What happens if you stop eating sugar for 30 days?
Have you ever wondered what happens if you stop eating sugar for 30 days?
Does even the idea of that send you running for the hills (or the nearest bakery)?
Or maybe you’ve kicked the sugar habit in the past, only to have it creep back in…before you know it, you’re back to adding an extra spoonful of sugar to your coffee, grabbing a sweetened granola bar for a snack, or hitting the break room for a mid-afternoon cookie pick-me-up.
Whatever your personal experience with sugar is, I want you to know there are some very exciting things that happen if you stop eating sugar for 30 days.
Weight loss
The main reason many women consider quitting sugar is for weight loss. And while weight is FAR from the only metric of health (click here to read more of my thoughts on weight loss and health), obesity is associated with negative health outcomes. Helping your body settle into a comfortable weight in a healthy way is a worthwhile goal.
You may be wondering if not eating sugar will actually help you lose weight. For so long, we have been told that weight loss is all about “calories in, calories out,” and you can lose weight while eating chocolate brownies every day as long as your overall calorie intake is low enough.
While there is some truth to this model, it ignores the fact that sugary foods set in motion intense cravings for even more sugar. Not to mention, sugary foods are usually devoid of nutrients, so your body may create intense food cravings in an attempt to get the nutrition it desperately needs.
Time and again, I see my clients who stop eating sugar for 30 days effortlessly lose weight without having to restrict their portion sizes or track every bite of food they take. Proteins, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, and complex carbs are much more satiating than simple sugars, leaving you feeling more full and satisfied than a sugar-laden meal would. And who doesn’t want to have reduced cravings and less obsession with food?!
More energy
Next on my list of what happens if you stop eating sugar for 30 days is… better energy!
Many of us reach for sweets when we’re experiencing an energy slump, so it may sound counterintuitive that giving up sugar would result in more energy. But the truth is that the energy boost achieved by eating something sweet is short-lived and usually followed by an energy crash…then you find yourself craving sugar all over again.
Sugary foods quickly raise blood glucose, providing a burst of fuel for your brain and body. However, this spike in glucose triggers a corresponding spike in the hormone insulin, whose job it is to clear excess sugar from the bloodstream and store it in cells for later use.
The problem is that the body can overreact with too much insulin, so your blood sugar drops too low, restarting a vicious circle of high then low glucose. In contrast, the kinds of meals my clients eat when they quit sugar—things like baked chicken thighs, buttery mashed potatoes, and crispy roasted broccoli—provide a gradual, steady influx of glucose into the bloodstream, which promotes stable, balanced energy without the crashes.
Deeper, less disrupted sleep
Deeper, less disrupted sleep is another benefit of cutting out sugar. Do you wake in the middle of the night (perhaps between 1 and 3 am) and toss and turn without being able to fall back asleep?
You may be waking up from a drop in blood sugar.
When you eat sugary foods throughout the day, it puts you on the blood sugar rollercoaster ride described above. And that up-and-down pattern sometimes carries over into the night.
Since you’re not keeping blood sugar up with meals while you sleep, it’s common for glucose to dip in the wee hours of the morning. The body sees this drop in blood sugar as an emergency (“Help! We need fuel now!”), and secretes the hormones cortisol and…adrenaline.
Cortisol is the body’s way of raising blood sugar in a hurry. And as you likely know from any moment of fright, surprise, or shock, adrenaline wakes you up! Just eating more balanced meals and skipping the sugar during your day can go a long way toward keeping cortisol and adrenaline out of the picture and ensuring a sound night’s sleep.
Less bloating, better poops, less heartburn
You might not consider that less bloating and heartburn or more satisfying trips to the bathroom could come from not eating sugar for 30 days…but it’s true! Processed sugar feeds overgrowths of bacteria in the gut, in particular in the small intestine.
These bacteria ferment the sugars and other processed carbs you eat and produce gas, leading to that all-too-familiar feeling of bloating. Digestion is a north-to-south process, so improving the health of the small intestine by cutting out sugar will have a beneficial “downstream” effect on the large intestine, resulting in better microbial balance and bowel movements.
Heartburn is also linked to sugar consumption. A clinical trial in which participants reduced their overall carbohydrate consumption and/or their simple sugar consumption found that both interventions effectively reduced heartburn frequency and severity and that reducing sugar was especially helpful (1). And, just for the record, your digestion can have an impact on your weight…more on that here.
Clearer thinking, better memory
What happens if you stop eating sugar for 30 days? You can expect your mental clarity and memory to improve.
The blood sugar rollercoaster I described above is a primary culprit of brain fog and fuzzy thinking (this is called this blood sugar brain) especially in the mid-afternoon. Bacterial imbalances can also contribute to poor mental function since it’s linked to “leaky gut,” a scenario where microscopic undigested food particles pass through the gut lining into the bloodstream and trigger inflammation. This inflammatory response has far-reaching consequences, including its negative impacts on the brain.
Improved skin health
Another common sign of systemic inflammation linked to sugar is skin problems. Whether you suffer from acne, rosacea, chronic hives, or eczema, it’s all your body’s way of saying it’s irritated inside.
Remember when I said that sugar feeds pathogenic bacteria linked to leaky gut, which contributes to overall inflammation?
That same mechanism applies to skin health. So, instead of relying on expensive, potentially toxic beauty products and topical treatments, you can get to the root of your skin issues and wave goodbye for good by taking a break from sugar.
Less pain
Maybe skin issues aren’t your primary complaint, but you’re dealing with other symptoms related to chronic inflammation.
I’ve written a whole post about the connection between knee pain and sugar, but this really applies to all pain because of the link between processed sugar consumption and your immune system.
Excess sugar drives inflammation—the immune system’s response to an attack—in several ways, including contributing to dysbiosis (imbalance) of good gut bacteria and increasing the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).
AGEs are chemical compounds that form when protein and sugar combine in the bloodstream, and eating a high-sugar diet creates AGEs in your bloodstream that can accumulate in various parts of your body.
Fewer headaches
Headaches are another common symptom that I’ve seen disappear in clients who stop eating sugar for 30 days.
Headaches have many root causes, but blood sugar swings, chronic inflammation, and, surprising to many, hormonal imbalances are three key drivers addressed by pausing sugar.
Do you get migraines the week before your period? If so, your headaches may be hormonal, and quitting sugar for 30 days can help you determine if diet is playing a role in hormone imbalances.
PMS symptoms that vanish
So many women I see suffer from debilitating PMS symptoms every month. Usually, the only solutions they’re offered are over-the-counter painkillers or birth control pills, neither of which address the root cause.
I have women tell me that once they stop eating sugar, they experience the first pain-free period they’ve ever had (WOW!).
This makes sense because the same inflammatory cytokines that contribute to joint pain also cause period pain.
And what about other PMS symptoms, like depression, anxiety, and back pain? Researchers found that “A significant association was noted between sugar intake and anxiety/mood symptoms [...] and abdominal/back pain symptoms” (2). Other studies have also found a significant connection between eating sugary foods and PMS symptoms (3). The blood sugar and gut imbalances caused by eating refined sugar set the stage for premenstrual mayhem.
Another way in which eating sugar creates hormonal symptoms is the role of insulin resistance in PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). Many women with painful, heavy periods are dealing with this diagnosis, which women’s health expert Lara Briden, ND, describes as “a group of symptoms related to anovulation (lack of ovulation) and a high level of androgens or male hormones. The main symptom of PCOS is irregular periods, specifically late periods or too many days of bleeding” (4). When periods do come, they are often heavy and painful.
The most common subtype of PCOS is insulin-resistant PCOS, where your body makes large amounts of the hormone insulin (often in response to high dietary sugar), and this elevated insulin messes with your sex hormones, making your ovaries produce testosterone instead of estrogen.
Briden’s top recommendation for addressing insulin resistance and the resulting hormonal imbalance is quitting sugar. Fructose is particularly problematic, and table sugar is 50% fructose. If you want to balance your hormones and resolve PMS symptoms for good, quitting sugar for 30 days is a great place to begin.
Sense of accomplishment and self-care
Last….but certainly not least is cutting out sugar is a fantastic way of taking care of your body and boosting confidence in your ability to do hard things that serve your highest good. Imagine the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel on day 30 of your no-sugar challenge!
What happens if you stop eating sugar for 30 days, such as in my upcoming Restart Program? You’re no longer a slave to cravings and are free to choose sugar…or not!
You get to decide if that piece of birthday cake is worth it rather than feeling compelled to eat it. You realize the power you have to positively impact symptoms like heartburn, joint pain, brain fog, and mood swings.
These 30 days of no sugar are just the beginning of a lifelong journey of empowerment as you learn to take charge of your own health.
Briden, Period Repair Manual, 151.