What is your favourite type of treat? Mine would be something sweet like a home-made brownie.

Sugar tastes great and a lot of us have a weak spot for sweets in some capacity. However, we all realise that eating too much is not good for our bodies. Here are a few signs that let you know you may be eating too much sugar.

Exhaustion

Sugar is full of empty calories. You get basically little to no nutrients at all while consuming it. You may feel a quick boost of energy after you eat it but you will end up crashing and being less active overall if you consume too much. The crashing feeling leads to a lack of energy and can hinder your long-term activity levels.

Weight gain

Have you noticed a little weight gain in new places on your body such as your stomach, hips or thighs? It could be due to a high sugar intake. Since sugar is full of non-nutrients, it immediately gets stored in the body’s fat pockets. It can wreak havoc on your metabolism in addition to making you less active. Your body has a challenging time handling the sugar intake and is forced to store it in your body. Your pancreas tries to keep your blood sugar levels stable but if you overload it constantly, weight gain is a realistic possibility. There is no real quality protein or fibre in sugary-laden foods, so you are just consuming things that will not aid in muscle growth and will exhaust your metabolism. Increased levels of insulin from your pancreas can result in gaining weight and could cause future health issues.

Cavities

No one truly loves visiting the dentist. Putting the sugar away will definitely create one less trip to the office. Sugar is simply terrible for your teeth. It can lead to gum disease, discolouration, and plenty of cavities – even while taking care of your teeth. There is bacteria that naturally grows on and in between our teeth, but eating sugar in excess ruins the cycle of the saliva that cleans our mouths naturally, leading to cavities.

Changes in our moods

Sugary foods cause rapid changes in how our bodies process food. A quick sugar high that leads to a fast crash will definitely change how you feel at any given moment after consuming it. After your crash, your body is challenged to keep its high energy level which is very hard to do. If you notice a feeling of moodiness or frustration after your sugar high fades away you are probably consuming too much to begin with.

Sugar cravings

Sugar is definitely addictive. If you constantly feel the need for a late night snack, you may have a small addiction. Your taste buds get used to consuming sugar but your hormonal system is also affected. Your body will crave more of the “high” feeling you get, even though it results in a crash. When you habitually eat sweet foods, your body sends off a feeling of joy that your body gets used to; the better the feeling the more your body will crave it.

Constantly sick

I think we all get excited about baked goods that come into the office. However, we probably are not thinking about our immune systems as we bite into a piece of gingerbread. Sugar definitely has a negative impact on our immune system and can lead to illness. Without eating nutritious foods and without exercising, our bodies will be less healthy overall. Sugar can immediately have an impact on your body’s strength, skin and overall health making you more susceptible to sicknesses.

Never full

How many of us can truly get full on a piece of glass candy or one sugar cookie? Even if you consume multiple sugar cookies and your caloric intake is increasing, as sugar has no nutritional value you will still be hungry. You will end up consuming more food because your brain tells you that you have a craving for more food. If you continue to eat more foods that are high in sugar it works as a never-ending cycle of temporarily satisfying your cravings with foods that will not fill you up and add plenty of useless calories.

Lowering your daily intake may be challenging at first but it can be done. If you need help consult your doctor or nutritionist to get you on the right path.

Ease up on the sugar and B-Active For Life!

• Betty Doyling is a certified fitness trainer and figure competitor with more than a decade of experience. Look for B. ActiveForLife on Facebook