Kick Sugar

Why is too much sugar bad for you?

1. Sugar is addictive. People not only develop a strong taste for sugar but insatiable cravings for it.
2. Sugar is by far the leading cause of dental deterioration - cavities in teeth, bleeding gums, failure of bone structure, and loss of teeth.
3. Another reason why it is bad for you, is that we consume it in such large quantities. If you examine the "foods" in any supermarket more closely and start reading labels, you will find just about everything contains sugar. From cereals, to soups, to ketchup, to even flue-cured tobacco, which can contain as much as 20% sugar by weight.
4. When we eat too much sugar, a process called glycation can occur. When this happens, some of the sugar we consume sticks to the proteins in our body, causing our body tissues to lose their elasticity. It is not just our skin that is affected, but also our internal organs.
5. Refined sugar is bad for you because it raises the insulin level in your blood. Raised blood insulin levels depress the immune system. If your immune system is depressed then your ability to fight disease is weakened.
6. Eating too much sugar causes our blood sugar to go haywire. When the sugar levels in our blood fluctuate, they lead us to feel fatigue and exhaustion. Headaches and mood swings are also apparent when the blood glucose is unstable.
7. Consuming sugar makes hunger pangs go away. That is why we are often told not to eat sweets before a main meal. When we take in too much sugar, we do not feel the need to eat food that contains more of the important nutrients that our body needs, such as vitamins, iron, calcium and magnesium.

• To find out more about diabetes and the influence of sugar on your diet please visit Health24.com

Five sweet diabetic-friendly recipes

Apricot cheesecake for diabetics Feast on this delicious apricot cheesecake, that is guaranteed not to sit a year on the hips.	Fibre-rich carrot cake Get your fibre fix with this scrumptious carrot cake that is rich in vitamin C and A.
Frozen delight Get a healthy sugar fix with this frozen dessert with almonds, natural yoghurt and pineapples.	Orange cake Give tea time some zing with this delicious orange sweet treat.
Oats and raisin cookies Enjoy these crunchy cookies without the guilt.	Pear and almond cake Make this delectable pear and almond cake, that is easy to make and truly delicious.

Answerit with Food24

Do you want to know why you crave something sweet after dinner or need a yummy sugar replacement instead of horrible artificial sugar. Food24 can answer all your questions with answerit24.com. All you have to do is go to answerit24.com and ask all your sweet questions. It's as easy as that!