I eat many Polo's and wonder if it's affecting my health?

I'm at school and every day i eat around 3-4 packets of spearmint Polos except saturday and sunday. is this affacting my health?

I eat many Polo's and wonder if it's affecting my health?
Yes, of course it will affect your health.





I'm wondering whether this is a real query or a homework question, but either way you might as well know what is going on here.





Firstly, polos are basically sugar with flavouring, so you are giving your body 'empty calories', i.e. sugar with nothing else beneficial added. Your body has to try and keep your blood sugar within certain limits, otherwise many body systems such as your kidneys are not going to work optimally. So when you subject it to an influx of sugar (from eating a packet of polos) you start a chain of events that lead to more insulin being produced. This regulates the blood sugar levels by storing sugar as glycogen in your liver and fat cells. So the insulin 'cleans up' the excessive amounts of sugar in your blood. *But* then your blood sugar levels drop and you may end up having a 'low' where your energy levels are really low and you crave more carbohydrates.





Secondly, if you snack on high calorie foods like this, unless you do a lot of exercise, you are likely to be consuming more calories than you need in a day. (You can't get all the protein, fat, vitamins and minerals you need each day from a few packs of mints, so I'm guessing you are eating other stuff as well as them.) If energy intake is greater than the energy you use, you are going to get fat.





It's far better to eat food with a low glycaemic index (GI), which release sugar slowly into your blood and don't give you sugar rushes or the lows that come later. I'm sure you can do a web search for information on low GI foods, it's quite a trendy diet at the moment. Plus low GI foods tend to be better for supplying your essential 'micronutrients' like vitamins and minerals.





Thirdly polos are known to be diuretic so if you are going to eat them, make sure you drink lots of water as well otherwise you are going to get dehydrated - and even mild dehydration has a huge effect on the way your body works. Your energy levels, mood and IQ get far worse if you don't drink enough water.





and I forgot to include the higher risk of tooth decay in my original answer, but you're probably aware of that already in any case





Is that enough??
Reply:Hi Matt, thanks for choosing my answer and I apologise for doubting whether it was a real question - there are so many people looking for homework help as a substitute for doing their own studying. Report It

Reply:Hi I like to eat this as well. About 2 in a day if I have it. But then it is true that it's not very good for ur health. U r eating too much. Avoid please.think it affects ur stomach. cant remember but it does affect ur health
Reply:Probably not, unless it's the sugar free version. The sugar free has an ingredient that can cause diarhea. If you were female, eating that many, suffering from diarhea and on the pill - I'd say stop eating them - or you might find yourself getting pregnant.





If you are eating the sugar free -read the warning on the side of the packet.
Reply:yup, its gonna ruin your teeth