I have been 99% – granted this is an estimate – sugar-free since August 2015. I’ve never felt better than I have in the past nine months. I did a one-month elimination diet in which I eliminated sugar, caffeine, dairy, eggs, grains, legumes, nuts, and nightshades (all the things that might possibly cause food sensitivity). As I added all those foods back into my diet one by one, I did not notice any negative effects. I added back all those elements to my diet EXCEPT SUGAR. After one month, I just didn’t feel those cravings any more. Eating a primarily plant-based diet really heavy on greens, cruciferous vegetables and sweet potatoes with a little bit of beef, chicken, pork, or fish every other day had rebooted my taste buds and re-set my brain chemistry. I cannot tell you how grateful I am not to want to eat sugary goodies. I can look at donuts, cookies, brownies, cakes and candy and say “no, thank you” without feeling that it’s a challenge to my self-control. I am truly not interested.

So why am I so grateful for developing an aversion to dessert? Why does the World Health Organization recommend limited consumption of sugar to 6 teaspoons a day? (The average consumer in the U.S. consumes over 20 teaspoons a day.) What qualifies as sugar and what does it do to our bodies when we indulge in too much?

Of course, sugar is a substance that contains calories but absolutely NO nutrients. Obviously, if we are ingesting a lot of it, we will gain weight. What is not so obvious are the negative effects that the consumption of these empty calories has on our bodies.

A summary of an online compilation of the many toxic effects of sugar on the human body show us that, in short, sugar…

…chronically raises insulin levels, activating the sympathetic nervous system, thus increasing blood pressure and heart rate.

…causes inflammation and systemic inflammation triggers acne.

…promotes the buildup of fatty deposits around your liver, contributing to insulin resistance and undermining the work done by your pancreas.

…causes anxiety, irritability, and mood swings in women.

…triggers the release of the hormone cortisol, which interferes with slumber.

…may actually damage communication among your brain’s cells, causing brain fog, and eventually Alzheimer’s.

In addition, Save Our Bones underscores the following problems with sugar consumption:

• damage to your immune system
• destruction of your brain
• mineral loss in the bones

Furthermore, Authority Nutrition brings into focus the lack of the feeling of satiety due to the fructose in sugar and that sugar also causes resistance to Leptin, which is a hormone that is secreted by our fat cells. Leptin is supposed to function as a signal to tell the brain that we’re full and need to stop eating.

On Dr. Mercola’s website, there is a list of 76 ways sugar can ruin your health!

Oh, and did I mention that I lost 25 pounds in the last nine months? If you need more reasons to give up sugar, next time, we’ll look at how sugar feeds cancer cells.