Negative Effects of Sugar on Your Body

Whether you are just looking into cutting back on sugar, or have started and are looking 
for motivation to keep going, one important thing to do is learn why you should cut back. 
This starts with having a better understanding of what sugar is actually doing to your 
body. Here are some of the more common negative effects a lot of added sugar can 
have on your body.

It Can Overload Your Liver

This is probably one of the most common adverse side effects that added sugar has on 
your body. Your liver is put in jeopardy if you consume too many foods with added 
sugar, since fructose can overload it. Sugar will be broken down into fructose and 
glucose, and your liver can only metabolize so much of it at one time. This may lead to 
issues later on with your liver. It is important to note that the amount of fructose needed 
to overload your liver is only possible with an excessive amount of added sugar, so 
fructose found in fruit is likely not nearly enough to cause this.

You May Gain Weight

Having too much sugar in your body can also trick your body into holding onto weight or 
gaining weight, making it very difficult to manage a healthy body. When you have too 
much fructose in your body, it doesn’t stimulate insulin properly. This ultimately causes 
your hunger hormone to work in overdrive, which is why you tend to eat more or feel 
hungrier after you have eaten foods with a lot of added sugar. When you keep feeling 
hungry, you eat more to be satiated, and thus have a much higher risk of gaining 
weight. 

It Can Increase Your Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

While sugar is not the only culprit for type 2 diabetes, it can definitely help it progress 
further. This is due to insulin resistance of your body when you consume high amounts 
of sugar. As mentioned previously, your body becomes resistant to insulin when it is 
trying to digest a lot of fructose, which can cause mismanaged levels of blood sugar. 
This in turn may increase your risk for diabetes, or accelerate it to where you notice its 
effects much sooner.

Sugar Can Exacerbate Mood and Mental Issues

If you are someone who suffers from mood swings or mental health issues, you might 
notice that they become worse when you consume a lot of sugar. Sugar causes a short-
term boost of energy that leads to a much longer sugar crash. This in turn can make it 
harder when dealing with mental health issues like depression, as the crash often 
mimics a depressive episode. Too much sugar can also cause severe mood swings and 
irritability.
