What happens to your body when you cut out sugar completely?

Reducing added sugars makes it easier to control weight and keep blood glucose levels within healthy parameters, reducing the risk of diabetes. This is due to the fact that added sugars help fuel a cyclical cascade of effects that cause metabolic and hormonal changes that increase the risk of diabetes. If your body weight is higher than you should, you're more likely to have high levels of cholesterol, including triglycerides, a type of fat in your blood. Reduce added sugar and you could reduce calories and body weight, which could improve your cholesterol.

But it's not just about losing weight. Even at the same weight as other people, people who consumed less than 20% of their calories from added sugar tended to have lower triglyceride levels. Eating more sugar can cause a decrease in energy, leaving you feeling exhausted and irritable. Eating large amounts of any type of sugar seems to increase energy levels in proportion to the amount consumed.

But it soon translates into a sharp drop in energy levels. As sugar intake is likely to be a major cause of diabetes, people who are at greater risk of developing diabetes in the coming years can greatly benefit from avoiding sugar altogether. People who consume more added sugar in their diets are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, liver disease, and other serious illnesses. For men, eating too much sugar can lead to erectile dysfunction and decreased libido due to the insulin spike that occurs after consuming sugar.

If you stop eating sugar, you'll dramatically lower your risk of heart disease, as consuming too much sugar in your diet increases your risk of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, three major risk factors for heart disease and cardiovascular decline. In addition, sugar also causes changes in the brain, causing the brain to become addicted to sugar and to want to consume more and more sugar the more you eat. You may want to eat more sugar at first, but over time you'll have fewer sugar cravings. Following a high-sugar diet causes your brain to think you're still hungry when, in fact, there's no need to keep eating.

Reducing sugar intake can help maintain blood sugar levels and also increase the level of serotonin in the brain, which promotes a healthy and consistent sleep pattern.