Eating too much processed sugar can lead to mood disorders and other chronic conditions such as diabetes. Conversely, a diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, fish, and other whole foods can significantly reduce the risk of depression. However, sugar may not be such a positive stimulant after all. Recent research indicates that sugary treats have no positive effect on mood.
In fact, sugar can have the opposite effect over time. After a period of abstinence from sugar, some people give in to cravings and end up consuming more sugar than usual. If you've eliminated all sources of sugar from your diet, including the sugars found naturally in fruits and dairy products, you may be suffering from the ketogenic flu. To understand why sugar withdrawal symptoms can be so annoying and intense, it can be helpful to understand why they occur and how sugar affects the body.
Foods high in fiber can also help regulate blood sugar levels, meaning you'll be less likely to experience fluctuations in blood sugar that trigger cravings. If you're trying to reduce your sugar intake or eliminate sugar from your diet, there are some steps you can take to help you cope with sugar withdrawal symptoms. If you overconsume sugar to the point of causing insulin resistance, your brain will constantly have high insulin and sugar levels. Recent research has found that high-sugar diets can impair cognitive functioning, even in the absence of extreme weight gain or excessive energy intake.
More recent studies show that a diet high in added sugar can also affect brain function and cognitive ability. In addition, because eating sweets can cause fatigue, blurred vision and confused thinking, looking at situations objectively and making decisions with confidence can be more difficult when we consume a diet rich in sugar. This sugar-rich diet causes insulin resistance, which in turn damages communications between brain cells, which also stimulate learning and memory formation. Now that there is sugar in the brain, insulin must be used to convert this sugar into energy that the brain can use.
Eating sugar can cause an initial high, followed by an inevitable drop, leading to an intense desire to consume more and more sugar, perpetuating a vicious cycle that is difficult to stop. Let's look at some of these symptoms, the time it takes to stop consuming sugar, the reasons why it's so hard to quit sugar, and what you can do to feel better until the withdrawal symptoms go away. Naidoo states that people who consume large amounts of sugar in their diets may also experience the physiological feeling of withdrawal if they suddenly stop consuming sugar. Because of sugar cravings and other unhealthy eating habits, your brain may be practically surrounded by sugar but unable to use it, as it cannot convert this sugar into energy (glucose).
