By disrupting metabolism, excess sugar makes you fatter than fat. And it’s a vicious circle that starts, because the sweet, in addition, makes you addicted Are all sugars fattening? What is the impact of excess sugar on health? And from what moment is one considered “addicted”? All the answers from our experts.
For a long time, excess fat was blamed for weight gain. Most weight loss diets tracked their slightest trace: it was the fashion for 0% and steam cooking. Normal, the arguments in this sense are not lacking: on the one hand, fats are the most energetic nutrients (1 g of lipids provides 9 calories, against 4 for carbohydrates and proteins) and on the other hand, the fact to gain weight manifests itself on the body by the increase in fatty tissue.
Today, in support of scientific advances, we are coming back to it. “The shortcut ‘it’s eating fat that makes you fat’ is easy”, explains Dr Réginald Allouche.
The role of blood sugar and insulin in weight gain
Things are actually more complicated: what mainly disturbs the metabolism is the excess of sweets and foods rich in hidden sugars. Moreover, the number of overweight people is changing at the same time as the explosion of sugar consumption in our societies. »
Everything is linked to the secretion of a hormone, insulin”, explains the nutritionist. “It is the guardian of the keys that open our cells in order to feed them. Produced and released by the pancreas when glycemia (blood sugar level) rises, following the consumption of carbohydrates, its role is to bring glucose into the cells, in order to bring blood sugar back to a normal value.
When it is not used by the body (in particular to provide physical effort), the glucose that enters the cells is then stored in the form of fat, always under the control of insulin. “That’s the whole paradox: in charge of storing, our adipose tissue stores sugar more easily!”.
When eating too much sugar is also bad for your health
“Beyond weight gain, the excess of sugary products is particularly harmful to health”, warns Réginald Allouche.
