It’s that time of year again, when all the sweets in the supermarket are 3 for 2, selection boxes are everywhere, and when you visit relatives, a cake or biscuit is the first thing you will be offered. Yes, it’s Christmas!
I know just from myself that my sugar intake increases dramatically as Christmas time draws closer. It’s almost as if I allow myself to eat as much as I want because I feel that it’s a time of indulgence. The question is what impact is this sugar intake having on my body and also my fertility.
Research has shown that consuming a lot of sugar may lead to infertility or make fertility issues worse. As we move through the Christmas period, it’s important to note how much sugar we are actually consuming, and if this can be reduced.
High sugar intake can lead to hormone disruption. Foods containing sugar are broken down quickly in the body, and this in turn raises our insulin levels too quickly. The high in sugar levels creates a high in our bodies that can last anything from a few minutes to half an hour. After that our sugar levels go down again and then it leaves our bodies drained and exhausted. This causes a fight or flight reaction as the adrenal glands are stimulated. Hormones that are produced by the adrenals are not produced very often thus this constant production caused by sugar can make them sluggish. This can lead to a hormonal imbalance.
Consuming excess sugar can also lead to insulin resistance. As our pancreas creates insulin the consumption of sugar foods requires our pancreas to create more insulin, thus building an insulin resistance.
Low immunity also comes with exceed sugar intake. This isn’t good at Christmas time as there are already so many colds and flu’s going around that it’s harder to recover from the illness.
Hormone disruption and lower immunity are not good for fertility. So the simple advice is: go easy on the sugar!