From the shelves at Tesco to the ice cream shops around town, the way sugar surrounds us makes it impossible to resist. It creeps into most parts of our modern-day life and is ubiquitous in every culture. The thought of celebrating Christmas without pristinely wrapped chocolates or turning down a piece of birthday cake at a loved one’s party, can seem to detract from the fruitfulness of life. Given my personal irresistibility to sweet treats and their surrounding omnipresence, I wanted to challenge my discipline and discover what would happen to my mind and body in its absence. I need to distinguish that my intention was not to lose weight, but, rather, reap potential cognitive and health benefits. I also cannot give health advice, this article is based on my own experience. The results: I set myself a target of two weeks which shortly turned into fifty days of sugar-free living.
The first step was a shift in mindset. I was someone who consumed processed sweet foods daily… and admittedly way more than recommended. At the very start, I fought myself insisting “why would you deprive yourself of one of the best things in life?!” Thus, I realized I needed to change the way I thought about sugar to change my unhealthy relationship with it. I often found myself depending on sugar to positively fuel my mood, without it, I became noticeably more irritable. I therefore needed to adopt an ‘I can‘ mentality to a task that once seemed impossible for me. I threw out all sugary products from my kitchen – out of sight out of mind, and I abstained completely.
I kept a food diary to hold myself accountable and track my progress. This ultimately motivated me to keep going, serving as a constant reminder of my discipline. I did not experience headaches, but my cravings were going wild. Blueberry muffins would most desirably stare back at me in Starbucks, a usual accompaniment to my green tea. Nevertheless, my newly adopted mindset allowed me to acknowledge I was capable of not letting my cravings win and, as a result, I was finally in the driver’s seat. This also led to confidence in other areas in my life. When I was presented with a challenge, I would think ‘if I can say no to a blueberry muffin, I can also do this‘. Laughable, I know, but this really was how strong my addictive relationship with sugar was. It slowly became my mantra and fuelled motivation in the gym, as well as towards my studies and overall lifestyle. I also noticed, as the sugar left my body, my productivity levels began to thrive.
In terms of cognition, one of the main things I noticed was my enhanced ability to focus. When reading, I often fell victim to revisiting the previously read pages, realizing my mind would wander and I would not digest the information. During my detox, this no longer occurred. It soon became effortless to focus on tasks at hand, meaning all mental noise was silenced. My tastebuds also underwent noticeable changes – what I once considered to be a bland food, gradually became tasteful and sweet.
Towards the end of my originally planned two-week challenge, I reminded myself ‘I did not come this far, just to come this far‘ when I felt myself wanting to give in to a Marks and Spencers cookie. This is what ultimately led my challenge to extend to fifty days! I broke my fifty-day sugar detox with a visit to Janetta’s gelateria with my grandparents for cookie dough and ice cream. Deliciously guilt-free.
Now that I have reincorporated sugar into my diet, I do not consume it in excess or unnecessarily. If I find myself stressed with my workload, I do not deny myself a blueberry muffin. Most importantly, I proved to myself I can do difficult things while also adopting a balanced relationship with sugar. Again, this is based on my personal experience. For health advice, please seek a medical professional.
My biggest takeaway – although my challenge to cut sugar consumption may not perform miracles, it can certainly serve as the basis to improving other aspects in your life.