It’s Sweet, But No Thank You: 5 Powerful Benefits of Quitting Sugar

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon

Originally Posted On: It’s Sweet, But No Thank You: 5 Powerful Benefits of Quitting Sugar – TIME BUSINESS NEWS

If you eat processed foods, chances are high that you consume a lot of added sugar whether you’re health-conscious or not. Almost 3/4 of all packaged foods are full of the stuff.

Popular ideas about food, like the idea that you shouldn’t eat any fat, are often misguided noise. All the outcry about added sugar doesn’t fall into that category. Anyone who wants better health should consider quitting sugar.

If you can’t bear the idea of refusing all sugar, you can still benefit. Cutting most, but not all added sugar out of your diet is better than making no change.

There’s also a massive range of artificial and natural alternative sweeteners that don’t affect you in the same way as sugar. You can enjoy plenty of sweet treats without putting any sugar in your body.

With that background in mind, take some time to learn some of the best reasons to quit sugar.

Many benefits of quitting sugar have to do with your physical health, but cutting sugar out of your life also comes with mental benefits. Addiction specialists have pointed out how sugar triggers addictive impulses similar to alcohol and drugs. When you quit sugar, you realize how much it ruled your life and kept you going back out of habit.

Unlike sugar, substitutes don’t make you feel obliged to keep eating. If you stay on the wagon, you won’t miss added sugars.

Making the effort to quit sugar proves to yourself how much power you have over your life and wellbeing, boosting self-confidence. Eating less sugar also improves your focus and helps you hone in on your goals. The mental benefits of quitting sugar can lead you to success in other areas of your life.

Before the no-carb craze and other sugarless diets hit in full force, diabetics were the main market for alternative sweeteners and sugar free products. The human pancreas in good shape releases a lot of insulin that helps process sugary foods. When you have diabetes, your pancreas can’t make enough insulin, so avoiding sugar is prudent.

Part of the reason sugar free diets became mainstream is because eating too much sugar can lead to diabetes. A diet too rich in sugar overworks the pancreas until it breaks down. The ensuing condition is called type 2 diabetes, type 1 being an autoimmune disorder.

A low- or no-sugar diet is beneficial no matter whether you’re diabetic or want to avoid developing the disorder.

Big food companies know what they’re doing when they churn out addictive foods full of sugar. These companies don’t care about your health, only about making money, and sugar keeps you coming back.

What’s even worse is that they manipulate customers with “healthy” products like yogurts and granola bars. Many might as well be ice cream and candy bars with all the sugar they contain. When people trying to eat healthier food buy these products, they pass up nutritious options that aren’t oozing sugar.

Pursuing a no-sugar diet gives you a chance to embrace and learn to love nutritious food. Because you won’t have as many processed options, you’ll explore more ingredients and seasonings to put your own dishes together. You can discover what has the nutrients you need and what you like most.

Think about the processed foods that give you the most energy: things like breakfast items, sports drinks, caffeinated drinks, and protein shakes and bars. If you look at the nutrition facts on all of those energizing items, you’ll find that sugar is a key ingredient in most.

This isn’t a coincidence or for taste alone, because sugar gives you a boost. It’s a simple carbohydrate that your body breaks down and uses soon after you eat it, so you get the benefit right away. That’s useful in some situations, like when you’re running a marathon or fueling up for an intense workout.

On a day-to-day basis, eating sugar for energy tends to backfire. You’ll get an energy boost for a little while, but you crash once your body uses the useful stuff. Sugary foods are full of empty calories that your body doesn’t need, which bog you down and lead to health problems.

You’ll gain more energy from things like whole grains, electrolytes, protein, healthy fats, and even ingredients like caffeine when they’re not combined with a bunch of sugar. Eating things that your body processes over a longer period gives you more consistent energy throughout the day.

If food is something that motivates you and you’re worried about losing the sweet treats you promise yourself, don’t worry. There are sugarless sweets for all mealtimes and occasions, from pancakes with sugar free syrup to sugar free ice cream and more.

If you eat a lot of sugar, quitting can remove hundreds of calories from your daily intake. For that reason, sugar free diets are popular with folks trying to lose weight.

A sugarless diet is a great way to remove unwanted calories without changing how much you eat. It’s one of the easiest diets to stick to because you can keep your usual diet—except for replacing sugar with a low-calorie substitute.

Cutting calories isn’t the secret to weight loss for everyone, and is no replacement for getting exercise or eating well. Quitting sugar isn’t a quick fix more than any other diet, but it’s a simple change that could help you on your way to your weight loss goal.

These benefits of quitting sugar are a great starting point for you to consider whether you should try it out. If you commit to quitting sugar or cut a lot of it out of your diet, you won’t regret it once you start feeling the difference.

You’re on the right website for other tips for a healthier life. Click on another article to pick up more vital know-how and start feeling better today.