Can sugar cause cancer?

In our dear country, sugar is often used in food and drink. This sugar is made from sugarcane in our country, while in many countries it is made from beetroot. Sugar is called “table sugar” or “sucrose” in English. It is a type of sugar. There are many types of sugar. These are basically water or any liquid soluble carbohydrates which are called “starch” in Urdu.

Glucose and fructose are simple sugars, meaning they contain only one molecule. They are termed as “monosaccharides”. When their molecules combine, new species come into being. For example, sugar is formed by the combination of glucose and fructose. Maltose sugar is made by combining two glucose molecules. These two-molecule sugars are called disaccharides.

When the molecules of simple sugars are linked together in large numbers, the new types that are born are called “polysaccharides”. These new varieties usually lose their sweetness. Wheat, rice, potatoes and other grains, vegetables and fruits are types of complex sugars.

It is clear from the above facts that Allah Almighty has created many types of sugars in grains, fruits and vegetables. What is the reason for this? The reason is that one type of this sugar, glucose, is the primary fuel for our cells.

Our billions of cells get energy from glucose and thus keep us alive. An important member of the human body kingdom, the brain gets most of its energy from glucose.

That is why compound and complex sugars reach our body and are converted into glucose through chemical process. Cells then break down the glucose through a chemical process (glycolysis) to make a molecule called ATP. This molecule fuels billions of cells and enables them to function.

It is also clear from the facts that if a person eats daily grains, fruits, vegetables and meat in the required amount, then he gets a good amount of sugars. These sugars then provide energy to the cells and keep the human healthy. The problem arises when people overeat foods, especially those containing simple sugars.

Until the 19th century, simple sugars were scarce in the human diet. Common people would fill their stomach with bread, rice, vegetables and meat. In the same century, sugar began to be produced in large quantities in factories. Thus cheap sugar was used instead of molasses.

Cheap sugar gave rise to bakery goods and new sweet foods like cakes, biscuits, pastries, ice cream, puddings, yolks, sweets, etc. and they became popular with the masses. I came and started drinking while eating.

All simple sugars, including sugar, do not contain any nutrients, they merely provide energy to the cells. These simple sugars do not harm human health if consumed in moderation. The problem arises when a large number of sweet and carbohydrate foods are consumed.

The reason is that eating more sweet and carbohydrate foods naturally produces more energy in the human body. This excess energy is then stored by our liver in the form of fat in special cells (adipocytes). If there is an abundance of these special cells in the body, the person starts to get fat.

Sometimes in the human body, the energy generated from sweet and carbohydrate foods becomes so much that it begins to accumulate in the form of fat in the liver. This fat then gives rise to a dangerous liver disease, “Fatty liver disease”. Unfortunately, if this disease is not treated in the beginning, it takes the form of cancer. So it has been proven that by eating more sugary foods, a person can suffer from liver cancer.

As mentioned, excessive consumption of sweet and carbohydrate foods leads to an excess of energy in the human body. The liver and gall bladder have to work very hard to dispose of this energy. The pancreas releases the hormone insulin, which helps the excess sugar in the body enter the cells.

If this process continues due to the excess of sugars in the body and becomes unnatural, there is a risk of cancer. The reason is that cancer is basically a disease caused by cell damage.

Obesity also causes various types of cancer. As if the obesity caused by the excess of sugars can also cause a person to suffer from a deadly disease like cancer. What happens is that when there is an abundance of fat cells (adipocytes) in the human body, they eventually cause inflammation.

To eliminate this inflammation, our body releases various hormones and other growth factors in large quantities. By increasing the amount of these hormones and growth factors, the process of new cell generation is accelerated. It should be noted that cells go through the stages of division and division to give rise to new cells.

Because increased levels of hormones and growth factors cause cells to divide unnaturally quickly, there is a chance that the abnormal acceleration may cause a genetic defect in a new cell.

How sensitive this process is, it can be estimated that out of the 20,000 genes of a new human cell, if there is even a slight defect in just one gene, it becomes the cause of cancer. Because all cells born from this defective cell will have the same defect. These damaged cells form a tumor and lay the foundation for cancer.

It is clear from the above facts that sugar may not directly but indirectly cause cancer in humans who eat too much sweet and carbohydrate foods and neglect moderation. Then new diseases have to attack them.

Remember, medical experts say that a healthy man should eat no more than eight teaspoons of sugar a day. While women take maximum six spoons of sugar. More than this can be harmful to health. Unfortunately, most of the Pakistanis consume too much sugar every day and perhaps that is why this food is becoming expensive.

A glass of soft drink contains six to ten teaspoons of sugar. As if a person drank such a glass in a day, then the quota of sugar was fulfilled. But usually he has to eat or drink more sugary foods while working throughout the day. That’s why excess sugar starts to make the body sick by producing more energy. Inflammation is the first sign of this unnatural process. And if this inflammation does not end, it eventually makes a person suffer from cancer.