The Negative Effects Of Carbs And Sugar On The Mind And Body
I’m sure that most of you have heard that too much carbs and sugar can be bad for you, but I’m also sure that many of you probably let that information go in one ear and out the other. I know that it was the case for me, for a very long time.
Because the truth is, we hear about something that is bad for us almost every day so it just keeps getting easier to ignore. Especially when it’s dealing with something that most people really enjoy, like carbs and sugar.
But recently, I started taking those warnings to heart. I was having several different minor health problems, and just not feeling my best. So I decided to try to lower my carb and sugar intake to see what it would do, and I almost instantly started to feel a better.
And that experience inspired me to write this post, where I’ll talk about some of the negative effects that carbs and sugar can have on our bodies. Let’s get started by getting part of the science out of the way…
What role does carbs and sugar play in the human body?
The best way to answer this question is to start with discussing carbs. There are many different types of carbs but the most important ones are fibers, starches, and of course sugars. There are also good carbs and bad carbs.
You see, on one end is the fact that a certain amount of carbs is good for you because it gets turned into glucose (a type of sugar) in the body. This is important, because glucose then gets turned into energy for the body.
And there are also specific types of carbs that supply other important things to the body; such as vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
But on the other side, too much of a good thing can still be a bad thing. And aside from simply ingesting too many carbs, you can also ingest the wrong kind which can lead to various health issues.
So now you’re already starting to get a good idea of the balancing act you need with carbs. Enough, and the right kind, to sustain you; but not so much that it begins to be bad for you.
But there’s one more fact we need to get out of the way before we start to talk about the negative effects of carbs and sugar.
You need to ingest carbs, but you don’t need to ingest sugar independently.
Although the body needs glucose, it gets plenty of it from the carbs that we ingest. So eating sugary foods like candy doesn’t really help our bodies at all. It’s far healthier to get our glucose from healthy carb sources.
Which is why many people can actually cut out sugar completely! While cutting out carbs completely can be considerably harder on the body, and sometimes even unhealthy.
Side Effects Of Carbs And Sugar On The Body
What they’re caused by…
The main bodily side effects that you’ll experience from carbs occur when you ingest processed carbs. Because processed carbs don’t contain all those important nutrients that we named earlier on. So really the problem here has more to do with quality than the amount of carbs you ingest.
For instance, if you ate a healthy source of carbs like unprocessed whole grains or vegetables, then you’d get all the health benefits of carbs with minimal side effects. But if you were to eat a source of processed and unhealthy carbs then you’d start to notice those negative effects.
And of course, these side effects will likely also occur if you eat a source of added sugars since (as we just discussed) you don’t really need additional glucose from sources aside from carbs. So things like candy, flavored drinks, etc., will likely elicit some side effects.
Short-Term Side Effects…
I want to start out by discussing some of the shorter term side effects of eating too much carbs and sugar, since these are some of the ones that we deal with on a daily basis if our intake is too high.
Headaches – Headaches are something that a lot of suffer with as it is, but the truth is, when you eat too many carbs then it can increase your blood sugar levels so suddenly that it could actually cause headaches. And we all know the headache that comes with a sugar rush is best to be avoided.
Mood Swings – This is a short-term side effect that has to do with the “crash” you feel when your blood sugar starts to dip down after it’s been suddenly spiked by carbs or sugar. But many people find that they have intense mood swings as their body adjusts from the rush of the glucose.
Feeling Tired – Also due to the crash of your blood sugar levels dropping, you could start to feel tired and sluggish after you’ve had a big meal with a lot of carbs or sugar. Which is also why things like sugary energy drinks are unreliable sources of energy, because you may feel more tired after they wear off.
Digestive Issues – Unfortunately, constipation can be yet another downside to certain types of carbs. Specifically, refined carbohydrates rarely have the fiber necessary to avoid constipation. And this can also come with lots of uncomfortable bloating.
Cravings and Always Feeling Hungry – One thing that carbs and sugar do is get you to a point where you’re almost addicted to them. When you haven’t had many carbs, you feel constantly hungry (which is something I’ve really noticed now that I started to cut back on them). And when you don’t have sugar, you crave it badly.
Long-Term Side Effects…
Now let’s talk about some of the more serious, long-term side effects that excess carbs and sugars can cause over time.
Increased Risk of Obesity – The first side effect I want to discuss with you all is probably one of the more obvious ones, and it’s obesity. People with high carbohydrate diets appear to be more at risk for abdominal obesity, particularly if they ingest a lot of starchy carbs since those often contain more calories than other types of carbs.
Added sugars contribute to obesity as well. Through various factors including elevating your blood sugar for prolonged periods of time, contributing to insulin resistance, and leptin resistance; all of these things are linked with weight gain.
Increased Risk of Diabetes – Too many processed carbs can also lead to an increased risk of diabetes. You see, processed carbs digest faster than non-processed carbs which means that they can overload you with too much glucose all at once if you eat too much.
This will likely cause unwanted fluctuations of your insulin and blood sugar levels, and although that won’t hurt you immediately, it could cause you to develop diabetes eventually if it happens too often.
And in terms of sugar, they are firmly linked to the risk of diabetes as well. Both through a variety of factors that the sugar itself affects, and the indirect risk of weight gain which add sugars can also cause.
Increased Risk of Heart Disease – Excess amounts of processed carbs are associated with heart disease as well. Firstly, because the fluctuations of insulin and blood sugar levels that we just talked about can increase the risk of developing it.
Secondly, because abdominal obesity (which as we just discussed, can be caused by an excess of carbs) is linked with the development of heart disease. And thirdly, because processed carbs often contain a lot of added sugars, it can also lead to a dangerous increase in triglycerides that could cause heart disease.
And for the sugars themselves, although we don’t completely understand why sugars affect heart health the way they do, a high-sugar diet really raises your heart disease risk. In fact, one study that spanned 15 years, found there was a 38% greater risk of the participants dying from heart disease if they partook in diets that included a lot of added sugar.
Increased Risk of Strokes – More research still needs to be done, but high carb and sugar intakes has also been found to be associated with increased risk of strokes. Partly because of the weight gain factor, partly because high glucose levels damage blood vessels, and partly because of other factors.
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These are just some of the long term issues that people can face after years of ingesting large amounts of added sugars and processed carbs, and we still don’t know the full impact that these things can have.
Conclusion
After writing about all the risks associated with carbs and sugars, I’m more resolved than ever to keep going with my low carb diet and to keep my sugar intake to a minimum.
And I hope that this post has informed someone about the negative side of carbs and sugars, even if it hasn’t convinced you to cut down on those parts of your diet. Because knowledge is everything and I always believe in being aware of the risks.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic then I’ll list some of my main inspirations for this article…
Sources –
And as always, my other source is trusty old Google where I type in questions I have to clarify certain aspects of what I’m researching. Too many of those individual sources to count but I specifically love Verywell Mind, Healthline, and WebMD.
