Our bodies need one type of sugar, called glucose, to survive. “Glucose is the number one food for the brain, and it's an extremely important source of fuel throughout the body,” says Dr. Kristina Rother, an NIH pediatrician and expert on sweeteners.
The body requires no added sugars to function properly. Many people consume too much sugar from drinks and foods that contain added sugar. Too much sugar can cause a range of serious health problems, including diabetes, dementia, and obesity.
You'll Have Healthier Teeth
Your teeth will love you for it! Stop eating sugar and you'll lower your risk of heart disease dramatically because too much sugar in your diet heightens your risk of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes — three primary risk factors for heart disease and cardiovascular decline.
Sugars are an important source of energy with glucose being the most important for the body. The brain requires around 130 grams of sugar (glucose) per day to keep functioning. Glucose can be found in a range of foods including fruit, vegetables and honey.
To keep all of this in perspective, it's helpful to remember the American Heart Association's recommendations for sugar intake. Men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day. For women, the number is lower: 6 teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day.
“The brain is dependent on sugar as its main fuel,” says Vera Novak, MD, PhD, an HMS associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It cannot be without it.” Although the brain needs glucose, too much of this energy source can be a bad thing.
Reducing added sugar intake can encourage weight loss and improve various aspects of your health, including your blood sugar levels and heart, liver, and dental health.
Your skin's aging process will slow.
Cutting out excess added sugar and keeping blood glucose within healthy parameters may slow the rate at which skin ages. A high-sugar diet leads to the production of AGEs (advanced glycation end products), and AGEs are associated with acceleration in the skin's aging process.
Sugar promotes more sugar cravings, which can make it very difficult to just stop eating altogether. It takes about three to four weeks for your brain and body to eliminate cravings for sweets, and begin craving healthier foods that satisfy more of your actual nutritional needs.
The AHA suggests a stricter added-sugar limit of no more than 100 calories per day (about 6 teaspoons or 24 grams) for most adult women and no more than 150 calories per day (about 9 teaspoons or 36 grams of sugar) for most men.
At blame is a natural process that's known as glycation, in which the sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins to form harmful new molecules called advanced glycation end products (or, appropriately, AGEs for short). The more sugar you eat, the more AGEs you develop.
It's during this early "sugar withdrawal" stage that both mental and physical symptoms have been reported – including depression, anxiety, brain fog and cravings, alongside headaches, fatigue and dizziness.
Lots of people turn to sugary sweets when they feel anxious. That's because sugary foods can weaken the body's ability to respond to stress. Sugar can help you feel less frazzled by suppressing the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis in your brain, which controls your response to stress.
Feeling shaky after eating may be a sign of idiopathic postprandial syndrome, along with other symptoms like chills, sweating, and lightheadedness. It might also be a symptom of postprandial reactive hypoglycemia, which occurs when you experience low blood sugar levels 2 to 5 hours after eating.
Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar levels, can also occur in people without diabetes. Possible causes include alcohol use, certain medications, severe infections, and serious issues affecting your organs.
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Crackers, cookies, cereal, pasta, bread and baked goods contain sugar and chemicals that are damaging to collagen molecules, thereby diminishing the quality of the tissue, and can erode the quantity of your collagen as well.
Nigma Talib, a naturopath who works with celebrities, has popularized the term “Sugar Face” to describe the effects that excess sugar has on the skin. Supposedly, she can look at someone's face and determine if they have a sweet tooth by the appearance and the location of their blemishes and wrinkles.
Recommended limits for added sugar
But government dietary guidelines recommend limiting added sugar to no more than 10 percent of calories per day — in a 2,000-calorie diet, that's about 12 teaspoons or 200 calories' worth of sugar, and the AHA's added sugar limits are even lower.
Brown sugar is definitely a healthier option than refined white sugar. It is processed in a completely natural way to maintain as much of the sugarcane's natural nutrition as possible, including vitamins and minerals.
“Cutting all sugar from your diet would be very difficult to achieve. Fruits, vegetables, dairy products and dairy replacements, eggs, alcohol and nuts all contain sugar, which would leave you with little other than meat and fats to eat – definitely not very healthy.”
"Honey's advantages over sugar include a slightly lower glycemic index (i.e. it doesn't affect your blood-sugar levels as much)," Dr. Dixon says. "It also contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids."