What Happens if You Stop Eating Sugar for 14 Days

A human being today can eat more sugar refined in one day than our ancient ancestors could eat in a year and that has produced one of the world's greatest science experiments and in many ways we already know how it's going. In this video I want to share what will happen to your body if you quit sugar for 14 days. Hey guys I'm Dr. Alex Hein, author of the health book Master of the Day and doctor of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. So before we jump in I've put together two very important links right below the video. The first is for a free guide for daily rituals that can potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine and the second is if you'd like to see me locally as a patient in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine you can reach out to my private practice and clinic right below this video here. Now if this is a channel on traditional Chinese medicine and healing why are we talking about sugar? One of the reasons is that diabetes has been documented for thousands of years and one of the earliest mentions of diabetes and the symptoms that encompassed it was a papyrus scroll in ancient Egypt in the BC era and then in Ayurveda also in the BC era and what's fascinating is there were several Ayurvedic physicians I think around 500 BC that accurately were able to describe the difference between the two major kinds of diabetes. One of the juvenile kind that is more related to pituitary issues and more of the adult onset where people are having poor high sugar standard American diets but what's fascinating is this little Wikipedia entry on the history of traditional Chinese medicine so check this out. The diagnosis and treatment of what was called xiao ke was expanded significantly throughout the Sui and Tang dynasties. Now one particular physician Zeng Liyan expounded on the diagnosis of modern day diabetes to the presence of sugar in the urine and it was echoed by other physicians in the centuries that followed. Notably in one particular text called the Wai Tai Mi Yao sometimes translated as the medical secrets of an official written in the year 752 by Wang Tao included a detailed case report of sweet urine and a summary of these symptoms. Now ancient physicians had even known about diabetes because like Sun Tzu Miao and some other doctors discussed how ants would actually try to drink the sweet urine of people who are diabetics. So sweet urine had been a documented phenomena for thousands of years. So history lesson aside let's jump into five or six things that will happen to your body when you stop consuming sugar. So the first is improved blood sugar control and also probably a lot better energy after you get over it initially. One of the most immediate and noticeable effects of quitting sugar is improved blood sugar control. When you consume sugary foods and beverages your blood sugar levels spike rapidly leading to a surge in insulin production. Now over time this can contribute to insulin resistance and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. When you quit sugar your blood sugar levels stabilize reducing the stress in your pancreas and helping to prevent that insulin resistance. And seeing as this is one of the major causes of a lot of the issues people have today this is the single best benefit. Now number two is weight loss. You're going to lose weight around your waist, you're going to lose weight around your face, and in general you're going to thin out. Now cutting out sugar from your diet can lead to weight loss specifically because sugary foods and drinks are calorie dense and often provide very little nutrition and very little fiber which lead to you not feeling as full. Now these can also contribute to excess calorie consumption for that exact same reason. When you eliminate sugar you're going to eat less calories and making it a lot easier to maintain a healthy weight. On top of that sugar consumption can lead to fat accumulation in the liver which may be reversed when you quit sugar. The third is reduced risk of heart disease. So high sugar intake has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. Consuming too much sugar can lead to elevated triglyceride levels, decreased HDL or good cholesterol, and increased inflammation in the body which are all risk factors of heart disease. Now by quitting sugar you can decrease some of these risk factors that can lead to really what are the three or four largest reasons people die today at this moment in history. The fourth is better dental health, so better teeth. Sugar is a primary contributor to tooth decay and cavities. When you quit sugar you reduce your exposure to the harmful bacteria in your mouth that feed on sugar and may also produce acids that erode tooth enamel. Improved dental hygiene and a lower risk of cavities are common benefits if you start reducing your sugar consumption. Now what's scary is that you may be thinking I don't even really eat a whole lot of sugar day to day but you know where people get their sugar very often? They're getting it in their cup or two of coffee every day, sugar added, or that latte may have simple syrup added. On top of that it's added to everything from bread to pasta sauce and to every vegetable imaginable when it's in a process form. The fifth benefit is enhanced mental clarity and mood. Now sugar consumption can have a significant impact on your mood and the way you think. The rapid spikes and the crashes in blood sugar levels associated with sugary foods can lead to mood swings, irritability, and mental fog. And quitting sugar can stabilize your blood sugar levels which will lead to more stable energy levels and improved cognitive function. Many people report feeling a lot more focused, alert, and even frankly emotionally balanced after removing sugar and for some people removing a lot of their carbs from their meals. And finally you'll have less mood swings and less overall food cravings. So it's important to note that quitting sugar may lead to withdrawal symptoms for some people which include those exact sugar cravings and also mood swings. Now these symptoms typically go down over a period of time as your body adjusts to a lower sugar intake. Now transitioning to a diet that is lower in added sugar while still enjoying whole nutrient dense foods is one of the best ways to have balanced blood sugar, not crave so much sugar in the first place, and have just balanced energy throughout the day. Now while diabetes has existed for thousands of years, refined sugar in its current form and amount and really presence in our day-to-day lives has never existed before in human history. And as a result we're suffering from this massive epidemic of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and all of the secondary complications that come from these two issues. So try cutting out sugar for 14 days. Let me know how you feel. Check out the free guide I've put together down there for you and these other related videos for you right there on Traditional Chinese Medicine.