What Sugar Does To Your Body (Science-Based)

Find out what sugar does to your body. Most people know that sugar can be very bad for you, but they don't understand the mechanisms behind sugar addiction and how sugar exactly effects your body. Find out in this video.

When you consume sugar, your body breaks it down into glucose, which your cells can use as fuel to perform many different functions. It's found in various foods and beverages like fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and sweet drinks. That's right sugar is even found in vegetables so it's not inherently bad. But consuming too much sugar can have adverse effects on your body, your health, and your weight. So in today's video, I want to give you the step-by-step process of what happens as you eat sugar, based on all the available scientific data. 

It all originally begins when sugar first makes contact with your tongue. Immediately it undergoes a complex process of digestion and absorption, which is critical to providing your cells with the energy needed to carry out their tasks. So there are enzymes in your saliva that'll start to break down the sugar molecules into simpler smaller molecules. These enzymes are known as amylases and their job is to break the chemical bonds between the glucose and fructose molecules that make up sucrose, converting it into simple sugars. From there, the sugar moves to your stomach, where it gets mixed with gastric juices and enzymes. These enzymes help separate the individual sugar molecules from other components of the food or beverage that you consumed. Once that’s done, the sugar moves from the stomach into your small intestine. This is where the bulk of the absorption process takes place. Here the sugar gets further broken down by enzymes and then gets absorbed into your bloodstream.

Glucose is absorbed directly into your bloodstream, while fructose is absorbed more slowly and primarily metabolized in the liver. Once the glucose reaches your bloodstream, it gets transported to your cells, where it's used as fuel for things like contracting muscle tissue, supporting brain function, and producing hormones and enzymes. Unfortunately just like fructose and other forms of sugar, if you consume more glucose than your body needs, the excess will get converted into glycogen, and that excess glycogen will first be stored in your liver and muscles. Since your body doesn't need it at the moment, this glycogen can be used later as a source of energy when your body does in fact need it.

That’s great because throughout human evolution we often have had to go extended periods of time without food. The stored glucose, alongside stored body fat, helps act as an energy reserve in these kinds of scenarios. Now, if your body has reached its glycogen storage capacity, any excess glucose is converted into fat and stored in your adipose tissue. This excess fat can lead to weight gain and obesity if it tips you over into a calorie surplus. 

Another obvious effect that'll happen after sugar enters your bloodstream is that it'll raise your blood sugar levels. This causes your body to release insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps to regulate your blood sugar. The way it does this is by removing glucose from your bloodstream and then funneling it into your cells, where it can be used for energy. That’s a really good thing because having elevated blood glucose levels, also known as hyperglycemia, can lead to some very bad side effects, like damaging heart health and increasing inflammation. The problem, however, is that consuming too much sugar can negatively impact insulin production and insulin response. Excessive sugar consumption can cause the pancreas to work so hard at excreting insulin that you can develop insulin resistance, a condition in which your body becomes less responsive to this very important hormone insulin. 

This means that your body has to produce more insulin to achieve the same effect on controlling blood sugar levels. Research links insulin resistance to a range of health issues, such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. As I said when your body becomes resistant to insulin, your pancreas will have to work harder to produce more insulin, which, over time, can lead to pancreatic burnout and a decrease in insulin production, also known as type 2 diabetes. Type 2  diabetes is a chronic condition that’s characterized by high blood sugar levels due to insulin resistance and a reduction in insulin production. It's estimated that 462 million people around the world are affected by type 2 diabetes which is a little over 6 percent of the world's entire population.” (1) This number likely will only increase over the upcoming years and decades because people are more obese and continue to eat unhealthier than ever before.

The adverse effects on insulin production that come from consuming too much sugar are largely...

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References

1. “Globally, an estimated 462 million individuals are affected by type 2 diabetes, corresponding to 6.28% of the world's population”

2. Consuming too much sugar can also lead to chronic inflammation in the brain, which is one reason research links sugar to a range of neurological disorders like depression, anxiety, and dementia.

3. Research found that rats eating high-sugar diets were less able to remember whether they had previously seen objects in specific locations before.


5. Sugar isn’t effective at satiating hunger and thus typically end up on top of the calories people already consume.

6. Studies show individuals who drink soft drinks and other sugary beverages tend to weigh more than those who don’t.

7. Various studies show substituting sugary foods and drinks with artificially sweetened alternatives like diet soda lowers calorie intake and aids weight loss.

8. Most human studies indicate artificial sweeteners are generally safe when the maximum recommended amount is not exceeded.

9. Most human research shows saccharin to be safe, some evidence found impaired gut health and glucose tolerance in some subjects.

[alecorrea]

Currently in depression for almost 3 months now but definitely hit rock bottom these past 3 weeks and my sugar combustion was at its peak. I was definitely feeding my depression. Exactly accurate, wait gain of course, sugar crash, more depression, always hungry, brain satisfaction. Im going to quit sugar for a while until i get a healthy relationship with it. Thanks for the video 🙏🏻

[positivemind]

It's 3 weeks since I quit sugar and have lost around 3kg of weight. I'm feeling much more energetic with improved sleep and reduced craving for food. Looking forward to continue this for life long and increasing daily workout. No looking back.

[Themax]

I kicked depression away since started working out and have a nutritional plan. Since I know my macros and micros I consume 1/3 of the sugar I used to. 4monts now from 21% body fat down to 9.5%. Happy brain happy body. Never been so easy to ignore a cake in front of me

[zeb]

Another highly informative, intelligently made, extremely efficient episode, thanks very much.

It may be possible to read all of this information and gather them from different sources which will be very time-consuming and inefficient but presenting it in such a smart and effective format is an art and should be admired and respected.

[rounaksubramanian]

This is a very excellent and brilliant video bro telling about this topic and about what sugar does to your body and you are doing a excellent work for all of us who love to stay fit and keep it up

[Wheelie]

You wouldn't put contaminated fuel in your vehicle, so why do so many people put such rubbish in their own bodies?

[nax]

i've come to realise that controlling how and when i consume sugar is more sustainable than trying to eliminate it all together

[KenanTurkiye]

This video is very beneficial, thank you.
All calories are NOT the same.
Eat well, live well, but please learn what fasting is people.
Best wishes.

[ferhatkilic]

Please make a video for healthy benifits for fastining during Ramadan

[constantinnescu]

You forgot to mention the effect of stress which increase the cortisol level with the consequences in transforning the protein into glucose and trigers the insuline spike even without anysugar consuming.

[nicholassagadaya]

Im a bio major and a gym addict. I gotta say this information was very helpful. Love the video man!!

[negdiffed]

Was easy to kick sugar since I don't have a sweet tooth. But ate some for a cheat meal this past Friday and I still feel heavy. I pray for those who have a sweet tooth.

[IncptnLive]

This hit home hard… so much science but in a clear digestible manner. Time to make some solid changes in my future 💪.

[Jamesppoitra]

I love the ADD style this was done in! 💯 🥰😍

[hyena]

can you talk about cortisol level rising while fasting, and cortisol breaks down muscle tissue while fasting, please very important topic

[wangtoriojackson]

It's good that you pointed out the recent data showing the harmful effects of saccharin, but everything you said about how sugar can disrupt your gut microbiome and all the effects that can have are true of artificial sweeteners as well, even the ones that you assert are safe. The only healthy way to consume sweeteners is in strictly limited amounts, whether they are sugar or anything else.

[forestduffe]

Great holiday lesson; stay away from sugar.

[lorenzolalli]

my advice is to eat as slowly as possible. In fact, the feeling of fullness only arrives 15 minutes after you actually are full, so the slower you eat the less you will eat in those 15 minutes

[michaelnelson]

Good video, I would say consuming Diet Pepsi for me has become a real health problem as it not only causes me to eat junk carbs (mainly chips) every day. Diet drinks have killed my weight loss attempts in the past. Also, the aspartame in diet drinks causes me to have arthritis like pain in my legs, shoulders, neck and lower back during sleep. The elimination of all diet drinks has removed the pain and stopped the cravings for really bad junk food....