The 2 Popular Food Additives That Are Erasing Years From Your Life

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Food additives and chemical preservatives have a huge impact on our health — much more so than many people realize. There are two additives in particular, however, that are not only very common, but most people already know that they are dangerous! Why do people continue to use these two additives even though they are aware of the dangers? Because they are very flavorful and yet, very addicting. The two most popular food additives we are talking about are salt and sugar. Keep reading!

The Very Real Dangers Of Added Sugar

There is no denying the overwhelming statistics showing that American’s love of sugar and its increasing levels of consumption have led to the rising rates of obesity in this country. One study, which was completed in 2011 and followed subjects for 20 years, found that those who increased their intake of sugar gained one extra pound every four years. For every sugar-filled soda they drank, the number of pounds gained was even higher.

Sugar is the reason behind the very high levels of Type 2 diabetes in America. Imperial College in London published a 2013 study finding that subjects who consumed just one sugary soda each day increased their risk of developing diabetes by 22 percent!

Our bodies were never designed to handle this amount of processed sugar. When we consume large amounts of sugar, the body releases insulin to try to deal with it. When there is more energy than the body can use at that moment, it stores the excess as fat, most often around the waist. Continued consumption of sugar causes insulin levels to go even higher, which causes damage to the blood vessels, increasing the risk of other health problems including stroke, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Perhaps the worst kind of refined sugar is the type that is consumed most often: High fructose corn syrup. This is a highly concentrated type of sugar that is found in almost all processed foods. Consuming high fructose corn syrup usually results in a fructose “overload” for your liver. This type of sugar clogs the liver’s function and can result in fatty liver disease or even liver failure.

Even if you avoid high fructose corn syrup, other studies have linked refined sugar to an increased risk of depression, headaches, premature aging, obesity, suppression of the immune system function, and colorectal cancer.

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