What Happens to Your Body When you Give Up Sugar?

Tags

acne, bloating, cortisol, energised, energy, insulin, low energy, quit, quitting, sluggish, sugar

December is almost over which means that most of us are ready to switch out of ‘over-indulgence’ mode and into a far more virtuous mind-set. With Christmas goodies all around, it’s so easy to eat more sugar than during the whole rest of the year and January is a great time to think about seriously reducing your sugar intake, or even giving it up altogether. Today, we’re taking a look at what happens to your body when you quit sugar, to give you an idea of how it might benefit you.

Acne

When you suffer with acne, there are often one or a number of triggers which are personal to you, which can include hormones or any other number of things. However, most people who suffer with acne report a marked improvement when they cut all sugar out of their diet, so if you’re a sufferer it could be well worth a try to improve your outbreak frequency.

Anxiety

It’s been largely proven that the whole “sugar makes kids hyper” thing is a myth, but many adults report that high levels of sugar can really aggravate feelings of stress and anxiety and that cutting it out can improve anxiety levels overall. Reducing stress is important for your heart and overall health, so this could have a knock-on effect in other areas, too.

Weight Loss

In the past, we were taught that fat was the thing to cut down on if we wanted to lose weight, but the most up-to-date research shows that it’s actually sugar which needs to be cut out in order for our bodies to effectively shed weight. Quitting sugar and other simple carbs is the best way to lose weight, feel healthier and even possibly reverse type 2 diabetes.

Bloating

Eating a lot of sugar can encourage the body to hang on to excess fluid, leaving you feeling bloated and over-full. The good news is that as soon as you cut down, your body will release the excess fluid and help you to feel slimmer and less bloated almost immediately.

Energy

Eating large volumes of sugar floods your body, needing a high level of insulin to process it, which then causes your body to crash and feel super low. Sugar also interferes with cortisol production, which can affect your sleep cycle, leaving you feeling incredibly low on energy for the whole day. Quitting sugar and eating a high protein diet will help to keep you feeling energised.