Eating a diet high in sugar and processed foods may make working out more difficult according to the NY Times. It's no secret that too much sugar in our diets is not good for us. It is also well known that highly processed foods are also not good for us. The combination of a diet high in sugar and processed foods can result in metabolic syndrome and leave us with insulin resistance, higher than normal blood sugar levels also known as pre-diabetes. A recent study in mice suggests that high blood sugar levels can make exercise more difficult and that those who eat too much sugar will have greater difficulty with exercise, while also deriving less benefit from it. Those of us with hyperglycemia tend to be out of shape, have a higher risk of heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. We typically know this as the beginning of metabolic syndrome and higher than normal blood sugar levels. A new study, which was published this month in Nature Metabolism, researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and other institutions decided to raise blood sugar levels in mice and see what happened when they exercised. The study suggested something we have already assumed; bathing your tissues in blood sugar is not a good idea and can blunt the effects of exercise. For years, dieticians and health care providers have told their patients to cut down on their sugar intake. This study gives us more evidence to suggest we do. Check out the article below: Is Your Blood Sugar Undermining Your Workouts? Eating a diet high in sugar and processed foods could dent our long-term health in part by changing how well our bodies respond to exercise. By Gretchen Reynolds July 29, 2020 People with consistently high levels of blood sugar could get less benefit from exercise than those whose blood sugar levels are normal, according to a cautionary new study of nutrition, blood sugar and exercise. The study, which involved rodents and people, suggests that eating a diet high in sugar and processed foods, which may set the stage for poor blood sugar control, could dent our long-term health in part by changing how well our bodies respond to a workout. We already have plenty of evidence, of course, that elevated blood sugar is unhealthy. People with hyperglycemia tend to be overweight and face greater long-term risks for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, even if, in the early stages, their condition does not meet the criteria for those diseases. They also tend to be out of shape. In epidemiological studies, people with elevated blood sugar often also have low aerobic fitness, while, in animal studies, rats bred with low endurance from birth show early blood-sugar problems, as well. This interrelationship between blood sugar and fitness is consequential in part because low aerobic fitness is closely linked to a high risk of premature death. Read more