00:00The average American consumes half a cup or more of sugar every day and surveys
00:05claim eating less sugar makes you crave it more. Some people even say it gives
00:09them withdrawal symptoms. So what exactly happens to your brain and body when you
00:13try to quit sugar? After 24 hours of no refined sugar and you start to lose
00:17water weight, our body regulates our blood sugar level through the pancreas.
00:21The pancreas releases two hormones, insulin and glucagon. When blood sugar
00:25gets too high the pancreas releases insulin and when it gets too low the
00:29pancreas releases glucagon. In the first 24 hours of no sugar blood sugar levels
00:34drop and the pancreas releases glucagon which breaks down glycogen, the storage
00:38of sugars in our body to create the energy you need. The thing is glycogen is
00:42bound to 3 grams of water so the breakdown of glycogen for energy is
00:47responsible for the initial loss of water weight you see in the first 24
00:51hours of not eating sugar. On day two is when you start to feel fatigued and crave
00:55sugar as the body continually needs to create new sources of energy.
00:59Gluconeogenesis is activated which is the conversion of proteins to sugars in
01:03the body as well fats will be broken down into ketones to create energy. This can
01:08make you feel tired, get headaches and even have sugar cravings but there's not
01:12enough human studies to understand why this occurs. Animal studies have shown that
01:17in rats, neurochemical pathways causing dopamine release are activated when the
01:21rats consume sugar and in some cases this can be more potent than cocaine in rats.
01:25This is why you may have seen pop science article headlines like sugar! More addictive
01:30than cocaine? The reason for this is that sugar activates dopamine release. This
01:34creates a positive reinforcement around wanting to eat sugar and can create
01:38cravings. But to be clear there is no evidence that in humans sugar can be as
01:43addictive as drugs like cocaine. On day three is when you get a metallic taste in
01:48your mouth and your breath starts to stink. The breakdown of fat into ketones due
01:53to the lack of sugar intake creates the release of acetone in your body which when
01:57breathed out smells like nail polish remover or rotting fruit. Some studies
02:02have even shown that if you measure acetone in your breath it can predict the
02:05level of ketones in your blood. This smelly breath can last a few days to a few
02:09weeks but this is based on zero sugar. We're talking not even fruits in your diet.
02:14Unlike other parts of the video where we're mainly focusing on what happens
02:17when you cut out added or refined sugars. Day 5 to 10 of not eating added sugar and
02:21your taste buds have officially changed to be more sensitive to sugar. One study
02:25had people do a water fast for 5 to 14 days and found that the threshold to
02:30detect sweet flavor was much lower increasing sensitivity to the taste of
02:34sugar. This isn't that surprising because people who consume a lot of sugar
02:37actually decrease their sensitivity to that sweet flavor and feel like they need to
02:41add more sugar to their food or beverages in order to feel the sweet flavor again.
02:46After six weeks of no sugar and you may also notice your bowel movements are
02:50becoming more regular with less bloating or cramps. IBS affects almost 10 to 20
02:55percent of the population in North America. IBS is a group of symptoms that
02:59people experience their whole life such as diarrhea, constipation, cramps and
03:03bloating. And doctors recommend a low FODMAP diet. FODMAP stands for
03:07fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols which are
03:12pretty much diets with less refined sugar and more natural sugars. Reducing
03:17refined sugars can relieve IBS and has been shown to improve symptoms within six
03:21weeks. After 10 weeks of eating no sugar you might start to notice that your
03:25skin is looking a lot healthier. That is because sugar can cause acne lesions
03:29within one week of high intake. Clinical trials have shown that after 10 weeks of
03:33low sugar diets acne lesions have significantly reduced. After one year
03:37with no additional sugar intake you'll also see improved sleep. A study looking
03:42at 53,000 postmenopausal women showed that three years of low sugar intake was
03:47correlated with reduced insomnia. Although the effect of sugar on sleep is a
03:51little controversial as we don't really know if it has a negative impact on
03:54daily sleep. In fact some studies have even found that sleep is improved with
03:57high sugar intake before bed. After one to five years of no added sugar intake your risk of
04:02high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity is reduced. High
04:06sugar intake is associated with a laundry list of other diseases including
04:11cancers mostly due to its association with obesity. But people are catching on.
04:15It's estimated that almost 46% of added sugar in our diets comes from soda and in
04:20America drinking pop has decreased over the past 10 years. Now some of you might be
04:24wondering if you do cut out sugar like this can you just replace it with
04:27something like aspartame or other artificial sweeteners? Or are artificial
04:31sweeteners actually secretly killing you? We have a podcast on that you can click
04:34right here. Thanks for watching and we'll see you soon for a new science
04:37video awesome. Peace!
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