We explore sugar and inflammation and how to reduce the effects on your body.
But does sugar cause inflammation?
Here, we speak with a registered dietitian to discuss the effects of added sugar on the body.
While many foods contain sugar, it’s added sugars that can lead to chronic inflammation.
In this article, we refer to added sugars as sugar.
Samantha Bartholomew, MS, RDN is a registered dietitian in Massachusetts.
How Much Sugar Causes Inflammation?
For reference, a standard 12-ounce can of soda has about 126 calories of sugar.
Here are the top ways sugar causesinflammation in the body.
AGEs also form when cooking food at high temperatures (like frying or grilling) through theMaillard reaction.
High levels of AGEs can harm cells in the body and lead to health issues, including inflammation.
Additionally, when combined with a high-fat diet, sugar leads to excess CML production.
In turn, this can result in insulin resistance, which prevents your body from adequately processing glucose.
Insulin resistance also triggers the body to increase production of the MCP1 protein, which then activates inflammatory cells.
This reaction to insulin resistance and the increase in pro-inflammatory cells can lead to low-grade inflammation in the body.
The healing effects vary by person and depend on how much inflammation your body has.
But that’s easier said than done: We’re human beings with taste buds.
Reducing the amount of added sugars you eat daily will help relieve and prevent inflammation.
However, sugar is not the only culprit.
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