Have you ever wondered or thought about what would happen if you completely cut out sugar? Well, it does have amazing benefits and can work wonders on the body. Cutting out sugar isn’t an easy task, and this is especially true if you have a sweet tooth, however, the health benefits are exponential and very rewarding too—and they kick in almost immediately after you do your possible best to curtail your sweet tooth. Here’s what happens when you cut down on sugar, or better still when you cut it completely.
A Younger You
According to Anthony Youn, MD, who is a plastic surgeon in Troy, Michigan, and author of The Age Fix: A Leading Plastic Surgeon Reveals How To Really Look Ten Years Younger, sugar equals wrinkles. Sugar usually causes glycation, which is a process by which the sugar molecules bind to and deform the collagen and elastin in our skin. Collagen and elastin are the two main proteins that collectively give our skin its youthful, supple properties, so we want to keep them as much as possible. Giving up or reducing the amount of sugar that you eat can also cut the significant glucose and insulin spikes in your bloodstream, which reduces chronic and acute inflammation that are linked to aging. You can get your glow on within 14 days of giving up sugar.
A Happier You
You might think eating a cookie once in a while will make you happy, but sugar consumption has actually been linked to higher rates of depression. This may be due to the fact that sugar can lead to chronic inflammation, which impacts the functions of the brain. When you completely cut out sugar, you might feel that fog lift from your brain, along with your mood, in as little as one to two weeks. Research also helps to back this up. Women who consumed foods that ranked high on the glycemic index, including those rich in added sugar, were five times more likely to be depressed than women who ate fewer of these sugary foods. This study appears in the June 2015 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. If you can control sugar spikes, then you can keep your moods in check, An example of this would be a kid on Halloween. After they eat all that sugary candy, then they get a sugar high and then they crash, and this is also what happens when adults eat sugar.
You’ll Lose Weight
According to the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. On average, we consume about 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day, which equals around 350 calories. Sugar can be addicting, and when we decrease the amount that we eat, it also significantly stops cravings, so we consume fewer calories and lose weight. When you eat refined sugar, your body may not get the signal that you are full, and this can cause you to consume too many calories and gain weight. Gilmore says, adding. When you replace sugar with nourishing whole foods, then your hormones will naturally regulate, sending signals to the brain when you’ve eaten enough. As a result of this, you will lose weight without trying so hard—often within the first week.
You’ll catch fewer colds
Sugar contributes significantly to chronic inflammation, and this lowers our immune system’s ability to fight off diseases such as colds and flu. What happens to your body when you stop eating sugar? “You’re likely to experience fewer sniffles year-round, and it may also help to reduce your allergy and asthma symptoms as well. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating 100 grams of sugar lowered white blood cells’ ability to kill bacteria by as much as 50 percent—and this effect lasted for up to 6 hours.
Lower Risk of Diabetes
Cutting sugar out of your diet gives your body a natural detox system a chance to do their job. In the first couple of hours without sugar, your pancreas will start to produce fewer amounts of insulin and your liver will also start to catch up on processing stored toxins. This process will take a little longer if you are already insulin resistant (this is a pre-diabetes state in which your body produces the hormone insulin, but doesn’t use it properly), he adds. The time for most of these symptoms to completely subside can run up to five weeks, and at this point, you will no longer be a salve to refined sugar.
Longer Life Span
In one April 2014 study, those who ate the most added sugar were most likely to die from heart disease than their counterparts who consumed the lesser amounts of sugar. When glucose spikes after eating sugary food, our insulin increases to compensate for it, and this activates a part of our nervous system that significantly increases blood pressure and heart rate. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, as is diabetes and obesity, and both have been linked to excessive sugar consumption. Sugar also increases unhealthy blood fats called triglycerides in the blood, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
It Will Improve Your Breath and Your Smile
Sugar is a major co-factor in causing cavities as it interacts with bacteria in your mouth to form the acid that causes teeth to decay. Your breath will also improve as sugar feeds the bacteria that causes bad breath. These benefits will be immediate, and will only get better with time.
You’ll have better sex
For many men, eating sugar causes an insulin spike that drives pathways that reduces sex drive and function, on the other hand, sugar also wreaks havoc on female sex hormones. This affects more than just your sex life and your desire for it as well. Furthermore, it can cause women to lose hair on their head, and grow it on their faces as well as develop acne and even have irregular periods. Reversing these effects are among the many benefits of cutting out sugar or reducing it.
You’ll sleep like a baby
If your midnight snack is loaded with sugar, it may rob you of the ability to get a good night’s sleep. People can develop low blood sugar and get night sweats if they have a sugary snack right before bed. Eating sugar before bed can also supercharge stress hormones, which leads to a hard time sleeping. What happens when you stop eating sugar? You will get higher quality zzz’s within two or three days of kicking the sugar habit to the curb.
Stay on Track
Giving up sugar is not necessarily easy. Sugar in its various forms is addictive and triggers withdrawal symptoms if we stop eating it. Mood changes like anxiety and anger usually last for about two weeks but tend to stay for up to a month if you have eaten a lot of sugar over a long period. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame cause withdrawal effects, so it’s best not to use them as means to reduce sugar intake. Headaches and flu-like symptoms may also occur, and you can cut them with a lot of exercises. A moderate to brisk paced walk or hike can help by slightly increasing circulation and metabolism, which will boost the immune system and give the person something positive to focus on.
