Sugar is one of the most addictive things in our day to day life. There is probably nothing else on which we are this dependent on.
Imagine a casual day – you wake up and have a cup of tea or coffee, around 11 you munch onto something say a cookie or some chocolate, after lunch there are many who like to eat something sweet, around 5 pm again a cup of tea or coffee and after dinner again people with sweet tooth prefer a small bite of chocolate or sweet to end their day.
In the above day I have literally mentioned a routine day with basic food intake. However, we all know we consume more than this – probably evening milk shakes or juices, before dinner snacks, snacking a chocolate or so during our work and many more.
So if I count it for you and me, we almost consume sugar rooted food at least 4-5 times a day at a minimum level. That’s a good thing to have a check on.
Quitting sugar or control of consumption of sugar has numerous medically backed reasons – Diabetes to start with, bad cholesterol or other health reasons.
However, to your surprise, reducing consumption of sugar or even better quitting consumption of sugar has a lot more benefits which impact our daily life in a beautiful way and can improve our quality of everyday living.
Before we understand what happens when we quit sugar – you need to understand, we are referring to added sugar only and not about natural sugar.
Added sugar is present in cereals, processed foods, snacks, chocolates and candies etc., and we are not referring to natural sugars present in vegetables like carrots, beetroot, tomatoes or fruits like apples, oranges etc.,
So what really happens when you quit sugar ? For a month only!
Better sleep
It is always advised we get 7-8 hours of good quality sleep but how many of us actually get that amount on a daily basis? I am sure very few of us.
There are many factors that might be the cause for our bad sleeping habits. However, one important factor that we might conveniently ignore is our – DIET! Foods that contain high amounts of added or refined sugar mess up with your sleep quality. Try to cut down on your heavy refined sugar products and go for healthier choices.
Weight management
This is something most of us know. People who diet to lose weight, you can also shed a little weight by just cutting down sugar intake on a daily basis.
If you cut down on sugar, yes you might lose a little weight but you would want to eat something just to satisfy your cravings and sadly we end up eating processed foods which contain high amounts of added sugar. Instead we need to increase our intake of protein! High intake of protein will boost your metabolism and most importantly protein helps to keep our stomach full for a longer time.
Delicious foods that are high in protein are – Eggs, almonds, broccoli, cheese, peanuts etc.,
Change in mood
If you are someone who is hooked on sugar based foods then quitting sugar might be difficult not just on your cravings but also on your mood.
Sugar releases feel good hormones like dopamine and serotonin, both of these are feel good hormones which are released when your brain feels rewarded. That is the reason eating your favourite snack feels rewarding and hence the hormones are released and you feel happy!
Hence, if your body feels rewarded after consuming sugar foods then once you stop to consume sugar for the first week feelings of depression, irritation or mood swings may set in.
However, this is just for a week. Once you manage to fight off that one week then your energy levels will improve and in a month’s time your body will start to adjust to low levels of glucose, dopamine and serotonin. Thus, your energy levels will improve, you feel more alive, better active and less irritable!
Skin quality – Improves a lot
Most of us had acne during our teenage due to hormonal changes but if you still have that sudden acne along with dry or dull face after your teenage, where your face might start to itch – then that could be due to the high amount of sugar intake.
Foods that are high in sugar result in insulin spikes which triggers inflammation in the skin. Hence, as a result elasticity and collagen, which is a type of protein, usually make your skin plump and glowing get damaged thus leading to skin sagging, wrinkles, acne or dry skin feeling.
Once you quit sugar for a month you will see the difference in your skin texture for sure. Your skin will have better elasticity and also healthy looking skin!
Better digestion
Eating too much sugar will mess up your digestive system. Our body will not be able to process the food properly as sugar that is consumed cannot be broken down with ease. Hence, there is excess sugar in our body so it takes much longer than usual to digest.
That is the reason every time we eat heavy sugar based food, after a while of consumption we feel bloated.
Once you cut down on sugar, after a month you will visibly see the difference that your body will digest food easily and you will feel lighter from within.
Too difficult to start with?
Do you want to quit sugar and see for a month the amazing changes that it would bring in but you find it impossible to quit all at once?
Well, you don’t have to give up at once. As I always say, baby steps are what we are looking for here.
Start small and most importantly start today!
You don’t have to be 100% to the point and completely avoid sugar. But, a good balance would be the 80:20 rule, which is most important to remember. Always remember to have 80% of your daily food based on whole foods – basically food in their natural form. The remaining 20% could be adjustable with your cravings and happy go-to food items.
This could be the base of your ‘no to sugar’ journey. As you begin, once you see the changes yourself after a minimum of one month’s time you can continue as per your preference.
Summary
Now you need to realise that none of the changes show up in a day or a week. It will take weeks for your sleep quality to improve, for your skin to look and feel better, for your mood to change and to stay happy and many more.
Cutting down sugar is a process so take it slow, be mindful of the number of times you have an added sugar in your day and start to say ‘no’ to that and go for healthier choices! After a month or so you will see the amazing changes that you would be thankful for, you can sleep better and you wake up refreshed and relaxed to start your day!
Have a healthy and happy life!