Eating sweets is like feeding the soul a little taste of heaven on earth. There is something about sinking your teeth into a sweet treat, whether it is chocolate or a slice of cake.
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to eat, live, and breathe sugar, despite too much sugar being bad for their health? Interestingly, sugar works like many addictive drugs, sending pleasure signals to the brain. Various studies report that sugar consumption causes neurochemical changes in the brain and behavioural changes that are similar to the impacts of substance abuse.
This is the idea behind the 30-Day No-Sugar Challenge. If sugar acts like a drug on your brain, then “detoxing” from excessive sugar use should reverse that impact. Before we start discussing the effects of the 30-Day No-Sugar Challenge, there are certain essential things you need to understand about sugar.
How Sugar Affects The Teeth
While it is common knowledge that sweets can damage our teeth, sugar on its own is not the culprit. Tooth decay is a result of a series of events.
Our mouths harbour different types of bacteria. While some of them are beneficial, other bacteria harm our oral health. Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are two destructive bacteria that live in our mouths. When these harmful bacteria consume sugar, it results in the formation of dental plaque, a sticky, colourless film that forms on the surface of the teeth. The bacteria within the plaque release acidic waste products. Eventually, the pH in your mouth drops below the normal scale (pH 7). The environment inside your mouth becomes acidic and causes the bacteria to eat away the minerals of your tooth enamel.
Our saliva contains minerals, such as calcium, phosphate, and fluoride (from toothpaste and water), that help repair and replace the lost minerals. However, the repeated cycle of acid attack can weaken and damage the enamel, resulting in a cavity. If left untreated, the bacteria thriving in the cavity will dig into the deeper layers of the tooth, causing pain and potential premature tooth loss.
The Step-by-Step Guide to the 30-Day No-Sugar Challenge
Cutting out sugar from your diet is not easy. Sugar is psychologically and physiologically addictive and can cause withdrawal. With the right game plan, your teeth, as well as your body, will thank you for it.
You will need about two weeks to overcome sugar cravings and withdrawal safely. With that said, here is a step-by-step guide to successfully taking on the 30-Day No-Sugar Challenge to break your sugar addiction and optimize the health of your teeth.
- Days 1-7: Getting Rid of Sugar—and Eating Healthy Fats
The first thing to do is to get rid of all sugary or high-carb foods in your kitchen. This will help combat temptation when the sugar cravings hit you.
It also applies to natural sugars. Although they are a “healthy alternative” to refined sugar, natural sugars still increase the levels of your insulin and cause cravings.
You will not be cutting sugar completely from your diet, because the body requires sugar for energy. You will be limiting your sugar intake to under 20 grams a day and keeping your carbohydrates to about 50 to 150 grams a day for the next 30 days while avoiding refined sugars as much as is possible. This helps avoid messing with your blood sugar, preventing energy crashes.
Choose veggies and foods that are loaded with healthy fats and protein. Your 30-day no-sugar diet should include:
- Wild salmon
- Grass-fed or grass-finished beef and lamb
- Pasture-raised bacon
- Free-run eggs
- Coconut oil & Olive oil
- Avocados
- Raw nuts
You will also want to integrate nutrient-dense, low-carb vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, fennel, spinach, and others to your diet. Eating well will combat the munchies, and it is what we should do anyhow.
- Day 8 to 14: Hacking Your Sugar Cravings
After a week without sugar, your cravings will start to resurface. You may experience sugar withdrawal symptoms, including mood swings, low energy, insomnia, headaches, and ‘brain fog” (difficulty concentrating). You might even experience nausea or dizziness in extreme cases.
Do not give in to your cravings. The withdrawal symptoms will pass in about ten days, and you will begin to feel better.
Strategies for combating sugar cravings:
- Drink more water to stay hydrated and keep your body running optimally.
- Fill up with healthy fats, including meats and buttered vegetables, without counting calories. Combine them with foods that are high in protein and fibre to curb your appetite and reduce cravings.
- Adding brain octane oil to your diet helps control your hunger hormones and provides you with the energy you need to get through the day without depending on sugar.
- Keep high-fat, low-carb snacks handy and incorporate snack time into your daily schedule. Knowing that at 2:30 you will be having some high-fat, low-carb bites, like dark chocolate (78 percent or higher cocoa), raw nuts, cheese, and nut butters, will help keep the munchies at bay.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners. The reason that artificial sweeteners work is because they stimulate the brain similarly to actual sugar. Using them instead of sugar still reinforces the sugar habit, which is what we are trying to break.
- Bitter is better. Yes, here is the good news. Some bitter tastes, like coffee, arugula, or rapini, can actually reduce sugar cravings (as well as slow the absorption of sugars into the bloodstream). Herbs like licorice root, anise, and juniper can be added to fowl, pork, or white fish for a heightened savoury note that can help reduce sugar cravings.
- Days 15 to 30: Feeling Better
By this period, your sugar and carb cravings are under control, and your withdrawal symptoms should have waned. You do not have to fight with your cravings because the desire is not there anymore. For the second half of the month, you are freer to experiment with your diet and find what works for you:
- Intermittent fasting
- Taking the right supplements
Sugar can be mentally and physiologically addictive, and it is not easy to kick bad habits. It is worth the struggle, however, and at the end of the 30-Day No-Sugar Challenge, you will feel healthier and more energized. Do not let your sweet tooth harm your oral health.
Most importantly, do not forget to continue practicing good oral hygiene to ensure optimum dental health. In addition to brushing your teeth regularly, make sure to visit a reliable family dentist for professional teeth cleaning every six months.
Springdale Dental Centre offers comprehensive dental services that suit all ages and needs, including cosmetic dental services and teeth whitening to keep your smile healthy and bright. Call us at (905) 458-1212 to book an appointment to one of our dentist in Brampton.
