In the food industry, many ingredients are used to enhance the flavor, color, or texture of foods, making them more appealing to us. And indeed they are, many are delicious, and we want to gift them to a loved one or a friend to share that taste and give them pleasure with this food.
One of the ingredients we will discuss in this blog is sugar.
Sugar belongs to the nutrient group called carbohydrates, more specifically simple carbohydrates, which means that it is easy or simple for our intestines to absorb. Therefore, it quickly enters the bloodstream to be transported throughout the body and used as a source of energy to perform muscle movements, keep our brain functioning, make our hair grow, and fulfill many other functions that require energy.
Under normal metabolic conditions, sugar is digested, absorbed in our intestines, and then used by a cell to produce energy.
So, what happens when we consume much more sugar than we use?
Our body has many cells, which are like small “engines” capable of producing the energy we need. These cells have many “entry doors” through which they allow the nutrients needed for them to function. In the case of the door for sugar, when we consume a lot of it over a long period without using it for energy, it damages the “lock” on the cell door. The “key” that should open it, called Insulin, cannot open it. So, it becomes difficult for sugar to enter, causing it to accumulate in the blood. This condition is known in medicine as Insulin Resistance. The cell (the door that should open) resists receiving the insulin (the key that should open the cell door), making it difficult for the body to produce energy and use sugar. As a result, whenever we eat sugar, having this Insulin Resistance, it accumulates in the blood.
The body has sensors in the blood that notify an organ in our abdomen, called the Pancreas, which is responsible for producing Insulin (the key), that there is too much sugar in the blood. When the pancreas is informed that there is a lot of sugar in the blood, it starts producing a lot of Insulin (many keys) to try to get all that sugar into the cells, where it should go, and prevent it from staying in the blood, where it shouldn’t be. But as we saw, the problem of having sugar in the blood is not due to a lack of Insulin (keys), but a problem with the lock on the cell door. Therefore, no matter how much Insulin (keys) the Pancreas produces, the sugar will not decrease in our blood if we do not reduce the consumption of foods high in this nutrient. So, if we continue eating large amounts of sugar and carbohydrates in general, having this condition of Insulin Resistance, the pancreas, thinking that it has too much sugar and needs to produce many keys to introduce this sugar into the cell, will eventually become overworked. As a diligent worker, when it is overburdened by the task of producing too many keys to use sugar that cannot be utilized, it ends up “exhausted” and starts to fail in its Insulin production (keys). Once we reach the point where the Pancreas can no longer produce insulin normally, it is termed “Diabetes,” a condition where the process of using sugar to generate energy in the cells (the engines) does not function normally.
This is the starting point where medication and medical treatment are required to enable the body to use sugar as energy, achieved through drugs, which we will discuss in a future blog.
In conclusion, I do not mean to say that simply eating sugar causes Diabetes. What I am referring to is that when consumed in large quantities over a prolonged period, combined with a sedentary lifestyle (where no physical activity is done, and the body is not given a chance to use more energy), it can first lead to Insulin Resistance. With this condition, if awareness is not raised and the habits that led to this diagnosis are not changed, Diabetes can develop.