The Negative Impact Sugar has on Gut Health
A common trick to maintain a low-sugar diet is to indulge your sweet cravings from time to time. You might adhere to a strict diet during the weekdays and loosen up a bit over the weekend as a reward for dieting. But a study shows that it takes only a couple of days to ruin good gut health.
Researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada found that short-term increases in sugar intake can increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease. Their finding is a reminder that eating healthy must be sustained in order to keep your gut in good shape.
“Surprisingly, our study shows that short-term sugar consumption can really have a detrimental impact, and so this idea that it’s OK to eat well all week and indulge in junk food on the weekend is flawed,” said Karen Madsen, one of the study researchers.
Increased sugar intake is bad for the gut
Previous studies have shown that diets can affect your susceptibility to disease. Western style diets, (of which the UK is a part of) for example, have been implicated in the development of inflammatory bowel disease. But it’s still unclear when a poor diet begins to take a toll on your health, much less how it does so.
To investigate, the researchers placed adult mice on a a high-sugar diet and treated them to induce ulcerative colitis, one of the major forms of inflammatory bowel disease. Disease severity was assessed daily.
After two days, the mice on the high-sugar diet were at great risk of developing colitis. Their immune response also weakened while their gut permeability increased, allowing more bacteria and toxins to enter their bloodstream.
“We wanted to know how long it takes before a change in diet translates into an impact on health. In the case of sugar and colitis, it only took two days, which was really surprising to us. We didn’t think it would happen so quickly,” said Madsen.
The researchers attributed these effects to sugar’s impact on the gut bacteria. Eating sugary foods decreases the amount of “good” gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids, which are critical for a strong immune response. Meanwhile, sugar feeds “bad” bacteria that promote inflammation and weaken your immunity.
How to curb sugar cravings
Check out the following tips to curb your sugar cravings:
Avoid artificial sweeteners. Replacing sugar with low- or no-calorie sweeteners is a band-aid solution to resisting your food urges. Instead of addressing the root of the problem, it only encourages eating behaviours that intensify cravings.
Get a good night’s sleep. Sleep deprivation can increase your appetite. Sleep seven to nine hours every night to keep your appetite down.
Make room for nourishing foods. Fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients that are important for good health. Snack on fresh foods like blueberries and carrots instead of processed sweets.
Reduce intake. Eating more sweets only amplifies your cravings. Wean yourself off sugar by drastically limiting intake.
Eat healthy carbs. Aim to get most of your carbs from whole foods. The more processed they are, the more harmful they are in encouraging blood glucose spikes and over time insulin resistance which will lead to diabetes.
Eating healthy is a lifelong, everyday commitment that pays dividends. If you feel tempted to indulge your cravings, refer to these tips to keep your gut healthy and your overall health in tip-top shape.
Extracts taken from Virgilio Marin from https://junkfood.news