Who doesn’t love to indulge in the occasional doughnut…or two? Many times, we find ourselves craving the sweet, fried, satisfying taste we get with each bite of a freshly made Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’ doughnut. While we’re delighting in the taste of the deep-fried food, do we stop and consider how much we’re hurting our body? Chances are, no. When we fulfill that craving and consume the sugary dessert, it could contribute to a number of health risks like weight gain and diabetes. Instead, we should try to find other tasty, healthier treats to eat.
Reader’s Digest Editors (2017) listed doughnuts as one of the worst foods you can eat because they contain the “unholy trinity of unhealthy ingredients…trans-fat, sugar, and refined flour.” In order to make us a little more conscientious of the possible health risks of eating doughnuts, here are a few reasons why we should resist the cravings:
- LOADED WITH SUGAR. This sugary food can be quite addictive like many other sweet treats because it contains a lot refined sugar in it. Oddly enough, whenever we eat sugary foods like doughnuts, neurotransmitters excite the brain just like it would if you were to have cocaine. Dopamine receptors spike and over time of constant doughnut consumption, tolerance levels rise, and you crave even more sugar in order to reach satisfaction. Some people have classified sugar as a drug because, like a drug addiction, may people will have cravings, binges and even withdrawals.
- LOADED WITH FAT. Along with lots of sugar, doughnuts contain a large amount of trans-fat, which is an unhealthy fat. Doughnuts can contain up to “10 to 20 grams of fat each and between 250 to 300 empty calories” (The Worst Foods You Can Eat, 2017). This can raise your cholesterol levels and can increase your risk of having heart disease or a stroke.
- DOES NOT FILL YOU UP. Some people love having a doughnut with their morning coffee. They are comfort food for some, but they are also empty calories that should be avoided. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so consuming that much sugar, carbohydrates that turn into sugar, and fat so early in the morning is not the best choice of a meal. No matter how many doughnuts you eat, they will not fill you up, but instead cause you to have an unnerving stomachache, which no one wants at the start of their day.
- IT’S HARD TO EAT JUST ONE. As previously stated, doughnuts contain loads of sugar, so it is very hard to only have one at a time when there are many different flavors and fillings to choose from. Just ask your local police officer! If having just one doughnut were so easy, then they probably wouldn’t have the option for you to buy a dozen at a time and mix-n-match what kinds of doughnuts are in that dozen.
- COULD CONTRIBUTE TO MULTIPLE HEALTH ISSUES. Due to the high amounts of sugar (carbohydrates) and trans fats, eating doughnuts on a consistent basis could contribute to a number of health risks like weight gain, Type II Diabetes, heart disease and stroke. When blood sugar levels are spiked and bad cholesterol levels are increased multiple times throughout the week, over time, these levels could contribute to multiple health issues (Picincu, 2018).
Many of us enjoy a tasty, satisfying doughnut but we should always be mindful of what
we are putting in our bodies and asking ourselves, is it worth the risk? I’m not saying that having a doughnut once or twice every so often will contribute to health issues but too much sugar and trans fat consumption can eventually hurt the body. Instead, turn to more natural sugars or healthier dessert options to fulfill your sugary cravings, and try not to go nuts for doughnuts!
References
Editors, R. D. (Ed.). (2017, November 17). The Worst Foods You Can Eat. Retrieved
November 1, 2019, from https://www.thehealthy.com/food/the-worst-foods-you-can-eat/.
Picincu, A. (2018, December 18). Health Effects of Doughnuts. Retrieved November 1,
2019, from https://www.livestrong.com/article/471877-health-effects-of-doughnuts/.
