10 Essential Tips for a Successful Sugar Detox | Transform Your Health Today

Are You Ready to Quit Sugar? 10 Tips for a Sugar Detox

A new year has arrived, and you know what that means: people everywhere are vowing to get healthy and embarking on new diet and fitness routines. A great place to start your health journey is with a sugar detox! A sugar detox can help you build healthy habits, lose weight, lower your diabetes and heart disease risk, improve brain function, build a stronger immune system, and even slow the aging process.

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According to the CDC, the average American diet is overloaded with sugar. Sugar is an addictive substance and detoxing from the sweet stuff can help to rewire your brain and break its hold on your tastebuds. The challenge: sugar is hidden in so many of the foods that we eat and we don’t suspect a thing. Things like low-fat cheese and yogurt, ketchup and salsa, bread and protein bars, and so much more.

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Doing a sugar detox is a process. If you’re accustomed to eating a lot of sugar every day, it can be a shock to your system to suddenly cut it all out. The good news is that any uncomfortable side effects like fatigue, headaches, moodiness, and sleep disturbances from quitting sugar are temporary and generally only last a few days.

Let’s get started!

Tip #1: Eliminate Soda

According to the American Heart Association, soda is a huge source of sugar and, therefore, a great place to get started. Replace your soda habit (even diet) with sparkling water, unsweetened herbal tea, or plain water. Regular soda has anywhere from 20-48 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving, sending a stream of sugar right to your liver. Hydrating with beverages like water is essential to our detoxification system.

Whip up our Sugar-Free Keto Mocha Coffee Chiller as a soda alternative.

Tip #2: Increase Healthy Fats in Your Diet

According to Harvard Health, healthy fats are an important part of our diets and should be a part of our diets. Increasing the amount of healthy fats you consume can help reduce your cravings for sugary foods. Set a goal of 1-2 tablespoons of healthy fat per meal. Choose foods like avocado, unsweetened coconut products, grass-fed butter, and nuts and seeds.

Tip #3: Eat More Fresh Fruit

You don’t have to give up everything sweet when you quit sugar. Replace the sugary desserts in your diet with fresh fruits. Fruit has natural sugars, but it’s also a good source of nutrients and fiber, which helps slow the absorption of that sugar into your bloodstream. Berries are rich in antioxidants and low in sugar, making them a great choice for your sugar detox.

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Tip #4: Consume More Protein

Eating more protein is linked to weight loss and feeling fuller, especially at breakfast. Starting the day off with a healthy breakfast will influence how you eat the rest of the day. If you break your overnight fast with sugar and carbohydrates, you’ll end up on a blood sugar roller coaster, craving sugar the rest of the day. However, if you start the day with protein or fat, you’ll be on a much better track.

Tip #5: Increase Complex Carbs

Refined carbs like pasta, bread, and sugar can spike and crash your blood sugar but complex carbs like starchy vegetables are a nutrient-dense source of carbohydrates. Foods like sweet potatoes and butternut squash offer a hint of sweetness while stabilizing blood sugar.

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Tip #6: Opt for Healthy Snacks

Quitting sugar is hard. Be prepared during your sugar detox with a stocked pantry of healthy snacks. Skip the prepackaged treats and opt for things like celery sticks with seed butter, hard-boiled eggs, Greek yogurt with berries, almond flour crackers, and sugar-free jerky instead.

Tip #7: Keep Stress Under Control

Stress increases sugar cravings and depletes your body of important nutrients. Managing stress is integral to a successful sugar detox. Enlist a support system or detox buddy to help keep stress in check. Exercise is also a great way to reduce stress.

Tip #8: Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation can lead to sugar cravings. A poor night of sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity, which destabilizes your blood sugar and causes you to reach for more sweets and carbohydrates to keep your blood sugar up. To keep those sugar cravings at bay during your detox, make sure to get a full eight hours of sleep each night.

Tip #9: Don’t Skip Meals

Skipping meals puts stress on your body, which can lead to a drop in blood sugar and, in turn, more sugar cravings. Be intentional about eating three meals a day with a few sugar-free snacks in between meals if you get hungry.

Tip #10: Eliminate Dairy and Gluten

According to a study detailed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, dairy and gluten activate the same dopamine signals as sugar, the reward-learning regions in the brain. Cutting dairy and gluten out of your diet will help you fight sugar cravings faster.

A sugar detox can be challenging but the reward outweighs the discomfort. Cutting sugar out of your diet will help you jumpstart clean eating habits, which will greatly benefit your health.