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Health harms of sugar

2025: Sugar accelerates ageing

Sugar isn't that sweet when it comes to aging, especially when it comes to your skin, brain health and inflammation in the body.

Sugar acts in excess as a "slow poison," destroying collagen, the vascular system, metabolism and the brain, according to molecular biologist Daniel Tofik.

Sugar and wrinkles: Excess sugar causes glycation - the process of forming harmful compounds (AGEs) that damage vessels, skin and nerve cells. They destroy collagen and elastin, which leads to wrinkles, sagging and dull skin.

Age-related diseases: AGEs are associated with diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. Excess sugar causes inflammation, oxidative stress and disrupts mitochondria - energy sources in cells. This leads to fatigue, muscle loss, organ deterioration and accelerated aging.

Hormones and: dream frequent jumps in sugar insulin and disrupt hormonal balance, worsen sleep and mood, accelerating aging. It also increases cortisol, causes swelling and inflammation in the abdomen and face. The harm is not a rare dessert, but a constant excess of added sugars in foods.

Sugar reduction tips: Cutting sugar is worth gradually, paying attention to the composition of foods - added sugars are often hidden under other names. Replace sweets with fruits, nut paste, yogurt without additives. Even "healthy" foods can contain a lot of sugar. Sugar itself is not harmful, but its excess worsens the skin, mood and health. The recommended norm is up to 25 g per day for women and up to 36 g for men.

2022: Sugar launches obesity process through disruption of gut microbiota

On August 29, 2022, a study conducted in mice showed that dietary sugar alters the gut microbiome, triggering a chain of events that lead to metabolic disease, prediabetes and weight gain.

According to the study, diet matters, but the optimal microbiome is no less important for the prevention of metabolic syndrome, diabetes and obesity. A Western diet high in fat and sugar can lead to obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes, but how the diet triggers unhealthy changes in the body is unknown for August 2022.

Th17 Protective Cell Reduction

The gut microbiome is indispensable for animal nutrition, so Ivailo Ivanov, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and colleagues investigated the initial effects of the Western-type diet on the mouse microbiome. After four weeks of diet, the animals showed signs of metabolic syndrome, such as weight gain, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Their microbiome has changed dramatically, with the number of segmented filamentous bacteria common in the gut microbiota of rodents, fish and chickens plummeting and the number of other bacteria increasing.

Reducing the number of filamentous bacteria, according to the researchers, was crucial for animal health due to the effects on Th17 immune cells, important for protecting the host against extracellular bacteria, they play a key role in the activation of neutrophils. Reducing the number of filamentous bacteria reduced the number of cells in the gut, and further experiments showed that it was the cells that were needed to prevent metabolic diseases, diabetes and weight gain.

Immune cells produce molecules that slow the absorption of bad lipids from the gut and reduce intestinal inflammation, the researchers said. In other words, they maintain intestinal health and protect the body from the absorption of pathogenic lipids, and sugar itself destroys filamentous bacteria, as a result of which protective Th17 cells disappear.^[1]

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