Nutrition
By Nancy Adler
Reducing your sugar intake may affect your body, both physically and mentally. Reducing your added sugar intake is a great decision to make for a healthier lifestyle. While doing so isn’t always easy, the benefits are worth it, as added sugar has been proven to have negative effects on your body.
High amounts of added sugar intake are associated with various medical conditions, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease as well as poor dental health. Sugar may also reduce your energy levels, leading to fatigue and reduced alertness during the day, and eating sugar may even be a factor in depression. Cutting added sugar from your diet may help protect against chronic disease development and boost your overall health.
Sugar affects the brain’s reward system. This reward system helps humans survive, but it’s also involved in addictive behavior. Unfortunately, sweet foods and drinks stimulate your brain’s reward system, causing you to eat more of the food. Sugar triggers the release of dopamine located in the same area of the brain implicated in the response to addictive drugs. Sugar can also cause the release of endogenous opioids in the brain, which leads to a rush that may cause future cravings. Eating sugar regularly alters your brain so that it becomes tolerant to it, causing you to require more to get the same effect.
Here’s the scary facts! The average American consumes 22-30 teaspoons (about 88–120 grams) of sugar each day. This is considerably more than the recommended maximum, which is 6 teaspoons (about 24 grams) for females and 9 teaspoons (about 36 grams) for males. Therefore, if your diet is high in added sugar, reducing your added sugar intake may come with some unpleasant symptoms.
Cutting added sugar from your diet may lead to physical and mental symptoms. How the body reacts to giving up sugar is different for everyone. The symptoms and their severity will depend on how much added sugar you were taking in through sweetened foods and beverages. Some people find that their symptoms last from a few days to a couple of weeks. As your body adapts to a low added sugar diet over time and your added sugar intake becomes less frequent, the less intense your symptoms and cravings for sugar are likely to be. You may find that your symptoms are worse at certain times of the day, such as between meals. Stress may trigger cravings for sugar, so you may find that your symptoms feel worse during times of stress.
Cutting added sugar from your diet may lead to a number of emotional and mental symptoms, including: anxiety, changes in sleep patterns, difficulty concentrating, cravings and a depressed mood. When giving up sugar, you might notice that you’re feeling physically run down. Some people even get headaches.
Other possible physical withdrawal symptoms include: light-headedness or dizziness, nausea, and fatigue.
If you’re used to regularly eating sugary foods like cake, ice cream, sweetened breakfast cereal, candy, and cookies and regularly drink sugar-sweetened beverages, it may take time to reduce your reliance on added sugar. For some people, cutting all forms of added sugar from their diet is helpful. However, others may find this method too extreme. Fortunately, even making small changes to your sugar intake can significantly affect your overall health.
You must do what works best for you. This may mean slowly cutting out added sugar over time rather than eliminating all sources of added sugar at once.
Giving up or reducing sugar can be difficult, especially if your diet was high in added sugar, so go easy on yourself. Try writing down your motivators for giving up sugar. Look at these when you feel a craving for sugar. If you start adding back foods and beverages high in added sugar, remind yourself of your motivations. If you find that the cravings are worse during certain times of the day, schedule activities to keep yourself busy during that time, or be prepared with high protein snacks and water.
The most important thing is to decrease your overall intake of added sugar. It’s important to note that occasionally enjoying a sugary treat will not derail your efforts or overall health. It’s your overall diet quality that matters most.
Nancy Adler is a certified nutritionist and practitioner in Linwood. Her office is located in Cornerstone Commerce Center, 1201 New Rd. Learn about her practice at ww.nancyadlernutrition.com (609)653-4900
Nancy is the Recipient of the Best of The Press 2020 Gold Award. You may listen to Nancy every Sunday at 2 pm Nancy Adler Nutrition LIVE! NewsTalk 1400 WOND
