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How to Quit Sugar in 2020 | Buy Organics Online

How to Quit Sugar in 2020 | Buy Organics Online

Posted by Kylie on 17th Oct 2020

Quitting sugar is not easy.

It is an addictive drug that affects the mind and body in such a way that we crave regular doses to give us the dopamine and serotonin hits that we become accustomed to.

Putting together a quit sugar diet is quite a challenging task as sugar is hidden in much of our regular foods including many surprising foods like bread, tomato sauce and even worcestershire sauce. The first step in the quitting strategy is to understand what happens when you quit sugar, and the benefits of quitting sugar so that you can act on helpful tips to quit sugar.

What happens when you quit sugar?

As with any withdrawal from a drug the initial stages of the quitting process can be quite challenging. The sudden withdrawal of sugar from your diet will result in your body and mind initially responding negatively. Sugar stimulates the reward system in your body by releasing the feel good hormones in your brain.

In those first few days you are likely to experience a variety of unpleasant symptoms including such things as irritability, headaches, lethargy, sadness and in some cases blurred vision. Other people will experience some form of gastrointestinal distress. All of these responses are due to the body experiencing withdrawal from what is a very powerful drug. These withdrawal symptoms are not long lasting and after about a week or so, you will begin to feel reinvigorated and begin to experience the benefits of a sugar free diet.

Benefits of quitting sugar

While it is almost impossible to eliminate sugar entirely, making a conscious decision to reduce or eliminate processed sugars will potentially see you reap some positive health benefits from doing so.

These benefits include:

  • Reduced sugar intakes can lead to a lowering of high blood pressure. High sugar intake can lead to weight gain which in turn can lead to increased risk of high blood pressure. Additionally, there is now increasing evidence to suggest that too much sugar can lead to hypertension regardless of whether you put on extra weight. Naturally, reducing or eliminating sugar intake will reduce these risks. Sustained high blood pressure leads to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, kidney damage, heart attack and artery disease.
  • Quitting sugar will lead to lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) while also assisting your body in producing higher levels of HDL - the good cholesterol. Maintaining good cholesterol levels leads to less likelihood of you suffering heart disease or a heart attack
  • It can decrease the risk of you contracting type 2 diabetes. While consuming sugar doesn;t directly cause diabetes, it does help to build up fatty tissue which makes the body more insulin resistant. This causes the pancreas to increase insulin production until it can no longer keep up with demand So restricting your sugar intake will indirectly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
  • Reduce the risk of fatty liver disease which is often caused by increased weight gain. The increased fat levels in the liver prevent the liver from properly filtering the blood. Fatty liver disease can lead to increased risk of heart attack, diabetes and possibly cancer.
  • Can help your breathing. Research suggest that high sugar diets may contribute to an increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Your energy levels will increase. One of the traps that a high sugar diet leads us into is the need for a sugar hit to boost energy levels particularly in the mid afternoon. This artificial stimulant is almost solely based upon our brain’s need for a sugar hit. Simply weaning yourself from sugar will lead to greater natural energy reserves.
  • Can maintain and possibly improve brain health in several key areas. Eating too much sugar may actually change the structure of that part of the brain called the hippocampus - which is closely associated with memory function. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, there is thought to be a link between blood sugar levels and dementia. People with diabetes are at significantly more risk of getting Alzheimer's disease. Besides reducing the risk of dementia and memory loss, reduced sugar intake may help to ease symptoms of depression. Several studies have shown causal links between high sugar diets and depression. The reasons are not clear - perhaps linked to the short term sugar rush or maybe some form of hormonal response, whatever the reason, less sugar seems to lead to improved mood.
  • Reduce persistent feelings of hunger. One of the real problems with sugar from a weight gain perspective is that while contributing to weight gain it also makes your body resistant to the effects of the hormone, leptin which normally tells your brain that you’re full. Feeling hungry leads to overeating (often of more sugar) which leads to weight gain and even less effectiveness of leptin. You can break this vicious cycle by reducing sugar intake.
  • Provide several skin benefits. Too much sugar causes sugar to attach itself to proteins to form what are known as advanced glycation end products which have the appropriate acronym of AGES. These AGES cause damage to collagen and elastin causing wrinkles and the dropping phenomenon referred to as sugar saf. Less sugar means firmer more elastic youthful looking skin.As sugar is prone to cause inflammation it is liable to fuel skin breakouts and skin conditions like psoriasis. Less sugar means less inflammation, less breakouts and healthier skin.
  • A stronger immune system. Consuming too much sugar leads to the body’s white blood cells being less effective in fighting infection. Less sugar means a healthier stronger immune system
  • Stronger teeth less dental bills.
  • Consuming less sugar has a positive impact on the earth's environment. Sugarcane production requires tremendous amounts of water and as such its production can be damaging to the natural habitats that it is grown in. If we all consumed less sugar, the demand for production would lower and the damage to the environment

Giving up sugar weight loss implications

A teaspoon of sugar only contains around 60 calories - so why is quitting sugar associated with weight loss? Processed sugar in particular is normally accompanied by or contained in foods that are not necessarily good for you. These foods include lollies, cakes, ice cream and a variety of other delights. Sugar itself may not be responsible for weight gain, but the foods that it is contained in often are. There are good reasons to swap sugar out of your diet and some of these reasons may indirectly lead to weight loss. Lessened feelings of hunger, or desires for a sugar hit are much more likely to lead to weight loss in the long term rather than not consuming the food itself. Eating less sugar will lead to weight loss provided you have a balanced diet.

With all these benefits available, there is ample reason to give up sugar, but how can you give up such a powerful drug?

Some handy tips on how to quit sugar for good

It is really important to appreciate that quitting sugar is very difficult. Like any drug addiction, withdrawal will have its difficulties. It is also vital to understand that sugar occurs naturally in a number of fruits and vegetables and while these fruits and vegetables do have sugar content they are considered healthy to eat as the sugar is not refined and the overall health benefits offered by the fruit make it worth consuming. Furthermore, low levels of sugar intake are considered acceptable. The WHO recommends that no more than 25 grams of sugar be consumed daily - that is about six teaspoons.

So with this in mind, it is worth diving in to create a strategy to if not quit sugar entirely to at least minimise its impact and reduce its use to acceptable levels. Here are some helpful tips to quit sugar.

  • Prepare your pantry by clearing out all those tempting sugary snacks and replacing them with healthier alternatives. Good snack alternatives include activated nuts, vegetables and high fibre wholegrains. It’s worth experimenting with different flavours that will stimulate your taste buds in new ways.
  • Start checking food labels for hidden sugar content. Words that send alarm bells include glucose, fructose, syrup, honey, fruit juice and dextrose. The higher these ingredients appear in the contents list, the more of it there is in the product.
  • Don’t get sucked in by diet soft drinks. All too often the contents in the diet soft drink actually stimulate sugar cravings and may cause more sugar eating than planned.
  • Plan to eat regularly every three hours or so. Organising nutritious sugar free snacks in advance allows you to keep those hunger pangs away and removes one of the triggers to snack on sugar filled sweets.
  • Exercise regularly - as the endorphins produced during exercise make excellent substitutes for the feel good responses triggered by sugar hits. In fact there is now some evidence emerging that regular exercise can help to offset physiological imbalances that may have been caused by excess sugar consumption.
  • It makes sense to wean yourself from sugar gradually. Going cold turkey is likely to cause stress to your body and psychological state. A gradual withdrawal is likely to have better long term results than an all or nothing to attempt. A good first step may be to look to use one of the popular sugar substitutesin place of your normal beverage sweetener.
  • Make sure that you get enough sleep to be well and truly rested. Remarkably people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to crave sugar.
  • Make sure you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. While you’re quitting sugar place a solid emphasis on eating plenty of vegetables. Vegetables will provide you with ample fibre and nutrients while keeping those hunger pains away.
  • Change the way you think about sugar. In our society, sugar is often associated with rewards. With this mindset, depriving yourself of sugar feels like a punishment rather than something good making the battle to quit sugar that much harder. This takes a change of mindset, you need to be positive about what you’re doing. Tell yourself that you are proud of the way you are looking after your body and protecting it from harmful junk food.
  • Enjoy the food that you eat by focussing on its flavour, texture and smell. By being in the moment and enjoying the food on our plate you are less likely to think about what potential sugary “treats’ you could be eating.
  • Try and cook all your meals and sauces yourself. That way you control what is going into your food and removing potential sugar traps hidden in many grocery products.
  • Build your support network. Quitting sugar isn’t easy and it will help to have some people in your corner. While there are support networks like the I Quit Sugar network, it may be more fulfilling to band together with several friends and decide to give up sugar together. That way you can compare notes, offer support, share recipes and not feel so alone or reliant upon a group of strangers.

Quitting sugar has many health benefits as well as offering many cosmetic benefits to skin and weight. Despite the many inducements to quit sugar, it is a difficult thing to do. To support your efforts to quit sugar the Buy Organics Online website has a variety of sugar alternatives and sugar free snacks that can easily be substituted for sugar in refreshments and recipes. 

While quitting sugar entirely is not recommended, you can get all the necessary sugar intake by consuming fresh or dried fruit. Browse our range of sweeteners and sugar alternatives that are sure to satisfy your taste buds without having the unpleasant side effects that eating sugar often does.