It is commonly believed that sugar is bad for us because it contains empty calories. It’s partially true, sugar has a lot of calories with no essential nutrients but that is just the very tip of the iceberg. Sugar, primarily because of its high fructose content, affects metabolism in a way that sets us up for rapid fat gain and metabolic disease. Fructose gets metabolised by the liver and turned into fat which is secreted into the blood as VLDL particles. This leads to elevated triglycerides and cholesterol. Moreover it also causes resistance to the hormones insulin and leptin, which is a stepping stone towards obesity, metabolic syndrome and miserable diabetes. I believe this is just to name a few. Sugar initially causes a relentless biochemical drive for humans to eat more and get fat. It is probably the single worst ingredient in the standard modern diet.
In short, the harmful effects of sugar go way beyond empty calories. Sugar effectively wreaks havoc on our metabolism and efficiently sets us up for weight gain and many serious diseases.
