How bad is sweet tooth for you?

We all are familiar with the phrase ‘sweet tooth’ which refers to the great liking for sweet-tasting foods. You wake up in the morning and can’t start your day without those warm, crunchy as well as soft, the perfect-textured choco-chip cookies with a glass of milk or cannot resist yourself from eating banana pancakes or french toasts with maple syrup. Just realising that you are a ‘sweet-toothed’ person does not solve the problem. What is important is that you need to know everything about consuming sweet-tasting foods and how it affects you.

Why such craving?

According to science, as soon as the sugar hits our taste buds, the brain releases dopamine (dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter-a chemical released by neurons to send signals to other nerve cells, and plays a major role in reward-motivated behavior), which makes the taste even better when we have our favorite treat. Many of the food items that we feast on daily have so much sugars that we are unaware of, our body might not even be supportive of the idea of us having a dessert once a day, or after every meal. Sodas, sports and energy drinks, sweet teas, juices, yogurt, instant snack bars, oatmeal, frozen meals, and breads; all these already contain great amounts of sugar. This might make us feel guilty about our sugar consumption, but, the recommended daily dose of sugar is 25-38g sugar only.

How does it affect us?

The mouth contains both good as well as bad bacteria. Sugar affects your oral health as the bad bacteria feeds on the sugar when it enters the mouth, and leaves acids behind. These acids are known to be the enamel-eating acids, which means that the protective layer of our teeth ends up having cavities all over and forming holes in the teeth. This leads to pain and probably, tooth-loss and our mouths might look like this.

All sugars are carbohydrates and are known as ‘simple’ carbs as they are composed of just one sugar molecule. Although sugar is lower in total calories per gram than fat, it still does contribute mightily to the fat reserve in our body.

On a similar note, the sugar we gulp down frequently is also responsible for causing diabetes in our bodies. Insulin is a hormone and its main role is to return blood-sugar levels to normal. If we continue to guzzle more and more sugars, the blood-sugar levels jump violently and ultimately, pumps a massive amount of insulin into the bloodstream. This might cause an overshoot, trigger appetite leading to a cycle of overeating, which means increased sugars and increased weight. Since the spiking sugar-levels can be a reason for causing diabetes, it is definitely a major concern as it is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults. It is also said that people with diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease than someone without diabetes.

We need to limit the consumption of refined sugars and try to prefer unrefined sugars, the one found in fruits and some vegetables over refined sugars, since refined sugars contain a lot more calories. Also, it is beneficial if we time our meals and sugar consumption in our daily lives. It is not advised to have sugars before sleeping, and that is why it might seem reasonable that we shouldn’t be eating too many fruits just before going to the bed as eating fruits can release a lot of sugar causing spike in the energy levels whereas our body is actually preparing to slow down and take rest.

In order to protect our teeth, we need to keep in mind some of the tips provided by some of the doctors. They advise that we drink plenty of water, brush and floss our teeth, visit our dentist regularly, have treats in moderation, and rinse our mouths regularly.

Sugar, pretty much, acts as a toxic for our bodies and isn’t so good for our waist either. And that is the reason we should try our best to minimize the harm that the ‘sweet tooth’ causes us.

Go easy on yourself and have fun!

And, I hope, that now you can control your craving for these.