“If you eat too much sugar, you are constantly hungry,” says Dr. Ahlemann. “The reason for this is that sugar drives up blood glucose levels in the short term, but has no lasting satiating effect due to the lack of fibre.”
2. Acne
“When we eat sugar, not only does the insulin level rise, but also a hormone in the blood called insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1 for short,” says Dr. Ahlemann. The expert goes on: “Together with insulin, this IGF-1 stimulates the sebaceous glands and excessive keratinisation in the area of the sebaceous glands, which is why they become clogged — and pimples and inflammation can form there.”
3. Mood swings
“The high increase in glucose levels in the blood leads to an insulin release — but this is often so strong that the blood sugar is not lowered to the normal level, but below the ‘baseline’, so that you have a relative hypoglycaemia, and this leads to cravings. And in some people, it also leads to mood swings and moodiness,” says Dr. Ahlemann.
4. Inflammation and weakened immune system
“Normally, sugar is absorbed by the body via the small intestine. However, if the amount of simple sugars such as glucose and fructose that we consume exceeds the capacity of our small intestine, this simple sugar ends up in the large intestine,” explains Ahlemann.
According to the nutrition expert, it becomes food for bacteria that belong in the large intestine: “Selective feeding leads to a proliferation of these bacteria. The problem is that, unfortunately, they carry endotoxins on their bacterial surface. These are so-called lipopolysaccharides. These endotoxins can then leave the gut, enter the bloodstream and lead to silent inflammation, which accelerates the ageing of the body, and weakens the immune system.”
5. Lacklustre skin
Dr. Ahlemann explains: “It is scientifically proven that the high intake of sugars leads to the formation of so-called AGEs (= Advanced Glycation End Products).” The expert compares the effect to caramelisation and explains: “In our collagen, the fibres should ideally run in parallel; when the tissue is saccharified, there are cross-links in the collagen connective tissue, which makes it stiff, brittle, easier to degenerate and — very importantly — the body is also less able to repair it if it is cross-linked. This means that the quality of our collagen deteriorates.”
A version of this article originally appeared on Vogue Germany.
