Take a look at the top 10 reasons why sugar is so bad for you. So many modern diseases are thought to be related to our high sugar and carbohydrate consumption, insulin resistance and fatty liver disease.

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Sugar is the single worst ingredient in the modern diet. It can have harmful effects on metabolism and contribute to all sorts of diseases.

Here are 10 disturbing reasons why you should avoid too much sugar like the plague.

1. Sugar contains no essential nutrients and is bad for your teeth

Added sugars like sucrose and high fructose corn syrup contain a whole bunch of calories with no essential nutrients.

There are no proteins, essential fats, vitamins or minerals in sugar. Just pure energy.

When people eat up to 10-20% of calories as sugar (or more), this can become a major problem and contribute to nutrient deficiencies.

Sugar is also very bad for the teeth because it provides easily digestible energy for the bad bacteria in the mouth.

2. Sugar is the biggest cause of obesity

Sugar drives insulin which is our fat storing hormone. Fructose (half of sugar) does not affect our satiety and so we do not get that full signal so continue to eat/drink beyond which is required. Sugar can be addictive for many people so they continue to eat and stimulate their own appetite with ever increasing sugar loads.

3. Fructose in sugar causes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Fructose found in sugar, fruit, agave and high fructose corn syrup is primarily metabolised in the liver where it is turned directly to fat. It can be stored as glycogen but if your glycogen stores are already full, fatty liver is the result. Fruit juice, however, has all the fibre removed, so a glass of orange juice, for example, is not the same as eating 6 oranges, it is the same as the sugar from 6 oranges.

4. Sugar is the biggest cause of Type 2 diabetes

If anyone you know has been diagnosed as a pre-diabetic or Type 2, get them to seriously reassess their sugar and carb intake.

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5. Sugar is linked to cancer

Multiple studies have shown that sugar and high insulin levels are associated with insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) which can “enhance tumour cell proliferation” and “may interfere with cancer therapy”.

6. Sugar is linked to Alzheimers disease

It would be safe to conclude that the term “type 3 diabetes” accurately reflects the fact that AD represents a form of diabetes that selectively involves the brain.

7. Sugar makes us hungry

Sugar cause insulin release and insulin blocks leptin in the brain which is your hunger hormone. If your brain cannot recognise a rise in leptin, and so you remain hungry. This eventually leads to leptin resistance.

8. Sugar can suppress your immune system

Not only does sugar reduce your bodies ability to fight infections, it also depletes your body of essential nutrients required for a healthy immune system.

9. Sugar can cause depression

There is a direct link between blood sugar and mood, especially blood sugar spikes and lows. The more uneven your blood sugars, the more uneven your mood. And by living on a high sugar, low nutrient diet,  you won’t have the essential amino acids and vitamins required for assisting your mood.

10. Sugar cause wrinkles

Sugar in the blood attaches to proteins and causes age advanced glycation end products. These attack the fibres in elastin and collagen which makes your skin supple.