I gave up sugar because I had to.

When I got sick several years ago—suffering from inexplicable digestive issues, fatigue, and weak joints among other things—since I couldn’t get help from my doctor, I found a holistic nutritionist.  My nutritionist soon found an overgrowth of yeast (candida albicans), parasites, and other opportunistic bacteria living inside of my body. If that wasn’t gross enough, she also told me that these nasty little stomach bugs feed (and thrive!) on sugar . . .

. . . so, sugar had to go!

I gave up candy. I gave up bread. I even gave up fresh fruit (even the low-sugar variety, like berries). And it was a tough transition at first!

It was like withdrawing from a drug. (Well, in fact, it was withdrawing from a drug.) I had the shakes, my body temperature vacillated wildly, and I was exhausted all the time. And my sugar cravings were horrendous.

But I made it through the first week and started to turn a corner.

Very quickly, the withdrawal symptoms subsided and I started to feel better—not just better than I had been a week prior, but better than I had ever felt! Soon, I was quite content without sugar. I actually started to enjoy the natural flavor of real food. It was like my culinary palate (and my health) got a much-needed reset.

I’ve since learned that cutting back on sugar isn’t just for those, like me, who suffered from serious digestive issues. Sugar is a pretty nasty culprit in all of our bodies.

Mark Hyman, M.D., author of The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet, told Women’s Health Magazine: “Sugar consumption is now an epidemic. The long-term effects will be staggering.”

Here are just four reasons I (like Dr. Hyman) advise everyone to cut back on sugar:

It Messes With Your Skin

Dr. Nicholas Perricone, a dermatologist and nutritionist, told the Huffington Post that increased insulin levels are like “a burst of inflammation throughout the body.”

In other words?

The more sugar you eat the more inflammation you have throughout your body—which means more acne, more wrinkles, lower-quality collagen, and an increased recurrence of any pre-existing skin conditions

It Ages You

If the greater chance of wrinkles weren’t bad enough, sugar prematurely ages your body in other ways too. In fact, sugar has been known to stimulate degenerative diseases, directly affecting your heart, your memory, your eyesight, and more.

And, according to the UK’s The Daily Mail, scientists say “a direct link has been established between the amount of sugar circulating in the blood and how old a person looks.”

It Messes With Your Mood

Sugar is addictive and—much like other addictive substances—it messes with your mood. It can give you the highest highs and the lowest lows; sometimes within the same few minutes. As we’ve discussed sugar also increases inflammation, and inflammation has been linked to depression.

Sugar also ups your insulin (the hormone that uses sugar for energy) production. When your body produces more insulin (to regulate all of that sugar), your body releases adrenaline to compensate. This “fight or flight” mode can make you anxious and irritable, too.

It Affects Your Brain Function

Binging on sugar affects your brain in a big way. “We see brain changes [from sugar] that lead to lethargy, anxiety, and irritability,” says Nicole Avena, Ph.D., author of Why Diets Fail: Because You’re Addicted to Sugar.

A surge of sugar stimulates a surge of dopamine (that feel-good hormone) in your brain, so it’s easy to become quickly addicted to the rush of more sugar. That dopamine rush feels good for a minute—until the inevitable onset of the “sugar crash” when your brain sends out serotonin to counteract it.

And then there’s the increased insulin again: it not only blocks the production of the hormone that tells you when you’re full; too much insulin (as brought on by too much sugar) can also eventually lead to Alzheimer’s Disease. Yikes!

* * *

I’ll be honest—now that I’ve healed my digestive issues, I do slip some sugar into my diet every now and again. And every time, I can definitely tell the difference in my body and mind.

While the sweet stuff can be tempting, I’ve learned through years of experience (and the medical proof like what I’ve included above) that I feel and function so much better without it.

And I know you will too.