Compiled by Pam Duff, RN, CSNC
This list was compiled from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.
Sugar:
- suppresses the immune system
- reduces the body’s defence against bacterial infections
- upsets the mineral balance in the body
- causes hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children as well as adults
- worsens ADHD symptoms in children
- significantly increases triglyceride levels
- causes premature aging
- causes a loss of skin tissue elasticity and function
- reduces high density lipoproteins (good cholesterol)
- leads to chromium deficiency
- causes copper deficiency
- contributes to cancers of the breast, ovaries, prostrate, and rectum
- can increase fasting glucose levels
- interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium
- weakens the eyesight
- contributes to myopia (nearsightedness)
- contributes to cataracts
- raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine
- contributes to hypoglycemia
- produces an acidic digestive tract (which harmful bacteria love)
- causes a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children
- contributes to malabsorption problems in those with functional bowel disease
- can lead to alcoholism
- can cause tooth decay
- contributes to obesity
- contributes to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
- increases negative changes in those with gastric or duodenal ulcers
- can cause arthritis
- can cause asthma
- contributes to the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
- can cause gallstones
- can cause heart disease
- can cause appendicitis
- can cause multiple sclerosis
- can cause hemorrhoids
- can cause varicose veins
- can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users
- can lead to periodontal disease
- can contribute to osteoporosis
- lessens the function of digestive enzymes
- causes a decrease in insulin sensitivity
- lowers the amount of Vitamin E in the blood
- decreases growth hormone
- increases cholesterol
- increases systolic blood pressure
- causes drowsiness and decreased activity in children as well as adults
- increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
- interferes with the absorption of protein
- causes food allergies
- contributes to diabetes
- causes toxemia during pregnancy
- contributes to eczema
- can cause cardiovascular disease
- can impair the structure of DNA
- can change the structure of protein
- causes a permanent altering of the way the proteins act in the body
- causes premature skin aging by changing the structure of collagen
- can cause emphysema
- can cause atherosclerosis
- can promote an elevation of low density lipoproteins (LDL – bad cholesterol)
- can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body
- intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease
- can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide
- can increase the amount of liver fat
- can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney
- can damage the pancreas
- can increase fluid retention in the body
- contributes to constipation
- compromises the lining of the capillaries
- makes tendons more brittle
- causes headaches, including migraines
- plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women
- adversely affects school children’s grades, causing learning disorders
- causes an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves
- causes depression
- increases the risk of gastric cancer
- cause dyspepsia (indigestion)
- increases the risk of gout
- can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates
- increases the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets
- reduces learning capacity
- causes less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol
- contributes to Alzheimer’s disease
- causes platelet adhesiveness
- causes hormonal imbalance; some hormones becoming underactive and others becoming overactive
- leads to the formation of kidney stones
- contributes to the hypothalamus becoming highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli
- can cause dizziness
- can cause free radicals and oxidative stress, which ultimately leads to disease
- contributes significantly to platelet adhesion leading to vascular diseases
- can lead to biliary tract cancer
- feeds cancer cells
- consumption is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant
- can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents
- slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract
- increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon
- increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men
- combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult
- can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer
- acts like drugs, affecting the same part of the brain
- can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol
- can exacerbate PMS
- affects the amount of carbon dioxide produced by premature babies
- reduction increases emotional stability (In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior)
- changes to fat in the body, producing two to five times more fat in the bloodstream than starch
- is rapidly absorbed, promoting excessive food intake leading to obesity
- adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition
- slows down the ability of the adrenal glands to function
- induces abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual, thus promoting the development of chronic degenerative diseases
- sugar-water in IV solutions can cut off oxygen to the brain
- is an important risk factor in lung cancer
- increases the risk of polio
- can cause epileptic seizures
- causes high blood pressure in obese people
- limiting sugar in Intensive Care Units has proven to save lives
- contributes to cell death in the body
- impairs the physiological homeostasis of many systems in living organisms
- contributes to gastric cancer
- dehydrates newborns
- causes gum disease
*Note: Are you aware of the effect of drugs prescription and over-the-counter on your body’s nutrients? Check here.
This page was updated in September 2010.