The Dangers of Too Much Sugar Intake

Do you know that excessive sugar intake causes great harm to the body? It causes many illnesses, foremost of which is what many regard as a silent epidemic, diabetes. According to doctors, there are about 100 million people all over the world who suffer from diabetes, and its main cause is the excessive sugar intake, especially the refined sugar. It had been proven that taking in too much sugar is the primary cause of tooth decay and obesity, while eliminating sugar from the list of our foods removes the signs of many illnesses like diabetes, cancer, crippling, and heart ailments.

Sugar is a term applied loosely to any of a number of chemical compounds in the carbohydrate group that are readily soluble in water, colorless, odorless, and sweet in taste and are usually crystallizable. Generally, all monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides are called sugar, aside from the polysaccharides like starch, cellulose, and glycogen. Sugar can be found anywhere in nature. It can be manufactured by plants through the process of photosynthesis. And it can also be found in many animal tissues.

Ribose, a type of monosaccharide sugar that contains five carbon atoms in its molecules, is a component of many animal cells. Other sugars that can be found in nature are pentose, triose, heptose, octose, and nonose. But the most common of them is the hexose’s sugar.

The most important among the hoxose’s sugars are glocose, galactose, anf fructose. Glucose, lactose, maltose, and sucrose are the most common forms of commercial sugar, which are also called saccharose, or cane sugar. And they are often used as a sweetening agent in the manufacture of candies, cakes, puddings, preserves, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, and other foods. Almost half of the supply of sugar in the world comes from sugar cane, which grows in tropical and subtropical places.

In Europe, the most common source of sugar is the root of sugar beet, a plant that usually grows in Russia, France, Poland, US, and in other European countries. Countries that have the greatest production of sugar include Brazil, Cuba, Australia, Mexico, and India, wherein there are also high incidents of diabetes.

Do you know that sugar undergoes several processes in the sugar refineries? Sugar extract, or sugar beet, is cooked under a very high temperature in order to make it syrupy. And then, it is strained. After that, it is mixed with chemicals like sulphur dioxide to make it white. The sugar that is produced out of this process is called first sugar, or raw sugar. In the refinery, the raw sugar is again dissolved, whitened, and crystallized. The result is the white, refined sugar, which is basically without any nutrients, and it is even harmful to the body. The molasses is just one of the by-products of sugar manufacturing, which is being used in making ethyl alcohol, rum, and table syrup, also as flavoring and food for animals.

According to experts, sugar is lethal when ingested by humans because it provides only that which nutritionists described as empty, or naked, calories. Do you know that sugar absorbs many important vitamins and minerals in our body? And because of this, we feel weak and even get sick. The daily intake of sugar results to a continuous over-acid condition of the body. And to neutralize this imbalance, and to protect our blood, our body utilizes many vital minerals including calcium. As a result, our bones and teeth are denied of calcium, which result to dental decay. Excessive intake of sugar also affects many organs of the human body. These excesses are deposited to the liver in the form of glucose (glycogen). The excess glycogen goes back to the blood in the form of fatty acids, which become fats to the inactive areas of the body like the tummy, thighs, and chest. When these inactive areas become filled with fats, it will begin to affect the active organs of the body like the heart and the kidney, and it may also result to abnormal blood pressure.

Too much sugar intake also affects our parasymphatetic nervous system and its organs like the small brain, which may become inactive or paralyzed. It may also affect the circulatory or lymphatic systems. Because of this, the production of new tissues is hampered. This is the reason why wounds of a diabetic hardly heal. It also limits the tolerance and immunizing power of the body that is why it cannot respond to extreme attacks like cold, heat, mosquito bites, or microbes.

Sugar badly affects our brain functioning. According to science, the key to a normal brain functioning is glumatic acid, which can be derived from vegetables and Vitamin B. It is manufactured by the beneficial bacteria in our system. But our constant sugar intake kills these helpful bacteria in our body. And this would result to an insufficient stock of Vitamin B.

Do you know that excessive sugar intake also makes a person feel drowsy, poor in computation, and forgetful? So, if we want to stay healthy for us to continue with our service to God, let us refrain from taking in white or refined sugar. It is fatal to our body.

3 John 2 says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” The preacher of God wants the physical body of the members of his flock to be healthy. If only St. John knew the harmful effects of too much sugar to the body, he could have surely taught it to his members.

It is not true that I am only teaching my fellowmen to refrain from eating sugar because I have run short of subject matter to teach. That is a big lie! I am teaching this because it is a part of what I have understood from the Bible. It says, “That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” And this is one of the good things that must be taught to the people of God. If we want sugar, instead of the refined sugar, we can opt for the natural sugar, which can be found from natural sources like fresh fruits, sugar cane, and natural raw and wild honey.

Proverbs 24:13 says, “My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy tongue.” However, we always have to observe moderation. Proverbs 25:27 says, “It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.” We only have to eat the right amount. As Proverbs 25:16 says, “Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.”

Let us remember that the reason why we eat is to live – to be strong and healthy, to be able to serve God. This is written in Luke 10:27. “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and will all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

But, if what we are going to eat will only harm and weaken our body, we better avoid it.