Sugar’s Double-Edged Sword: Aging Faster and Getting Sicker
The greatest driver of accelerated aging and chronic disease is an elevated blood sugar level from the high consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Our country is facing an unprecedented crisis of chronic illness. 6/10 adults have at least one chronic illness with poor metabolic health as the underlying cause. The average lifespan which for decades had been rising, is now in decline.
What exactly are we talking about? Let us start with the infamous top 5 chronic diseases we see: cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and arthritis. Now let us see what else is coming in hot: obesity, depression, dementia and chronic kidney disease. Then there is the surge of auto-immune diseases.
The Hidden Financial Toll
The financial impact of chronic disease is astronomical. 75% of all healthcare spending in the US is directed at these conditions. The economic burden is not just on direct healthcare costs but also on lost productivity, disability and reduced quality of life totaling an average of 3.7 trillion annually or about 19.6% of the US GDP.
What Is This Thing Called Metabolic Syndrome?
Metabolism refers to how the body processes and generates energy from its primary source, food. Metabolic health then, measures how efficiently the body performs its metabolic functions.
There are 5 biomarkers that are used to determine whether a person is metabolically healthy or operating with some level of metabolic dysfunction.
Let us see what is at the top of the list.
Glucose or blood sugar levels
Waist circumference
Blood pressure
Triglyceride levels
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels
These measurements must be within a specific range for someone to be metabolically healthy. Metabolic syndrome is defined as failure to meet at least 3 of these measurements. (1)
Tracing the Evolution of Sugar
In the early days of human existence, we did not have grocery stores on every corner. Since there was an infrequent supply of food, our bodies were efficient at storing the food energy in our cells for when we needed it. But now we eat multiple times a day. Historically, humans consumed a couple dozen teaspoons of natural sugar a year (berries, rare bit of honey). The average American now consumes nearly 60 pounds of added sugar a year. This has thrown our metabolism into a tizzy.
Insulin: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?
Insulin is the fat-storage hormone. It is an important peptide hormone produced by the pancreas. It drives sugar (glucose) in the blood stream into our cells for storage, providing them with the energy to function and maintaining blood sugar within a critical range. It also promotes cells to multiply and divide.
The higher the blood glucose, the more insulin is produced to maintain this critical balance. When we continue to flood our body with refined sugar and starches, spiking our blood glucose level, more and more insulin is pumped out. Eventually our cells start tuning out the signals from the high levels of insulin molecules and this is called insulin resistance. This condition sets off a cascade of deleterious effects, accelerating biological aging and increasing the risk of chronic disease.
As insulin levels remains high, it causes weight gain around the middle. More ominous than the weight gain is the damage at the cellular level from the insulin resistance which begins even before an elevated fasting blood glucose is detected. This is why doctors often miss the early signs of Type 2 Diabetes, one of the hallmarks of metabolic syndrome.
The Telltale Signs: Is Your Metabolism Struggling From Insulin Resistance?
Insulin resistance triggers widespread metabolic dysfunction, inflammation and cellular damage. This then affects organs and systems throughout the body, leading to a flood of health issues.
The storage of dangerous belly fat and loss of muscle increases inflammation, slows our metabolism and increases hunger and sugar cravings. Inflammation leads to damage to the lining of the blood vessels increasing the risk for blood clotting and plaques, high blood pressure, and worsening cholesterol profile (low HDL, high triglycerides and small LDL particles).
Gut health is profoundly impacted by insulin resistance, high blood glucose and inflammation. The bad bacteria in the gut love sugar. This promotes the growth of these bad bacteria and yeast and along with them, their toxic by-products. Increased intestinal permeability or leaky gut ensues allowing undigested foreign food particles and toxins to leak across the intestinal wall leading to more inflammation, setting the stage for auto-immune disease.
As the disease progresses more damaging effects are seen: fatty liver, altered sex hormones and sexual dysfunction, depression, brain shrinkage and memory loss, type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, dementia, and cancer.
Metabolic Makeover: Simple changes for Lasting Health
Reversing insulin resistance and improving metabolic health involves comprehensive lifestyle changes. It all comes down to creating metabolic flexibility. If you want to get a grip on your own biology and turn the ship around, first recognize that it’s not your fault. We live in a toxic nutritional terrain, where the food industry continues to pump out convenient ultra-processed food with high starch, sugar and oxidized oils.
The first step toward reversal is to eat real food in its whole unprocessed state. Dramatically cut out sugar, flour and starchy carbohydrates and all ultra-processed foods. Remove completely from your diet liquid sugar calories…soda, fruit juices, energy drinks with sugar, and sugary coffee drinks. Eat a high fiber, colorful plant rich diet with seeds and nuts. Use only non-oxidized fats and oils (no seed, corn, palm, canola oil) like avocado and extra-virgin olive oil. Eat plenty of high-quality protein.
Think about how to reset your metabolism. Take it one day, one choice, one bite at a time. Move your body. Add some strength training. Manage stress. Optimize sleep… all these add up to create health. Once your metabolism improves, inflammation goes down and the cascade slows to a trickle and stops, you will become more metabolically flexible. Then you can tolerate a wider range of foods.
By understanding the profound impact of diet and lifestyle choices on our metabolic functions, we can begin to alleviate the burden of chronic disease and improve our overall well-being.
Each choice we make---what to eat, how we move, and how we manage stress—can lead us toward a healthier and more joyful future.