How sugar makes us fat

Why is it that with low fat and fat free food, a trip to the beach still shows us that people are still getting fatter, fatter and EVEN fatter?! The answer lies in all the sugar loaded food inside these low fat and fat free foods. They might be low fat, but they sure left out the part that they contain high sugar!

What is sugar?

To understand why sugar makes us fat, we need to understand sugar and the roles it has in our body. Sugar is a form of carbohydrate, which is what provide our bodies with energy like the fuel in our cars.

The Glycemic Index

Carbohydrates (carbs) can be classified into two kinds, simple high GI carbs, and complex low GI carbs. GI stands for Glycemic Index, which is the scale that measures how fast certain carbs get broken down in our body. High GI (highest at 100, glucose) break down faster than low GI carbs.

Low GI carbs are healthier choices because they take longer to break down whereas high GI carbs, like soft drinks, break down very fast.

Why are high GI carbs bad?

High GI carbs cause relatively huge insulin spikes in our body. Insulin is a hormone in our body that regulates our blood sugar. Our blood sugar has to be maintained constant because excess sugar is poisonous in our blood. To cope with this huge increase in blood sugar, the body releases an equally huge amount of insulin.

Insulin also has one potent effect on our body – it stops the fat burning processes in our body and it also stores excess blood sugar as fat. With all fat burning processes in our body at a stop, and our body busy converting blood sugar into fats, of course we’re getting fatter despite all the fat-free food!

Insulin resistance

Worse, our body can become resistant to insulin with too many insulin spikes. Insulin resistance happens when our body no longer reacts to insulin. Sugar in our bloodstream is toxic in our body and our body’s favouite way to get rid of it is to burn it. The excess sugar that cannot be burnt gets stored as muscle glycogen and when these glycogen reserves are full, they will be stored as fat. A person who cannot convert excess sugar into glycogen or fats will suffer from the poisoning effects of excess sugar in our blood!

It is not too late

We are not saying that all those low fat sugar loaded foods are evil, and that you should not eat any at all. What I meant to say is that you should keep this in mind, and take such foods in moderation. Take in foods with lower GI, like oats, wholemeal bread etc. Opt for water instead of soft drinks. It is a lot healthier, and will keep your waist down! With that, I wish you all the best in your weight loss goals and a healthy life!

published 3 years ago

Bryan.Lee

5 points