If you’re like most Americans, you consume about 20 teaspoons, or 80 grams, per day. To put that in perspective, the recommended daily amount is no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) for women. Although nobody argues that sugar is healthy for us, most people don’t realize how dangerous it truly is. Sugar is linked to diabetes, heart disease, liver damage, mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, obesity, and even Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Clearly, cutting down on your sugar intake is an important step towards optimal health.
But giving up sugar is no easy task–for many of us, it’s a central part of our diets. In fact, sugar addiction is a real issue–it comes with withdrawal effects like headaches, irritability, and tiredness. Sugar acts as an addictive substance that makes us want to eat more and more of it, leading to a vicious cycle of declining health. That’s why I decided to cut out sugar for just one month. It’s just a temporary change, which makes it easier to stick to, but it still creates noticeable differences.
My rule for the month was very simple: stop eating all added sugar (which includes honey, Stevia, and artificial sugars as well as the classic white granulated stuff) for the month of March. I still ate fruit, because its combination of fiber and sugars counteracts the bad effects of fructose.
Avoiding sugar is certainly difficult, but it’s not impossible. I could eat most of my favorite things and it wasn’t hard to find sugar-free products. I missed sugar, of course, but the cravings diminished after the first week. I found that I naturally started to eat healthier foods, because a large amount of junk foods are loaded with sugar. Changing my eating habits made me realize that although sugar is so prevalent in our food, I can live just fine without it.
Honestly, I didn’t notice a difference in my energy levels or sleep patterns or anything while I was doing the no-sugar experiment, but I definitely noticed a change once I ate sugar again. Every time I consumed a sugary food, I would feel sick to my stomach almost immediately. Oftentimes, my head would start hurting too (eventually these symptoms went away and everything returned to normal). Once I had taken sugar out of my system, my body reacted badly to it which shows that sugar is unhealthy for us, even if we don’t notice any adverse effects when our bodies are accustomed to being flooded with sweetness.
This experiment made me believe in the dangers of sugar, but I don’t think that people need to permanently cut out sugar from their diets in order to stay healthy. Moderation is key. If you’re aware of how much sugar you’re eating, and you make a conscious effort to avoid it when possible, you’ll be fine. I highly recommend doing a month without sugar to get started. It’s an interesting experience that will teach you a lot about your eating habits and your willpower! At the very least, it’s a beneficial thing that you can do for yourself; you won’t regret making progress towards optimal health!