Want to try a sugar detox?

It’s 2021 and how many of you are looking at losing weight or becoming healthier this year? You would have read or heard people say; “cut down your sugar intake”. You have probably contemplated it, started doing it, failed doing it or want to understand more. Do you feel like taking away sugar is taking away your happiness? I felt that way a few years ago too. I am writing this to share my experience with cutting down sugar, how it helped me and some recommendations. I am hoping this would provide some motivation for you to try out the same.

MY EXPERIENCE

5 years ago I was at the lowest point in terms of physical health. I was 88 kg (overweight on my BMI, 37 waist size) and heading towards sickness. One of the best decisions I made was to start exercising but when I really saw change in my health was when I decided to cut sugar. I had read a buzzfeed article on a 30 day sugar detox and I thought I’d give it a shot (this was in 2017). My friend Juzer also encouraged me to join him as he was going to try it himself. (Btw he finished a year of no sugar recently and you can read about it here).

For the sake of simplicity my approach was to cut down my refined sugar intake to zero for 30 days. It is important to note that carbs=sugar and hence the rice, bread, pasta is essentially sugar. Refined sugar is additional sugar that is added on to make food sweeter and is a good starting step if its your weakness. I was surprised how much refined sugar I used to consume daily and avoiding only made it difficult. I however managed to go up to 45 days and that made a whole world of a difference to my body both physically and mentally. On and off I still opt going on no sugar detox, my last one being 120 days in 2020.

Many people I spoke to told me that I shouldn’t be so radical and should take baby steps with this. My argument is sometimes when you are addicted to something like how it was with sugar, taking a step like this will show you the benefits sooner and help you realize that its working!. You can then decide whether you want to go back or you want these benefits to grow. The first two weeks were extremely tough and that is when most people decide they can’t do it. After the first two weeks however my cravings started to drop, I didn’t feel the need to eat unnecessarily, my energy levels remained consistent throughout the day, my sleep improved and I started losing weight.

Today, I adopt a more balanced approach and consume refined sugar only occasionally. I allow my self 2–3 cheat meals a week where I can indulge in something I really like (mostly dark chocolate related). If you wish to embark on this journey and try out a sugar detox (in any way you want) below are some recommendations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Start off with a friend

Grab a friend or two and do it as a challenge. This will help you stay motivated. Doing it with my friend Juzer definitely helped me because I didn’t want to let him down. Alternatively you can also have an accountability partner and attach a reward for yourself when you complete the detox.

Read food labels

How many of you know what ingredients you are consuming? if you do read the labels on what you purchase you will discover that almost every item has sugar including the products that say “low fat”, “no added sugar” and even “sugar free” at times. Some of the sugar substitutes that are added in “sugar free” products include; Stevia, Xylitol and Erythritol. I would suggest looking out for them and avoiding foods with them as its not going to help you during the detox. There is also limited or contradictory studies on the uses of these extracts. When I knew I couldn’t consume anything with sugar, it made me more conscious of reading food labels and helped me understand how much rubbish I was putting into my body.

Maintain a food journal

This is one of the most useful practices you can follow to be more conscious of what you are consuming. Writing down everything you eat will help you understand how much you eat in a day and how much sugar you consume daily. Based on my experience, the days you consume more sugar, the more you tend to eat. Below are some foods I cut down completely. How many of these do you consume ?

Flavored Milk/Milo- 12 g (1–200 ml glass)
Sugar in tea/coffee- 36 g (1 standard bottle-591 ml)
Ketchup- 3–4g (per tsp)
Sugar in juices- 12 g (3 tsp)
Most Biscuits- 20g (1 small 85g packet of Munchee Milk short cake biscuits)
Energy drink- 27g (1 x 250 ml Red bull)
Cereal- 12g (1 small serving)
Cakes/Desserts- 47g (1 slice chocolate cake)
Ice-cream- 18.3g (100 g serving of Cargills Chocolate icecream)
Chocolate- 52g (100g of Ritzbury Milk Choco)
Yogurt- 7.44g (1 serving, 100g)

Btw I saved and continue to save quite a bit of money because I barely ever order desserts :P

Find alternatives to satisfy your sweet cravings

There is no doubt that you are going to have cravings for sweet. I would suggest using fruits as a substitute which should satisfy your need for sweet. I used to also eat a date at times which is a good source of natural sugar in addition to fruits. You can argue- isn’t consuming fruits also consuming sugar then? the answer is yes! but the difference is fruits are more nutrient dense and high in fiber, so it has a slow and controlled effect on your blood sugar. Honey, Kithul and Maple syrup are also sources of natural sugar but I would suggest using them in moderation. I usually try to avoid them.

Be conscious when eating out

When you are eating out, make sure you ask the restaurant or café what they put in to their food/drinks. Remember you are allowed to ask and you can always tell them to reduce/ exclude sugar or other ingredients.

Stick to what works for you

Whether you choose to do a 30 day sugar detox or a weekdays only sugar detox, make sure you are consistent. Remember your purpose of why you are doing this. It could be to lose weight, maybe you are diabetic or maybe you just want to try it and see how you feel. This experiment will however definitely help you and I am confident about that.

I hope this helps you. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

Ps- I haven’t gone into too much detail and I have tried to keep it as non-technical as possible. If you have any medical condition, remember to consult a doctor before trying anything.