Happy Halloween! The highlight for kids on Halloween night is the candy they get from going door to door, and if you’re like most parents, you’re going to try and limit the amount of candy they eat tonight and in the coming days. Sugar highs and sugar crashes are real things that you want to avoid, but sugar can also affect our bodies in other ways. One area in particular that can be affected by sugar is your feet.
So in today’s blog, we want to take a closer look at how your foot health can be impacted by sugar consumption. Hopefully it will help you make some healthier decisions when your kids come back with pillowcases full of candy tonight!
Sugar and Your Feet
The most common way that sugar can affect your feet is through the onset of inflammation. Studies have shown that excess sugar can lead to an increase in the number of cytokines in your bloodstream, which in turn causes body tissue to become inflamed. This can be especially problematic for individuals with foot conditions that can be made worse with inflammation or compression, like those with joint arthritis, tendinitis or plantar fasciitis. If you have any of those conditions, be aware of your sugar intake.
Another potential way sugar can affect our feet is in the form or weight gain. Sugary foods are empty calories, so consuming a lot of these foods in addition to our normal meals is a recipe for weight gain. Added weight is felt most noticeably in our feet and legs, which are tasked with shouldering this extra stress as we move. Losing weight and maintaining a healthy diet are two great ways to take stress off your feet.
A final way in which sugar can affect our feet is through the onset of diabetes. Diabetes can develop if you have high blood sugar levels and unregulated blood sugar levels, and regular candy consumption can put you at risk for both of these conditions. Diabetes tends to inhibit healthy blood flow to our extremities and can lead to nerve damage, so your feet are often the area that is most impact by diabetes. Cuts on your feet may be slow to heal, or infections can result in the loss of your foot. Be smart about your sugar consumption if you want to curb your risk for developing diabetes.
A couple of candies on Halloween night isn’t going to kill you, but make sure you and your children are limiting your sweets intake over the next couple days. You don’t need all those empty calories, and they could cause problems for your feet.
Have a safe and wonderful Halloween!