The importance of sugar intake for weight loss cannot be overlooked. Weight loss is possible without exercising but it is impossible without controlling your sugar consumption. According to the American Heart Association, men should not consume more than 9 teaspoons and women should not consume more than 6 teaspoons of sugar in a day. Excessive consumption of sugar also leads to several cardiovascular diseases.
Insulin is a vital hormone for the human body. It is responsible for transporting glucose from the bloodstream to the cells of the body and signals them to use glucose as fuel for energy expenditure. Elevated glucose levels are toxic for the body and reduce the metabolic rate. Excessive sugar intake is also responsible for the metabolic syndrome. When you consume too many carbohydrates, the pancreas emits insulin, which carries the glucose from the blood into the cells. With time, the cells stop responding to the insulin, causing insulin resistance.
This causes hormonal imbalance in the body and fat accumulation, leading to weight gain. If you don’t exercise, you compensate the deficiency with diets rich in healthy nutrients and proteins. But if you consume excess sugar, you will not be able to drop a pound no matter how hard you work out. Sugar intake leads to fructose resistance, which disables the brain from sensing the satiety signals and leads to increased food consumption and slows down the fat melting process. No matter how much sugar you consume, you will not feel full.
Sugar is addictive. It satisfies the reward system in the brain. This is the reason sugary foods are so addictive and you keep binging on them, despite knowing their effects. Exercise regimens may be hard to start, but once you do, they are easy to follow. Sugar, on the other hand, is difficult to get over once you get addicted. As a result, you eat more and burn less fat, decreasing energy levels and leading to a sedentary lifestyle, which further keeps you away from working out.
Sugar itself contributes to weight gain and adds to all those factors that can stimulate this process. High sugar intake is the leading cause of obesity. It has empty calories that just add to your weight without providing you any nutritional benefit. Your blood glucose level rises when you consume sugar. This leads to your liver secreting excess insulin. Weight loss without exercise is an achievable target but weight loss while consuming sugary products cannot be accomplished.