In today’s fast-paced world, adopting healthy habits can be challenging, especially when it comes to alcohol and sugar consumption. While these substances may offer momentary pleasure or relief, eliminating them from your diet can yield profound benefits for both your body and mind. Exploring an alcohol-free or “sober-curious” lifestyle is one of the latest health and wellness trends. The term “sober-curious” describes the decision to decrease the amount of alcohol you consume, encouraging participants to scale back their alcohol consumption and/or begin to experiment with an alcohol-free lifestyle.
Understanding the "No Alcohol No Sugar" Approach
A “no alcohol no sugar” diet involves abstaining from all alcoholic beverages and foods with added sugars for a specified period. This dietary pattern encourages individuals to focus on consuming nutrient-dense, whole foods while minimizing or eliminating empty calories and potentially harmful substances. Many types of 30-day no sugar challenges exist, but most have similar guidelines. The main goal is to cut out all sources of added sugar for 30 days, focusing on consuming nutrient-dense whole foods. Natural sugars, which are found in foods like vegetables, fruits, and dairy products, are OK to eat. Rules and recommendations may differ by program. Alternatively, you can easily create your own 30-day no sugar challenge using the information in this article.
Benefits of Cutting Out Alcohol
Reducing or eliminating your alcohol consumption can significantly impact your overall physical and emotional health.
Short-Term Health Benefits
Several changes can be noticed almost immediately upon reducing alcohol consumption.
Weight Loss
Most alcoholic beverages are high in calories, and many are also mixed with juice or other liquids that are loaded with sugar. Over time, drinking alcohol can cause you to gain weight because your body processes the alcohol before other nutrients. The unused nutrients, such as sugar, are converted to fat and stored in your body. Alcohol can also stimulate your appetite, causing you to eat more than you normally would. Reducing the amount of alcohol you consume can help you to make better food choices and eliminate unnecessary calories and sugars from your diet.
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Improved Memory Function
Alcohol can affect your brain function by impairing the communication between neurons, which can lead to short-term memory loss. Excessive alcohol consumption, especially over an extended period, can begin to alter your brain structure, causing more severe long-term memory loss and impacting your ability to learn new things. Reducing the amount of alcohol you drink can help keep your brain function healthy and your memory sharp.
Deeper Sleep
Alcohol also affects the way your central nervous system functions. Initially, it can slow your breathing and lower your heart rate and blood pressure, which can leave you feeling drowsy and cause you to fall asleep quickly. However, as your liver begins to metabolize the alcohol in your bloodstream, your heart rate and blood pressure rise, which prevents you from achieving a deep sleep. Without this disruption to your central nervous system, your blood pressure and heart rate can remain stable as you rest. When you stop drinking, your sleep improves, leaving you feeling more rested, refreshed, and energized throughout the day.
Balanced Moods
Alcohol is a depressant and can cause shifts in your mood and affect your mental health. Alcohol boosts the serotonin levels in your bloodstream, causing you to experience temporary feelings of happiness. However, your serotonin levels quickly return to normal levels, which could lead to feelings of depression. Limiting your alcohol consumption can help stabilize your serotonin levels and prevent drastic shifts in your mood.
Long-Term Health Benefits
While you are enjoying the immediate benefits of reduced alcohol consumption, your body is hard at work repairing itself, which can have a lasting impact on your overall health.
Improved Heart Health
Reducing your alcohol consumption not only helps to lower your blood pressure and heart rate, but it may also reduce your risk of developing several other heart-related health conditions. Excessive alcohol consumption can elevate your triglycerides, causing fat to accumulate in your arteries. This thickening and hardening of your artery walls can cause serious health conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, or arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). Sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to heart disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, increased triglycerides, and high cholesterol. Studies also show that consuming too much added sugar is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and heart disease mortality.
Read also: Risks of Mixing Ozempic and Alcohol
Enhanced Liver Function
Your liver filters toxins from your body. Over time, alcohol can impair liver function and lead to health conditions such as fatty liver disease or liver damage. Fortunately, in many cases, your liver can repair itself. It is important to take precautions to keep your liver healthy, including limiting alcohol, before serious damage is done. After three months of no alcohol and no sugar, your liver function is significantly improved.
Boosting Your Immune System
Alcohol can have an immediate, negative impact on your immune system, reducing its ability to fight off germs. Over time, alcohol can also reduce your body’s ability to repair itself. As alcohol intake is reduced, your immune system will begin to repair itself and strengthen, keeping you well.
Benefits of Cutting Out Sugar
Regulating Blood Sugar Levels
One of the most significant benefits of eliminating sugar is the stabilization of your blood sugar levels. When you consume sugar, your blood sugar spikes, leading to energy crashes, cravings, and even mood swings. Frequently eating foods and drinking beverages high in added sugar harms blood sugar management and may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, according to some research. Cutting back on added sugar is a good way to reduce blood sugar and insulin levels, even if you only do so for a short time period.
Elevated blood sugar and insulin levels can eventually cause cell damage and increase your risk of several diseases, including retinopathy, dementia, chronic kidney disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), polycystic ovary syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.
Supporting Weight Loss and Reducing Inflammation
Sugar is a major contributor to weight gain, especially when consumed in excess. The body converts sugar into fat, which can accumulate in areas like the belly, thighs, and hips. Cutting out sugar can lead to natural, sustainable weight loss without the need for restrictive diets. Foods and beverages with a lot of added sugar tend to be high in calories and low in filling nutrients like protein and fiber. Thus, a diet high in sugary foods has been linked to weight gain, obesity, and other chronic diseases. Cutting out sources of added sugar may help you lose weight, especially when paired with a nutrient-dense diet.
Read also: Enjoy Keto Drinks
Improving Oral Health
Added sugar intake from sweetened beverages is strongly linked to an increased risk of cavities and tooth decay. This is because bacteria in the mouth break down sugar and produce acid that may damage your teeth.
Enhancing Liver Health
High sugar diets, especially high fructose diets, can increase the risk of developing NAFLD, a condition characterized by fat buildup in the liver. A 2021 study in 29 adolescent boys with NAFLD showed that eight weeks of a low sugar diet resulted in a 10.5 percent reduction in hepatic de novo lipogenesis, the process that makes fatty acids in your liver. It also found greater decreases in hepatic fat and fasting insulin compared to the group that followed the usual diet. Cutting out sugar, especially foods and beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, can reduce liver fat and improve liver health.
Promoting Heart Health
Sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to heart disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, increased triglycerides, and high cholesterol. Studies also show that consuming too much added sugar is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and heart disease mortality.
Other Potential Benefits
Research suggests that diets high in added sugar may be linked to anxiety and depressive symptoms, and decreasing sugar intake may help reduce these symptoms. Cutting out added sugar may also enhance skin health. Studies have linked high added sugar consumption to accelerated skin aging. While foods high in sugar may give you a quick burst of energy, a sugar high is only temporary and will lead to a subsequent crash. Therefore, diets that prioritize complex carbs, like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, can help you sustain energy levels.
Foods to Avoid on a No-Sugar Diet
People are encouraged to restrict foods and beverages high in added sugars, including:
- Sweeteners: table sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, agave, coconut sugar
- Sweetened beverages: soda, sweetened smoothies and juices, sweetened coffee drinks, sports drinks
- Condiments with added sugar: ketchup, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, coffee creamer
- Sweetened dairy products: flavored yogurt, ice cream, chocolate milk
- Sugary baked goods: cookies, cakes, donuts, bread with added sugar
- Sugary breakfast foods: sugar-sweetened cereals, bars, granola, flavored oatmeal
- Candy: chocolate, gummy candies, caramels
- Sugary alcoholic beverages: mixed drinks, sweetened liquor, sweetened canned alcoholic drinks
Additionally, most challenges recommend forgoing artificial and naturally derived low or no-calorie sweeteners such as Splenda, Equal, Stevia, and monk fruit. It’s also recommended that refined grains, including white bread, pasta, and rice, be minimized and replaced with whole grain products without added sugars.
Foods to Eat on a No-Sugar Diet
During 30-day no sugar challenges, participants are encouraged to fill up on whole, nutrient-dense foods, including:
- Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, carrots, asparagus, zucchini, sweet potatoes
- Fruits: apples, oranges, berries, grapes, cherries, grapefruit
- Proteins: chicken, fish, beef, tofu, eggs
- Healthy fat sources: egg yolks, avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, unsweetened yogurt
- Complex carb sources: beans, quinoa, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, brown rice
- Unsweetened beverages: water, sparkling water, unsweetened coffee, tea
This list is by no means comprehensive, but it can give you a good idea of where to start. Remember to pair slow-burn carbs like rice, sweet potatoes, and quinoa with healthy fats and protein to keep blood sugars stable. Pair fruit with fat/protein: Similar as above, pair fruit (which is all carbs) with fat and protein to keep blood sugars stable. Another option is to eat fruit immediately after a meal that contains fat and protein.
Tips for Success
Share Your Social Challenge
Talking with friends about your decision to drink less can help you stay accountable to your goal. Set up a Dry January challenge with friends or join a social media group to get built-in support.
Be Ready to Respond to Triggers
Think about how you are going to handle offers of alcohol. Plan to enjoy alcohol alternatives - if you aren’t usually a soda drinker, you could indulge in a Dr Pepper as your special drink on a night out. Or try a mocktail that helps you feel included while sticking to your plan.
Eat Well and Exercise
Drinking increases fatigue and decreases energy - it puts the body in recovery mode, fighting inflammation and repairing cell damage. When you take a break from alcohol consumption, your body can use that energy to enjoy more healthy activities. A study published in spring 2023 showed that exercise such as running, walking, and resistance training provides physical and mental health benefits for people during substance use disorder treatment. Those benefits include improvement in:
- Muscle strength and endurance.
- Blood pressure and heart rate.
- Body composition.
- Cravings.
- Flexibility and balance.
- Skeletal health.
- Mood and memory.
- Self-esteem.
Upping your water intake during an alcohol break can help refresh your body and mind, too, because too much alcohol can cause dehydration. You might also start making healthier food choices and reducing the urge to order takeout after a night of drinking. We recommend drinking at least 60% of your body weight (in pounds) in ounces of water daily. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, aim for at least 90 oz (150 x 0.6 = 90).
Remember You Are Still Fun!
You may feel as if you’re the “life of the party” when you drink, but that lifestyle probably won’t serve you well and isn’t sustainable long term. As you pivot from being “that” guy or gal, you’ll likely make new, rewarding relationships with friends when you are coherent and communicative. Maybe sober you is even more fun!
Be a Supportive Friend
If someone chooses not to drink, they are under no obligation to explain their decision. Don’t press them and suggest “one drink won’t hurt you” or ask intrusive questions such as “Are you not drinking because you’re pregnant?” Encourage friends to extend that same courtesy to you.
Prepare Meals at Home
Cooking at home means you get to control ingredients in your meals. Having someone to share the journey with is so helpful for accountability and encouragement. Cheer each other on and share progress!
Navigating Social Situations
One of the more interesting lessons from my little experiment is that it’s much more socially acceptable to skip a piece of cake than it is to not have a drink in your hand. I guess because so much socializing happens with the help of alcohol, being the lone non-drinker means being a pariah. It’s pretty sad that I had to go to these lengths to make my pause from drinking manageable, but in the end, I think it gave those around me some sort of peace of mind. And it worked for me too: not having to explain myself each and every time helped me stay the course. Whenever you go against the norm, people are going to have something to say. If your habits aren’t in line with your friends there is going to be a little friction.
Potential Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Given the timing and the lack of religious motivation, I fully expected these 31 days to be torturous. I thought I’d spend every day marking my calendar and praying for the day I’d get to treat myself again. But honestly, after a few days, I stopped missing it. After the initial adjustment of the first week, I was no longer walking to the vending machine or my corner store for my 3pm must-have-sweets-now break. It was honestly awesome to not feel that need.
Going sugar-free for two weeks has a huge impact on your health, but it can take a little time to adjust. Here’s what you might experience:
- Days 1-3: You might feel more intense sugar cravings and lower energy levels as your body begins to detox from sugar. Experts refer to this as “sugar withdrawal”. This adjustment period is normal and temporary.
- Days 4-6: Cravings will start to ease, and you will notice an improvement in energy and focus. Many people notice improvements in bloating and sleep at this point as well.
- Days 7-14: By this point, sugar cravings are minimal, and you’ll enjoy steady energy, better digestion with even less bloating, clearer skin, sharper mental clarity, and more.
Keeping this timeline in mind can help you push through the challenging first few days. Once you make it over the hump, you’ll be amazed at how great you feel.