How To End Your Toxic Relationship With Sugar, According To Nutritionists

You don’t have to have a sweet tooth to know that sugar is omnipresent in modern diets. Nowadays – whether announcing its presence loudly or lurking covertly – sugar is in everything. And, when consumed in excess, it can cause a number of unwanted health issues. “Excess sugar has very addictive properties,” says Rhian Stephenson, nutritionist and the founder of Artah. “It activates opiate receptors, then we experience a surge of dopamine, which lights up the reward and pleasure centres in the brain – these are associated with addictive behaviour and are also activated by things like gambling and cocaine.”

A feel-good physiological mechanism, when we do get our sugar fix, we are likely to experience feelings of alertness, happiness and/or comfort. When we don’t, we may experience cravings, the urge to binge and/or feel withdrawal symptoms, such as agitation, anxiety and headaches. “Physically, it can lead to glucose dysregulation [or imbalanced blood sugar] and hyperinsulinemia, inflammation, impaired immunity and more.”

How sugar impacts the body and mind

“Sugar triggers a cascade of inflammatory reactions in the body and skin,” says nutritionist Lola Ross. “When we eat sugary foods or refined carbohydrates, it causes a spike in blood glucose levels, then the pancreas produces insulin to circulate sugars to be used as energy in our cells. Diets that are chronically high in sugary foods can lead to insulin resistance, a state where blood sugar becomes poorly managed in the body.” Insulin resistance can lead to health issues such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes, so it’s definitely something to avoid.

Regular intake of excessive sugar doesn’t only contribute to imbalanced blood sugar levels (which can cause mood issues, fatigue, diminished cognitive function, PCOS and more). “Chronic high sugar intake also causes inflammation in the body,” Ross explains. “Inflammation is closely linked to heart disease, mood disorders and colon, breast, prostate and other cancers.” Not to mention the fact that it has also led to a global obesity issue, and can trigger hormonal disorders that can affect fertility.

If the myriad health consequences weren’t alarming enough, excessive sugar intake also impacts the health and appearance of our skin. In a process called “glycation”, sugars attach to cellular proteins and degrade our collagen stores – otherwise known as the building blocks of good skin – which can create a sagging, overly-wrinkled and sallow complexion.

Our bodies are simply not designed to contend with huge amounts of sugar. “Our palaeolithic ancestors were thought to consume around 20 teaspoons of sugar a year whereas today, with added sugars being so ubiquitous in our food systems, the average American consumes around 53 teaspoons a day,” Ross points out. While exclusionary diets are never recommended, when it comes to sugar, experts agree that cutting down on added and unnatural forms of sugar – not fruit – would do us all good in the long term.

The difference between eating fruit and unnatural sugar

According to Stephenson, one of the most important things we need to understand about ingesting unnatural forms of sugar, as opposed to something like fruit, is how it makes its way into the body. “When we eat an apple, for example, the sugar is accompanied by fibre, polyphenols and vitamin C, which slow the rate of absorption and blunt the fructose response,” she explains. “When we eat ultra-processed foods, which contain modified and concentrated forms of sugar, the rate of delivery into our system is far greater, and this can have catastrophic effects.”