1. Excess Sugar Can Cause Premature Ageing

Eating too much sugar over a period of time can lead to long term damage to the proteins that help your skin to stay youthful. Damage to these proteins causes premature wrinkles. Sugar also has the tendency to affect your hormonal balance and promote conditions like acne. If you're having skin issues, that's one of the signs you might be eating too much sugar.

2. Sugar Causes Cravings

You would have thought that constant food cravings were a sign of not eating enough, but when it comes to sugar, your body gets used to having a ‘quick fix’ and therefore these cravings will occur not when you are hungry, but when you are low on the thing that you have become addicted to, in this case, sugar.

3. Sugar Causes Fluctuations in Energy Levels

Eating too much sugar wreaks havoc with your blood sugar. When you eat sugar, there is an immediate energy boost because the pancreas releases insulin to transfer glucose to your body’s cells. However, once that sugar is used up, it demands more sugar and you crash. The more sugar you eat, the more pronounced these fluctuations will be.

4. Excess Sugar Causes Random Bloating

The more you eat, the more undigested food there is going to be in your stomach and colon. Bad bacteria love to feast on these undigested sugars, which leads to a much higher rate of gas being produced in your body. The more gas you have in your body, the more uncomfortable and bloated you are going to feel.

5. You’ve Got a Weak Immune System

70% of your immune system lives in your gut, supported by an array of beneficial gut bacteria. If your diet is high in sugar, then your gut will be filled with more bad bacteria than good, thereby having a negative impact on your immune system. Signs of a weak immune system include falling prey to colds and flu, taking a long time to recover from an illness, and regular headaches.

6. Insomnia Can Be the Result of Excess Sugar Consumption

Over eaters tend to ingest more food than they should at night, in the form of a big dinner and then snacking. Eating foods at this time can cause an energy rush that will keep you awake well in to the early hours of the morning. If you have been having trouble sleeping, then cut out the sugary nighttime snacks and you will likely see a difference.

7. Weight Gain

Our bodies need the energy from the sugar in our food, but what happens when we eat too much? All that excess sugar energy has to go somewhere. The body converts it to fat and stores it. If you don’t burn off the energy you’re creating, quite simply, you put on weight.

Remember! Sugar isn’t just the spoonful of white granules you add to your coffee. Sugar appears in many forms, under many names, in many processed foods, even savoury ones. Familiarise yourself with its various guises so you know how much you are eating.