Thinking about quitting sugar? You may have heard that refined sugar in the diet leads to chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease as you age. Considering those facts makes “Why do a sugar detox?” sort of a trivial question, doesn’t it?
However, if your addiction is keeping you on the fence about doing a sugar detox, here are eight proven reasons to take a break from sugar.
According to shocking data, Americans consume around 150 pounds of sugar each year, and the United Kingdom is not far behind. Despite the knowledge that it is harmful to your health, food producers continue to include it in every product imaginable. It is one of the most addicting chemicals in the world, therefore it’s no surprise that smart people want to know how to detox sugar.
Why Do a Sugar Detox?
There’s no denying that sugar is everywhere. Not only is it added to countless sweet treats, but it’s also hidden in savory foods like bread and pasta sauce. While a little sugar is fine, too much can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and cavities.
As a result, some people opt for a sugar detox in an effort to reset their bodies and break their sugar addiction.
During a sugar detox, you eliminate all sources of sugar from your diet, including both refined sugars and natural sugars like honey and fruit juice. This can be difficult at first, but many people report feeling more energetic and focused after completing a sugar detox.
In addition, eliminating sugar from your diet can help to reduce inflammation and improve your digestion.
Let’s find out what’s good about doing a sugar detox?
You’ll break the cycle of sugar addiction.
Our bodies crave sugar when stressed because it delivers an instant pleasant feeling to the brain and nervous system. However, this feeling—the sugar high—doesn’t last long. You’ll experience a quick crash after the fact, feeling worse than ever.
You’ll lose weight!
The first thing most people (overweight people in particular) think of when getting off of sugar is losing weight. And you can be assured that almost every overweight person is addicted to sugar and flour.
The most obvious benefit of the sugar detox is that after you greatly reduce refined sugar from your diet, you will experience significant weight loss. When the body is a healthy weight, it’s better able to function, and that includes organ function, immune function, metabolic function, and reproductive function. After losing weight, you’ll look better, feel better, have more energy, be free from cravings, and just healthier overall.
You’ll lose weight and stop putting so much stress on your organs, including the kidneys, pancreas, and liver.
Your hormones will function better.
Did you know that sugar affects hormone production, especially once we reach middle age? Blood sugar surges and falls can affect sexual desire and the ability to perform. It can also interrupt a woman’s menstrual cycle, so if you’re trying to get pregnant, it’s a good idea to quit sugar (or at least limit sugar as much as possible) before you kick off your babymaking agenda.
Your kidneys will get a break.
Did you know that, like salt, eating too much sugar makes the kidneys work extra hard? A dose of sugar into the blood stream sends a signal to the kidneys to increase urine production to try and get rid of the extra sugar. That makes us thirsty. One of the signs of diabetes is extreme thirst, especially after eating a meal or snack that sends blood sugar soaring.
You’ll lower the amount of yeast in your digestive tract.
Yeast is a natural inhabitant of the human body, as well as most living things. But too much yeast saps us of vital nutrients and causes our immune system to function poorly.
Eating processed sugar definitely causes the yeast in our bodies to multiply and grow out of control. You may have made homemade bread or watched someone else do it. Remember that dough rising, once sugar and water have combined with the yeast? Yeast eat sugar, not just table sugar but any type of sweet food, including milk sugar (lactose) from dairy products, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, and fruit sugar.
You’ll improve your immune function.
As mentioned, yeast saps us of nutrition from the foods we eat (the yeast live in our gut, and eat the food for us). In addition, eating too much sugar changes the pH of the stomach lining. An ideal climate should be slightly acidic. You probably did science experiments as a kid with HCL (hydrochloric acid) to watch how it breaks down food. When we eat sugar, our stomach isn’t able to process the food we eat because the pH becomes too alkaline. This creates a breeding ground for yeast, viruses, bacteria, and germs.
You’ll enjoy better mouth and dental health.
You’ll have less body fat. Eating too much refined sugar can cause an increase in body fat, especially around the middle. The fat also forms internally—maybe you’ve heard of fat cells surrounding the organs. This is a very unhealthy state to achieve, and if possible, you should try to reduce sugar to lower overall body fat.
You’ll sleep better.
Eating too much sugar, especially too late in the day, interrupts our sleep cycle. This applies not only to refined sugar found in foods like sweets, candy, sugary cereals, enriched pasta and bread, but also to the blood sugar spike that comes from drinking alcohol. When we consume a lot of sugar too close to bedtime, we can expect to wake up in the early hours of the morning (around 3 or so) as our organs attempt to process the sugar and get it out of our system.
When the pH of our saliva is too alkaline and contains sugar, it causes mouth germs such as yeast, viruses, and bacteria to multiply. A coating remains on the teeth, which later solidifies into tartar and then plaque, which bores holes into the teeth and creates cavities, tooth rot and gum disease.
Summary
Most of us are familiar with the feeling of being bloated after eating too much sugar. And while it’s easy to dismiss this as temporary discomfort, the long-term effects of sugar on our bodies can be serious. Sugar is a major contributor to weight gain, and it can also lead to insulin resistance, which is a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
What’s more, sugar is addictive, and cravings for sugary foods can lead to overeating and a cycle of poor nutrition.
A sugar detox can help break this cycle by resetting your taste buds and reestablishing healthy eating habits. During a sugar detox, you’ll eliminate all forms of sugar from your diet, including hidden sources like fruit juices and condiments.
A sugar detox is just eliminating sugar to enhance your health, but because sugar is present in so many meals, many individuals find it difficult to accomplish. When you start reading product labels, you may be shocked at how much hidden sugar you consume on a daily basis. It is so addicting that you may not know how much you rely on it for a fast energy or mood boost.
Sometimes the cravings for sugar are overwhelming, and we just don’t seem to have the fortitude to continue on with a detox. If that’s you and the cravings are too much to handle, you’ll need these supplements to help you:
- B vitamins
- Vitamin C
- Chromium
- Zinc
Another good way to fight sugar cravings is this: the amino acid L-Glutamine 500mg 30 minutes before meals, 3 times a day. And don’t be afraid to increase the dose to 1000 mg if need be.
After a couple of weeks without sugar, you will know for yourself, “Why do a sugar detox?” After a couple of months, you will be selling the idea to everyone you know.