrive on the sugar that we eat. The waste that they produce is released in the form of acid that destroys enamel and dentin forming cavities.” (“Pros

Some reasons include, “Research has tied heavy sugar consumption to an increased risk of depression and worse outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia.” (David Sack, “4 ways sugar could be harming your mental health”, www.psychologytoday.com) While only about 1.2% of people have schizophrenia, sugar causing depression in perfectly healthy people is life-changing in some cases. Some reasons include, “Research has tied heavy sugar consumption to an increased risk of depression and worse outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia.” (David Sack, “4 ways sugar could be harming your mental health”, www.psychologytoday.com) While only about 1.2% of people have schizophrenia, sugar causing depression in perfectly healthy people is life-changing in some cases. “Sugar may also compromise cognitive abilities such as learning and memory. In an animal study...fructose caused the rats to forget their way out of a maze, whereas rats that ate a nutritious diet...found their way out faster.” (David Sack, “4 ways sugar could be harming your mental health”, www.psychologytoday.com) This test was made on rats, but since rats and humans have similar anatomies, this tests leads to belief that sugar can affect humans just the same and affect memory. However, “Brain functions such as thinking, memory, and learning are closely linked to glucose levels and how efficiently the brain uses this fuel

Statistics regarding the overconsumption are, “5% would be 25 grams. Limit daily sugar to 6 tsps (25 g) for women, 9 tsps (38 g) for men.Yet, the average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons (82 grams) every day.” If someone consumes over 3 times what would be healthy for the human body, this clearly shows an excess of sugar in American diets. A reason for this is probably because, “Research also shows that, for some people, eating sugar produces characteristics of craving and withdrawal, along with chemical changes in the brain's reward center, the limbic region.” If a chain reaction can start when sugar is eaten, an astronomical amount of unneeded sugar can be consumed in one day. However. “Sugars naturally occurring in fruits, vegetables and dairy are okay but sugars removed from their original source and added to foods, we need to be wary of.” A large amount of the sugar in foods in added, however some is also natural, taking away the negative effects of added sugar from the overall amount in the food. Natural sugars are alright for the body, but less and less amounts of sugar in foods is natural however. Clearly, an excess of sugar or even a little more than required can lead to both mental and physical consequences. If too much continues, the average health of America can take a major turn for the worse. Only by individuals eating foods with more natural and less added sugars will sugar become less of an