Why Your Sweet-tooth May be Harmful to Your Health

Why is Sugar the culprit you may ask? Not only does sugary sweets and drinks cost you a lot of calories without creating that full-feeling, which may lead to weight-gain, but sugar may be your enemy as far as overall health is concerned.

* Sugar negatively effects your immune system. After having a sugar craving and eating those oh-so dangerous Girl Scout cookies, your favorite soda or a candy bar, your immune system is temporarily bogged down and is unable to respond to challenges. This can last up to a few hours, so if you are constantly reaching into the cookie jar, you might want to think again if you do not want your immune system to be struggling to keep up with your bod.


* Sugar promotes inflammation. Inflammation is an immune response, and not always a bad thing; however, consuming sugar in excess may lead to unnecessary inflammation that will endorse aging as well as disease.

* Sugar weighs down the release of the human growth hormone. The human growth hormone (HGH) is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, reproduction, and cell generation in humans and animals. Our bodies make it naturally and if you want to slow down the aging process, you will want as much naturally produced HGH as your body is willing to make! Avoiding foods that are high in sugar will keep you looking young (of course accompanied with a great workout routine and meal plan!)

* Sugar raises insulin levels. After indulging in sugars, your blood sugar will go up, this will result in your insulin levels spiking which will make your pancreas produce a bunch of insulin to help clear out all the sugar from the cells in your blood. As the blood sugar goes down, your insulin levels will go down to normal again. If you do this far too many times and over-work your pancreas by flooding your body with sugary treats, eventually your pancreas will shut down and you will become an insulin dependent diabetic.  I'm just saying it can happen.

I highly suggest reading all of your nutrition labels prior to purchasing food at the store. It is extremely important to be aware of everything you are putting into your body. The cleaner the better! Eating foods in their natural form (unprocessed, no chemicals or additives, preservatives, etc) is going to be much better to achieve success as far as your fitness goals are concerned. You will also feel more energized and balanced throughout the day with of those 'crashing' feelings.