Stress Can Challenge Your Ability to Metabolize Sugar

Sugar is a crystalline carbohydrate that makes food and drinks taste sweet. Although some people can simply ignore the symptoms of sugar addiction, for others, it can have similar effects on the brain as illicit drugs do. Ironically, without a small amount of glucose, the brain cannot function properly as it depends on sugar for energy.

Treats cause a rush of glucose and endorphins into the bloodstream. From a science perspective, palatable food not only tastes great but when you eat it, you want more. Sugar has been shown to have a similar effect when eating a sweet treats or consuming refined sugars used in food processing. While it may not directly cause a heart attack, sugar addiction is linked to numerous conditions.

• Reduced Stress - When stress is high, you don't get enough sleep, your hormones go haywire, and your body is challenged to metabolize glucose as it should. Getting quality sleep at night can help balance blood sugar.
• Improved Libido - Consuming large amounts of sugar will definitely create spikes that result in a man feeling fatigued. The sex drive or libido is negatively impacted. Moreover, added sugars can cause a decrease in testosterone hormone that directly influences a man's sex drive.
• Never Enough - It is in our best interest that we have an inherent desire for food to survive. However, when this desire goes awry, unhealthy dependence on food or unbearable food cravings interfere with health and well-being. Although sugar doesn't have to be, it can be addictive.
• Fewer Headaches - Excessive amounts of sugar have an interesting effect on the body, simultaneously leaving you wired but eventually tired. That is a blood sugar crash that often leads to hunger, cravings, anxiety and headaches.

Glucose, fructose and lactose are naturally occurring in fruits and vegetables but many packaged foods contain added or refined sugars to enhance flavor. It is the sugars that have been added to foods that are a contributor to many health conditions. A report issued by the University of Utah claimed that even consuming added sugars within the recommended levels could still be harmful to health.

Instead of avoiding sugar completely, many health experts believe it can be consumed as part of a healthy dietary intake, with some medical researchers suggesting that sugar also has benefits. Cutting natural sugars from your diet would be difficult to achieve and, unless you have a medical need to eliminate all sugar, is usually not necessary to maintain good health.