The Effects of Sugar on Metabolism
What hidden effects does sugar have on your metabolism?
“I can’t help that I gain weight; I just have a slow metabolism.” “You have a fast metabolism, that’s why you stay so skinny.” Chances are you’ve heard things like this before. The term metabolism is often thrown around freely, but very few people truly know what it means. Metabolism, by definition, is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life. These allow for growth and reproduction, maintaining of structures and response to environments. There are two forms of metabolism, catabolism (breaking down of organic matter) and anabolism (using energy to build proteins and nucleic acids). For the purposes of this article, the focus will be on catabolism and how sugar negatively affects your metabolism.
A major function of the catabolic process is digestion. In layman’s terms, catabolism is the process of breaking down larger molecules into smaller ones for the purposes of creating energy. You are probably aware that carbohydrates are a major energy source to the body, and the main pathway for their breakdown is called glycolysis. This is where glucose, a simple sugar, is converted into pyruvate, an amino acid. Glucose is the primary energy source for your brain. This is all a natural, healthy aspect of your body.
The problematic substance is fructose, not glucose. Unlike glucose, which is either used entirely for energy or converted to glycogen (short-term energy) and stored in the liver in an unlimited manner, fructose overloads the liver. Fructose is not a carbohydrate like glucose. As a result, it produces negative affects in your body.
Sugar produces several harmful reactions in your body. It can suppress your immune system, which hinders your ability to fight off infectious diseases, common colds, and other slight germs that you may otherwise combat quickly. Sugar can also cause a rise in adrenaline and anxiety, which may adversely affect your mood and cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease, stroke or high blood pressure. Because fructose overloads your system, it produces waste products such as uric acid. Uric acid blocks an enzyme that makes nitric oxide, which regulates your blood pressure. This can eventually lead to hypertension.
Furthermore, fructose stimulates glycerol 3-phosphate. The increased presence of glycerol 3-phosphate means more fat deposited, which could certainly become a factor in obesity. It may also cause your body to develop immunity towards insulin, which could result in adult on-set diabetes in a worst case scenario. And unlike glucose, which produces abundant natural energy, fructose can cause drowsiness and perhaps even decreased activity.
These are only a few of the many, many harmful effects sugar exercises over the metabolism. It is best to perceive sugar as something which inhibits your body’s natural processes and causes many long term health effects. Ideally it may be best to avoid as much sugar as possible, particularly if you already struggle with weight, cholesterol or blood pressure regulation or have diabetes. Next time you have that urge to pick up a tasty sweet, exercise instead. It will pay much greater dividends to your body.
Photo by Terren in Virginia
