Sweet and spooky
The haunting effects of sugar on your body.
Let’s explore the spooktacular effects of sugar on your body!
- The Haunted Cerebrum House:
Beware the cravings for sugar haunts your mind like a spectre. The more we give in, the more our brain craves it. However, that’s not the only mischief sugar causes! Much like a sinister antagonist, a study done on rats suggests that excess sugar intrudes on the hippocampus, our memory centre, hindering the creation of crucial memory-related brain cells and potentially causing inflammation.
The World Health Organization advises limiting added sugar to just five percent of your daily calorie intake, around 25 grams, or six teaspoons.
- The Insulin Witch’s Brew:
A sugar crash, like a ride on a rollercoaster, can leave you feeling like you’re on a wild, unpredictable journey. After a sugary feast, you might find yourself experiencing symptoms like hunger, irritability, fatigue, and trouble concentrating. The culprit? Too much sugar brews a rapid insulin response, causing low blood sugar or a sugar crash, making you feel jittery, sweaty, and unfocused. So, buckle up and keep your sugar levels steady for a productive day!
- The Monster Under the Bed, Cortisol:
The connection between what we eat and how we feel under stress is an interesting and complicated puzzle. A question to ask is: How does indulging in sugary and fatty foods play a role in how we react to stress?
What researchers have found was quite something! Halloween candy comforts us during stressful times because sugary treats seem to put a spell on the stress hormone cortisol, making it less reactive.
However, there is a twist. While sugary, high-calorie comfort foods may offer temporary relief, they often lack the essential nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy. Over time, having too many of these foods allows problems to lurk silently like the monster under your bed. These include weight gain, obesity, and a higher risk of health issues like diabetes and heart disease. Candy is a fun treat, but complex carbs like whole grain pieces of bread, pastas, and cereals are often just as good at taming stress and are better at helping you power through the rest of your day.
- Gut Feelings Potion:
Imagine your diet as a bewitched potion. Pouring too much candy and fat into the cauldron can lead to leaving out the essential plant-based fibers. This brew is linked to health problems like inflammation, with the eerie twist of disturbing your gut balance, allowing troublesome bacteria to thrive while good ones suffer. This invasion will weaken the gut defense. Harmful bacteria escape, setting off alarms throughout your body like a ghostly uprising in your gut! This can result in a condition known as metabolic endotoxemia, which brings about inflammation and other issues, even without significant weight gain. When tempted by sugary treats, remember they can brew trouble in your gut, leading to a spookier, less healthy outcome. Balancing your diet and keeping your gut in harmony might be your magical defense.
- Hormonal Hocus Pocus:
In the realm of hormones, sugar and refined carbs play a mischievous role, weaving spells of fatigue, cravings, and mood swings. Sugar can disrupt hormonal balance, causing surges in estrogen levels and conjuring fat cells. This tale extends to affect health, potentially leading to insulin resistance and diabetes. However, the secret to dispelling this hormonal enchantment lies in mastering glycemic control and choosing foods that gently regulate blood sugar to restore harmony to this intriguing hormonal world.
Photos Editor (Volume 49; August-December, Volume 50) — Samira is pursuing a Neuroscience Specialist while simultaneously learning and building skills in Photography. She is inspired by seeing the impacts of visual communication on people’s perspectives, understanding, and behaviour. She seeks to cultivate a safe environment where students express their creativity freely and convert their passions into purposes. In her free time, she is probably at the beach or fighting over the last piece of nachos.