Does the body need sugar to survive? According to the American Heart Association (AHA) , the body does not need any added sugar to function healthily. Naturally occurring sugars come with a variety of nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy.
Reducing sugar intake has clear health benefits, including reduced calorie intake, which can help with weight loss, and improved dental health. But people sometimes report experiencing negative side effects when they try to eat less sugar. Headaches, fatigue or mood changes, which are , are among the symptoms.
You may live longer
In a 2014 study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, those who ate the most added sugar were most likely to die from heart disease than their counterparts who consumed the least.
The mean total sugar intake ranged from 46.1 g/day (female toddlers) to 68.7 g/day (male schoolchildren). In all age and sex groups, the major contributors of total sugar included sucrose (mean: 18.2–34.0 g/day), glucose (7.8–13.1 g/day), lactose (5.3–13.1 g/day) and fructose (7.6–11.1 g/day).
Detoxing from sugar can help you lose weight quickly. “We had over 80 testers from all over the country, and they lost anywhere between 5 to 20 pounds during the 31 days, depending on their weight or sugar addiction,” Alpert said. “Many also noticed that a lot of the weight was lost from their midsection.
But there's no need to add glucose to your diet, because your body can make the glucose it needs by breaking down food molecules like carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
You'll Feel Lighter, Brighter, and Happier
The underlying chronic inflammation that happens when we eat a high-sugar diet negatively impacts our brain function — one of the reasons we get blue with too many sweets.
After giving up sugar for two weeks, I lost a small, but noticeable amount of weight. Considering I didn't change any other aspect of my diet I was really surprised by this. What's more, the weight loss made me feel healthier and that is always a good thing as it can help to improve your health in other ways.
It's nearly impossible to cut all sugar out of your diet completely. "All carbohydrates break down into sugar once we eat them," Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, author of Unapologetic Eating and founder of Alissa Rumsey Nutrition and Wellness, told Health.
The American Academy of Dermatology emphasizes that a diet high in sugar can accelerate aging; although quitting sugar may not reverse signs of aging that have already manifested, it can slow their progression.
Nigma Talib, a naturopath who works with celebrities, has popularized the term “Sugar Face” to describe the effects that excess sugar has on the skin. Supposedly, she can look at someone's face and determine if they have a sweet tooth by the appearance and the location of their blemishes and wrinkles.
Giving up sugar will not only improve your immune system, it will also lessen your risk of chronic inflammation, which can increase your body's ability to fight off infections, including colds and the flu.
The United States is the biggest consumer of sugar on the globe. According to sources, the country's per capita sugar consumption is 126.4 grams daily. That translates to more than ten times the lowest recommended intake of 11grams per day.
Japan's success in avoiding the obesity problem faced by most of the western world is down to three main factors: an appreciation of good food from cradle to grave, a lifestyle that encourages incidental exercise, and a large dollop of paternalism.
Excess sugar makes the telomeres shorter and this, in turn, ages your cells. How much? One study estimates that each daily 20-ounce serving of a sugar-sweetened soda equals 4.6 additional years of cell aging.
After giving up sugar for two weeks, I lost a small, but noticeable amount of weight. Considering I didn't change any other aspect of my diet I was really surprised by this. What's more, the weight loss made me feel healthier and that is always a good thing as it can help to improve your health in other ways.
Drop your sugar intake at once. The Ohio University Medical Center determined that a sugar detox will take between 3-10 days. The more sugar you are normally taking in, the longer the detox will take. The good thing is, unlike other addictions, the intensity of the symptoms will decrease as you go on.
If you stop eating sugar for 30 days, your body will undergo some changes. Some of these changes include improved health, increased energy levels, decreased inflammation, weight loss, improved blood sugar levels, and improved blood lipids.
Nigma Talib, a naturopath who works with celebrities, has popularized the term “Sugar Face” to describe the effects that excess sugar has on the skin. Supposedly, she can look at someone's face and determine if they have a sweet tooth by the appearance and the location of their blemishes and wrinkles.
Don't Go Cold Turkey
Because our bodies are so used to sweet stuff, going sugar-free very abruptly can lead to withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, and mood swings, said Kohn.
When we eat sweet foods the brain's reward system — called the mesolimbic dopamine system — gets activated. Dopamine is a brain chemical released by neurons and can signal that an event was positive. When the reward system fires, it reinforces behaviours — making it more likely for us to carry out these actions again.