10 Ways To Quit Sugar In 5 Days

Do you crave for sugary treats late at night or when you are happy, heartbroken, working, or bored? Then you are addicted to sugar – well, most of us are! In fact, sugar addiction is the reason why there’s a rise in diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity-related diseases around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. But according to the American Heart Association, most of us consume more than 22 teaspoons of sugar per day. That’s about 16% of total calories consumed! So, let go of your sugar addiction to lose weight, feel happy, stay active, and stronger than ever. Wonder how? Worry not, that’s what you are here to find out. I will tell you ways to get there. Here’s how you can quit sugar in just 5 days.

10 Best Ways To Quit Sugar

1. Positive Approach

Giving up sugar doesn’t mean you are going to be deprived. If you want to quit sugar, it is important that you have the right attitude. It is just like quitting any other addiction. Abandon it to get better and live longer. Sugar addiction is similar to the urge to have alcohol or nicotine – unnecessary, unhealthy and perilous yet we crave for it. So you don’t have to feel you are missing out on something – you are just taking responsibility for your health, which is not only commendable but inspiring too.

2. Banish Sugar From Your Kitchen

The next step towards achieving your no-sugar goal is to take sugar off your kitchen shelves. That’s the only way you can prevent yourself from binging on sugar-loaded foods. In fact, you should also be careful about the “invisible sugar” in various processed foods—get rid of them as soon as possible. Fruits also contain fruit sugar, fructose, which is also the reason for sugar addiction. Keep only a few fruits stored in your fridge, eliminate milk chocolate, packaged fruit juices, flavored water, honey, cow’s milk, processed grains, dry fruits, breakfast cereals, ready to eat foods, alcohol, and biscuits.

3. Kill The Trigger

Sugar craving is associated with the habits you have developed over the years. For example, watching a movie at the theater means a large bucket of popcorn with aerated drinks (high on sugar). Try to figure out what habits are associated with your cravings for sugary foods. Do you feel hungry in the middle of the night and crave to have ice cream or chocolate? Do you feel the need to eat fruits right after lunch or dinner? Write down the triggers for your sugar craving so you can use a healthy substitute.

4. Say No

The next thing you should do is say “no” to that meddling voice in your mind. Politely refuse to your friends and family members who offer sugary treats. You cannot escape sugar, especially when there are so many new dessert places mushrooming around the town, and parties are thrown to mark birthdays, farewells, new beginnings, etc. But hey, you can celebrate and indulge without overloading your body with sugar. So, be courteous and refuse sweet in any form from your loved ones but say a strict “no” to that voice in your head. When you do this again and again for few days, you will be able to control yourself even if Willy Wonka offered you a piece of chocolate!

5. Cook Your Meal At Home

You can cut back on the sugar by avoiding outside food. Most restaurants add sugar and salt in various forms to enhance the taste, flavor, and color of the food. So one of the best ways to quit sugar is to cook your meals at home and use ingredients that do not contain sugar in any form.

6. Careful With Your Tea/Coffee

Can’t do without tea or coffee? Not a problem. You can continue drinking tea and coffee but avoid the use of refined sugar and/or artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and neotame.

7. Eat Veggies

Vegetables are loaded with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and dietary fiber. When you are trying to break your sugar addiction, consuming lots of veggies will keep you full for longer and improve your health. This would gradually curb your sugar cravings at odd times of the day.

8. Check The Labels

A lot of packaged foods contain sugar in the form of fructose, dextrose, HFCS, agave syrup, etc. You should always check the label of bread, sauces, salad dressing, mayonnaise, canned foods. You can consume about 50% less sugar if you check the labels to find out whether a particular food contains sugar in any form.

9. Eat Less Sweet Fruits

Fruits contain fructose and can also give you a sugar high. Eat fruits that are not very sweet such as strawberries, gooseberry, blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, apples, oranges, lime, lemon, tangerine, avocado, muskmelon, and honeydew melon. Avoid eating papaya, mango, grapes, pineapple, peaches, pear, plum, etc.

10. Drink Water

The last and the most important step is to drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated and flush out the sugar from your system. Drinking water also helps to curb appetite, lose weight, reduce skin rashes, chapping of lips, and improve brain function.

So those were the 10 ways in which you could quit sugar in just 5 days. But how can you apply these methods to actually quit sugar? Well, I have prepared a diet chart that contains all the foods that will help you quit sugar for good. Take a look.

Quit Sugar Diet Plan

Why This Diet Plan Works

This diet plan is designed keeping in mind your goal to quit sugar and live a healthy life. The foods that are listed here are nutrient dense, filling, tasty, and can help you ward off fatal diseases. But there are more reasons to quit sugar.

Benefits Of Quitting Sugar

Here’s how you can benefit from it.

• Boots will power.
• Your energy levels will increase.
• You will lose weight.
• Eases joint pain.
• Your brain will become more active.
• No insomnia.
• You will save money.
• You will learn to cook delicious food at home.
• Your skin problems will vanish like magic.

This seems fabulous but quitting sugar doesn’t go smoothly for most people. Here are the sugar withdrawal symptoms that can affect you.

Possible Side Effects Of Quitting Sugar

• You may have uncontrollable cravings for sugary foods.
• You may get a headache and feel nauseous.
• Not consuming sugar can also make you irritated and frustrated.
• Your body will start aching for no reason.
• As sugar levels drop in your body, you may get mild tremors.

These are scary, but I am letting you know that these are normal for anyone who wants to quit sugar. If you can endure these initial symptoms, you can quickly break the habit of consuming too much sugar.

To conclude, millions of people have benefited from quitting sugar. So can you. Use this article as a guideline and get your life back on track for a better and healthier life. Cheers to quitting sugar!

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Reviewer Author

Heather M. Duquette-WolfRD, CSSD

 

Heather M. Duquette-Wolf is a registered dietitian nutritionist and a certified specialist in sports dietetics with 13 years of experience. She has been the owner of HMD Nutrition in Scottsdale, Arizona since 1999. She started out in medical nutrition therapy and expanded her area of expertise to intestinal disorders, inflammatory disease and exercise nutrition.

Read full bio of Heather M. Duquette-Wolf

Charushila BiswasHealth & Wellness Writer

 

Charushila is an ISSA certified Fitness Nutritionist and a Physical Exercise Therapist. Over a span of 6 years, she has authored more than 400 articles on diet, lifestyle, exercises, healthy food, and fitness equipment. She strives to inform, educate, and motivate her readers via authentic, straightforward, and fact-checked information.

Read full bio of Charushila Biswas