The bad news is that a diet high in sugar causes your liver to create more bad cholesterol (LDL) and lessen good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood, which is poor news for people who are worried about their cholesterol levels. Ad

How Sugar Affects Your Cholesterol, Actually

The bad news is that a diet high in sugar causes your liver to create more bad cholesterol (LDL) and lessen good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood, which is poor news for people who are worried about their cholesterol levels. Additionally, they increase triglyceride levels, raising the danger of heart disease.

 

Sugar's effect on cholesterol levels

It's critical that everyone understands that sugar has negative consequences on the heart. Studies show that it has a detrimental effect on your lipids, body weight, and risk of developing diabetes. Sugar merely provides your body with calories; it has no nutritional advantages.

Sugary foods cause your liver to produce more low-density lipoprotein or harmful cholesterol. (LDL). Consuming sugary foods lowers your body's level of high-density lipoprotein, a beneficial form of cholesterol. A form of blood fat called triglycerides is increased in your bloodstream when you consume too much sugar.

The good cholesterol, HDL, works to remove LDL, the harmful cholesterol, from the bloodstream and deliver it to the liver for eventual elimination from the body. It is advised to have HDL levels of 40 mg/dL or above. However, your health will be improved the higher your HDL levels are. Regular exercise and weight control have also been demonstrated to considerably increase HDL levels, in addition to reducing sugar intake.

Triglycerides - Consuming sugar has also been proved to raise your body's triglyceride levels. Triglycerides, a kind of fat, circulate in the blood when the body needs energy in between meals and help to boost your appetite. Triglycerides can be brought down to the recommended range of 150 mg/dL with weight management and a diet high in vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids. A cholesterol-lowering diet can help lower triglycerides below the advised amounts.

High sugar intake not only affects cholesterol levels but also raises the risk of heart disease. Therefore, cutting back on sugar is beneficial for overall health and wellbeing.

Sugar's impact on the body's metabolism

There is a noticeable increase in your blood glucose after eating sugar. In turn, this results in an instant rise in the hormone insulin, which stores fat. According to popular belief, eating more sugar causes your body to release more insulin, which causes you to store more fat. When you have a buildup of body fat, your resistance to insulin increases. As a result, you create more insulin, which increases the accumulation of fat. This downward spiral may result in weight increase, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and other health issues.

Cut back on sugar to keep cholesterol levels stable.

• Say no to packaged pastries. This is one of the simplest yet most difficult methods to cut back on your sugar intake. For someone who enjoys sweet foods in particular, saying no to pastries could be challenging, but doing so might help you cut hundreds of calories from your diet. You can manufacture pastries in your kitchen by combining items that don't include sugar if you want to eat them.
• Recognize the hidden sources. Many items can cleverly conceal their inclusion of sugar. Even canned fruits and vegetables, meats, cereal bars, and salad dressings can contain added sugar.
• Be wary of goods marketed as "healthy"; some packaged foods may tempt you because they appear healthy on the exterior but may actually be laden with sugar. These items may be specially marked as low fat, fat-free, or gluten-free. It is crucial to note that these goods have a significant amount of sugar to make up for the absence of other ingredients.
• Look for the nutrition facts label. The nutrition facts label is a useful tool for determining the amount of sugar in packaged foods.
• Look at the ingredients: In addition to the nutritional information label, take a close look at the product's ingredients, which are very important. Consider purchasing goods with few ingredients, even if they do include sugar. On the ingredients label of some packaged goods, sugar may also be labelled as high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, agave nectar, and other names.
• To keep your cholesterol levels in your body at healthy levels, stay away from these high-cholesterol meals.