How Bad Is Sugar For You?

Q: How bad is sugar for you? And by “sugar”, I’m obviously talking about the actual sugar you eat with your mouth and not the type that’s slang for cocaine or any other powdered drug that you eat with your nose! *wink*

A: Sugar is so bad that some say it causes cancer and can help it grow or spread in people that already have it.¹ Lucky for these people that there’s evidence for their position. Unlucky for them, however, is that whatever research there is to support a direct link between sugar and cancer is based on limited evidence.

When it comes to other health issues that sugar has been blamed on, added sugar is the problem. As its name implies, added sugar is the catchall term for the sugars that are found in fruit juice, soda, barbecue sauce, salad dressing, flavored yogurt, pastries, ice cream, and certain kinds of bread, as well as what you put in your coffee, corn flakes, and homemade cookie mix, for example. Essentially, added sugars are sweeteners that are put in foods or beverages during preparation, processing, or at the table. It’s this type of sugar, primarily the overconsumption of it, that’s the problem — not the sugar that’s found in and produced by the breakdown of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other food sources where sugar isn’t used as an ingredient.

So how bad is sugar for you?

Well, the answer essentially boils down to whether or not the sugar in question is naturally occurring or not. If the latter, then the amount eaten more so than the sugar itself is what can be attributed to the development of several health conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, both of which increase the risk of cancer. That’s to say that too much added sugar doesn’t cause cancer on its own but instead leads to conditions that are risk factors. As such, there’s a direct relationship between added sugar intake and weight gain, for example, and an indirect relationship between added sugar and cancer. Conversely, natural sugar doesn’t pose as great of a danger to the body because many of the foods where that type of sugar is present contain it in modest amounts while also providing fiber and an assortment of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and other beneficial nutrients that support overall health.

Added and natural sugar are metabolized the same way but the key differences in the nutritional content of the foods they’re commonly found in are why the two forms of sugar affect the body differently. As for booger sugar, narcotic use in general is bad for your health but snorting drugs in particular has its own unique risks. While snorting coke can produce faster and more intense effects, for example, it can also destroy your nasal cavity and cause brain swelling and stroke by increasing pressure in your blood vessels. On top of this, snorting powdered drugs that you don’t crush yourself exposes you to the possibility of accidental overdose on account of the product being cut with fentanyl or other bulking agents. So yeah, smoke your drugs instead!

Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?

Glossary: fitness, food, nutrition, vitamin

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Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer and online coach in San Diego. He's helped hundreds of people lose weight, build muscle, and become more attractive to their loved one so they don't have as strong of a desire to cheat on them anymore. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys making fun of Drake and people who like the guy.

How Bad Is Sugar For You?

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