Published: 3/15/2025

Sugars in simple terms are dense carbohydrates (made up of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen molecules) that provide instant energy to our bodies. Carbohydrates are essential as they are the primary energy source for our body and provide the necessary energy for the functioning of muscles and the brain. In the absence of carbohydrates, our body starts to utilise its stored energy in the form of glycogen found in our muscles and liver. When the glycogen gets depleted, our body turns to stored fats to meet its energy requirements.

Now what if we consume an excess of carbohydrates? Well, this is exactly where we start to experience the modern lifestyle diseases—obesity, type 2 diabetes, lethargy, etc. In this week’s blog, we will be going through the rise of sugar in our diet and how it is harming us. Let’s begin.

Disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist nor an expert. All the information shared in this blog is based upon the knowledge gained through personal experiences, reading books, online articles, blogs, and watching videos on the topic.

Sugar has become our daily staple these days; it is found in cakes, chocolate, beverages like tea/coffee, biscuits & namkeens but what if I reveal that a major factor behind the growth of modern lifestyle diseases is actually “excess sugar” in our diet? Sugar triggers insulin in our blood, which then consumes this sugar to first utilise it for energy consumption, and if there is excess, then to store it in muscle and liver as glycogen. If we still have excess sugar in our blood, then insulin stores it as fat (more specifically, visceral fat) around our tummy area. It is this excess sugar due to which you are seeing grown tummies of people around you.

Furthermore, sugar is not even required by our body and is, in fact, just a taste enhancer for us. The need for sugar by our body is limited to certain situations, like to get instant energy after an intense session of playing a sport or walking in the sun for a long period of time at a stretch. Apart from these specific situations, there is no need to consume sugar, and our body can self-manage the extra energy requirement by utilising the energy stored instead.

But why do we have excess sugar inside us?

An interesting question to ask, which has a depressing answer, is because it is addictive and it sells. Sugar provides us with instant energy and makes us feel energetic, along with giving us that sweet, sweet taste in our mouth. This makes us crave it more and more, making it addictive. This addictive nature of sugar is being exploited by food manufacturers to sell us their “good tasting” products. Sugar is also used to hide the natural taste of drinks (heard of Gatorade anyone?) just so that it can be sold at scale and more people like its taste. Yeah, we have this type of shady practices going on as well.

What can we do to protect ourselves from excess sugars, Mayank?

Well, for starters, start by looking at the nutrition labels behind the product that you buy. If it has added sugar in it, then try to keep it aside, but if it's natural to have added sugar (like breads), then look for ones that have less than 20g of sugar per 100g of serving. Next, try to eat only those sweet foods that have fibre with them—fruits, gajar ka halva, pinnie, etc. Try to keep your diet as natural as possible (meaning consuming foods that come directly from farms, like fruits and vegetables).

Keep an active lifestyle with the advised 30 minutes of walking/exercise for 3-4 days weekly. Also, doing intermittent fasting for 12-16 hours once a week will also help you in regulating your sugar level. Avoid sugary beverages, breads, and cakes, and not eating late at night (after 10) are some ways of managing your sugar levels. Try small and then increase the number of changes you aim to make in your diet. Experiment and see what works with your body and lifestyle such that it can be done consistently for the rest of your life. Healthy habits take time to develop but serve you throughout your life.

This brings us to the end of this week’s blog; I hope you learnt something new today, which was new and helpful. Check out the rest of the blogs, which range from topics from economics to investment to dopamine (personal favourite). Thank you for tuning in. :)