We hear stories about cutting sugar, and to be perfectly honest, the first few days don’t sound fun at all. Cravings, fatigue, headaches… people experience a range of effects in the early stages of cutting out sugar, and everyone’s experience is different.
But what happens after the hard part? What does week two, month two, or year two of giving up sugar look like? Here are a few accounts from Redditors about their experience on the other side of quitting sugar.
*Some responses edited for clarity.
Cutting sugar, mood, and mental health
These Redditors experienced mood and mental health improvements from going sugar-free.
u/Stalfagel
“Cutting out sugar helped my mental health a lot! I think it also helped regulate my hormones so I wasn't so all over the place emotionally.”
u/Sandwich86
“I cut sugar and noticed my overall daily mood improved. I would get annoyed over tiny little things and was generally down. It’s the main reason I continue low sugar.”
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r/Blueeyes284
“I feel constant energy, balanced, no mood swings, no rage, no 4:00 pm slump. No more depression and anxiety improved too! A lot less UTIs. I lost weight, my skin is clearer and my hair is not falling out anymore.”
Could cutting sugar make your food taste better?
Heightened enjoyment of food seems to be a common theme that pops up in discussions around giving up sugar.
u/Powerful-Hamster3742
“I find myself enjoying food so much more now as it has more taste. One of my new favourites is plain oatmeal, and I've always hated that but now I really enjoy the taste of it.”
u/asymmeter
“I notice it more with some things than others. For example, fruits and sweet vegetables like carrots taste way sweeter now. Everything else just tastes a little ‘more’, like having turned up the volume a couple clicks.”
u/Katietatey
“Food tastes better. I haven't needed to salt my food like I did before. Fruits taste sweeter and even not very sweet things taste sweeter. Plain water tastes better. I was never a big plain water person, but now I only have a La Croix every other day or so, whereas before I was drinking 2 a day. I drink a lot of just plain still water.”
Some people who cut sugar might see dramatic changes in health markers
r/Blueeyes284
“I'm about 9 months in - homa index [a measure of insulin resistance] dropped from 3.6 to 2.6, hba1c from 5.37 to 4.76. All I did is drop sugar, white flour and pay attention at the type and timing of my carb rich meals (around my body's insulin sensitivity). I also lost about 22 lbs in the process.”
People who have been sugar-free for a while might not enjoy sweet foods as much as they used to
r/Upbeat-pumpkin198
“Yesterday I had a [candy] bar for the first time in several months and it shocked me how different it was compared to before I went sugar-free. It was so sickeningly sweet, it actually made my face wrinkle up in disgust. I felt genuinely disgusted by it and it didn't make me want to immediately binge on sugary things like I would have before, it just reinforced that I'm not missing anything by not eating these kinds of foods.
“Just wanted to let people know that your palate WILL change over time and what is hard at the beginning will become easy. You genuinely won't want these products after a while.”
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Do you have a story you'd like to share about going sugar-free?
Share it with us by tagging @LakantoAustralia or email us at wellbeing@lakanto.com.au for the chance to be featured.