{"id":9303,"date":"2023-12-07T02:48:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T19:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9303"},"modified":"2023-12-07T02:48:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T19:48:34","slug":"why-you-might-get-a-sugar-withdrawal-headache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9303","title":{"rendered":"Why You Might Get a Sugar Withdrawal Headache"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>So you\u2019re considering cutting sugar from your diet, or maybe you\u2019re already on your way. Either way, you\u2019ve probably heard about some potential side effects of giving sugar the boot, like the dreaded sugar withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p>When cutting back on the sweet stuff, some people may experience some initial negative effects \u2014 one of which is the potential \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.beachbodyondemand.com\/blog\/sugar-detox\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sugar detox<\/a>\u201d headache. Why does this happen? It\u2019s likely because cutting sugar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beachbodyondemand.com\/blog\/signs-eating-too-much-sugar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stresses your brain<\/a> a bit. Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n<h2>Effects of Sugar on the Brain<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/28125358\/sugar-withdrawal-600-effects.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-165717\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/28125358\/sugar-withdrawal-600-effects.jpg\" alt=\"Woman Debates Eating a Chocolate Bar | Sugar Withdrawal\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When you eat sugar, your brain releases\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bjsm.bmj.com\/content\/52\/14\/910\">dopamine<\/a>, the \u201cfeel-good\u201d brain chemical. Your body associates it with a reward. \u201cLogically, you may know that sugar is bad and can lead to adverse effects,\u201d says Michele Promaulayko, author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Sugar-Free-Simple-21-Day-Effortless\/dp\/1940358418\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Sugar Free 3<\/em><\/a>. \u201cBut your reward center drives you to just keep eating,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When you cut back on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beachbodyondemand.com\/blog\/natural-sugar-vs-added-sugar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">added sugar<\/a>, or eliminate it from your diet completely, your body has to adjust to not getting regular hits of dopamine from that particular source. Meanwhile, levels of acetylcholine \u2014 a neurotransmitter that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3466476\/\">causes neurons to fire<\/a> \u2014 rise. This can cause some distress to the nervous system, leading to aches and pains in the body and sugar withdrawal <a href=\"https:\/\/addictionresource.com\/addiction\/sugar-addiction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">symptoms<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These symptoms may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Headaches<\/li>\n<li>Nausea<\/li>\n<li>Dizziness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why You Get Sugar Withdrawal Headaches<\/h2>\n<p>A headache is perhaps the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/addictionresource.com\/addiction\/sugar-addiction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most common symptom<\/a> people report when they cut out sugar or caffeine. Researchers aren\u2019t 100 percent positive why headaches occur as a sugar withdrawal symptom, but they theorize it could be due, at least in part, to the brain\u2019s stress system.<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/106\/47\/20016.long\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a study published in <em>The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em> (PNAS),<\/a>\u00a0researchers fed two groups of mice different diets \u2014 one consistently low in sugar, and one high in sugar (chocolate-flavored) on certain days.<\/p>\n<p>They found that the mice on the cycled chocolate-flavored sugary diet exhibited some withdrawal-like responses when they didn\u2019t have access to the sweet stuff. Their level of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) \u2014 a hormone in the part of the brain that controls fear, anxiety, and stress responses \u2014 was raised.<\/p>\n<p>It was five times higher than the control group, and only stabilized when the mice were fed chocolate-flavored sugary feed.<\/p>\n<h2>How Long Does Sugar Withdrawal Last?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13060627\/sugar-withdrawal-headache.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-149717\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13060627\/sugar-withdrawal-headache.jpeg\" alt=\"symptoms of sugar withdrawal\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t let any of this deter you from reducing or eliminating added sugar from your diet. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/health.clevelandclinic.org\/how-to-stop-sugar-cravings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a>, you can break your sugar habit in just 10 days. And chances are, if you\u2019re like most of us, you eat way too much anyway.<\/p>\n<p>The average American consumes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/health.gov\/dietaryguidelines\/2015\/resources\/DGA_Cut-Down-On-Added-Sugars.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">17 teaspoons<\/a> (about 71 g) of sugar a day, which means 270 calories from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beachbodyondemand.com\/blog\/natural-sugar-vs-added-sugar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added sugars<\/a> every\u2026single\u2026day.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s way over the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/19704096\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Heart Association\u2019s recommendation<\/a> that men have no more than 9 teaspoons (36 g) and women no more than 6 teaspoons (24 g) per day.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not entirely our fault. Food manufacturers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beachbodyondemand.com\/blog\/other-names-for-sugar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sneak added suga<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beachbodyondemand.com\/blog\/other-names-for-sugar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">r<\/a> into\u00a0products we\u2019d never expect, including breads, tomato sauce, salad dressings, and some low-fat foods. (When fat is removed, it has to be replaced with something, and that something else is usually sugar.)<\/p>\n<p>Limiting your intake of added sugars \u2014 along with maintaining a healthy weight and adopting a healthier lifestyle \u2014 can have a range of positive effects, including maintaining steadier energy levels.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t let the potential of a temporary headache dissuade you from making changes that can improve your overall health for a lifetime.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you\u2019re considering cutting sugar from your diet, or maybe you\u2019re already on your way. Either way, you\u2019ve probably heard about some potential side effects of giving sugar the boot, like the dreaded sugar withdrawal. When cutting back on the sweet stuff, some people may experience some initial negative effects \u2014 one of which is &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}