The title of this article is taken from a book written by William Duffy in 1975. Think about it, a book published over fifty years ago talking about the ills of sugar and how the food industry has abused it. Unfortunately, things are worse today and not better. Deceptively, sugar is hidden in foods today by using alternative names. To date, there are over sixty different scientific and marketing terms used today to dupe the consumer.
The Hidden Dangers of Sugar
When it comes to sugar and health, many of us know the association between sugar and diabetes. Less known is the association between sugar and high cholesterol levels. Sugar will lower HDL or good cholesterol and raise LDL or bad cholesterol. In addition, sugar will also raise triglyceride levels which can also lead to other medical issues, like pancreatitis.
Today, however, I want to talk about the effects of sugar on inflammation. Additional sugar causes insulin spikes which leads to the release of inflammatory proteins by triggering the immune system.
Other byproducts associated with increased sugar in our systems is the formation of Advance Glycation End products or AGEs. These end products are capable of damaging tissue and causing undue stress on cells.
Excess sugar alters gut biomes and also contributes to inflammation of the gut which is known as intestinal permeability or more commonly, leaky gut. Recently I have written about how improving gut health has helped several patients with chronic UTIs.
Excess calories will lead to the accumulation of fat, especially visceral fat, or fat that surrounds internal organs. This type of fat is more prone to causing a chronic inflammatory state in patients. With the Covid-19 pandemic, it was the obese population that had the worst outcomes with Covid, again because of the chronic inflammatory state seen in that particular population.
Lastly, it has to be remembered that sugar can be as addictive as cocaine and nicotine. Sugar triggers the release of dopamine through the brain’s reward system.
All this is to help understand the challenges we face here in the United States and why we have an obesity problem and why many suffer with chronic inflammation. Many patients complain of fatigue, and is it any small wonder that chronic inflammation contributes to fatigue? Chronic inflammation is one of the most fatiguing ailments today.
In the perfect world, you would have time to shop for whole foods and prepare it yourself along with having enough time in the week to exercise 150-180 minutes a week. Unfortunately, we don’t live in the perfect world. There’s work, families and the dreaded commuting. In the nineties multiple studies showed a direct correlation between commuting times and weight gain. Go figure.
Breaking the Cycle with Peptide Therapy
This is why peptides like tirzepatide are becoming more popular. By having stricter control of sugar metabolism, people are losing weight, and are feeling better with less fatigue because inflammation is being reduced.
Recently, one woman who is being followed by a rheumatologist stated that when her dose of tirzepatide was halved from 5 mg to 2.5 mg, her joint pain returned.
It would be nice if the United States could return to a simpler time when the food industry was more concerned with quality over profits and hopefully we will return to those days, but until then, many will need to depend on peptides to have a better quality of life.
