Has anyone given up sugar and do they look younger?

[DonkeysYears]

I'm feeling ugh this week. Cold, grumpy and I feel I look bloody ancient. I'm thinking about giving up sugar in the hope of my face improving.
Has anyone done it? If so, do you look younger? Is it really worth giving up lovely lovely chocolate??

[mowglik]

I gave up sugar a year ago and have lost weight and feel better for it..I definitely look better than before but not sure about younger

I say gave up but I have (lots) of normal days when I eat pretty much anything so I've not been consistent with it

Is looking younger a known side effect of giving up sugar?

[FergusSingsTheBlues]

Sugar rots collagen in your skin. So makes you age quicker, can't remember how, it breaks it down though

[DonkeysYears]

That's what I've read, and the way I feel at the moment I'll try anything! I do really really love sugar tho!!

[Elliptic5]

Life's too short to give up chocolate

[FaFoutis]

I gave up sugar for a year. Very strict, no sugar in anything.

I didn't look any different and I don't remember feeling any different.
I did it for a skin condition and it didn't help with that either.

[QueenQueenie]

I have given up sugar (well, I eat very few carbs and no obvious sugar). I have lost a lot of weight and feel much better generally - better skin, more energy, fewer aches and pains. I am a convert and will be carrying on indefinitely...

[bigkidsdidit]

I did last year, even fruit. I looked great and lost tons of weight. Even slept better. I started on it again at Christmas and feel crap, dry skin and headaches again so need to wean myself off once more. It is hard to sustain.

[QueenCardigan]

I wouldn't say I look younger but my 11s (those lines above your nose in between your eyes) have deginitely reduced. I also lost weight and went down a dress size in jeans. I also don't get the cravings and associated mood swings from eating so much when I was premenstrual.

[sergeantmajor]

I have given up (most) sugar* and my skin looks less blotchy and I don't get spots any more, pretty miraculous. In fact, the improvements to my skin cheer me immensely.

I do NOT look younger, but not sure why ageing would go in reverse. I can buy in to the theory that I may not age quite so fast without sugar but I doubt it would halt the process, let alone reverse it.

*except when pre-menstrual, obvs

[DonkeysYears]

Thanks all, tonight I've scoffed a flake, a wispa and three chocolate brownies so if I do decide to do it, it will have to wait til tomorrow

[Ohmygrood]

I have done this (I am also on a sugar free diet just now after putting on weight over xmas) and I don't think it made any difference to my skin.

I did lose weight which always makes me look better - I don't suit being overweight at all.

[Hopefully]

I did for a few months and it made loads of difference - I was fresh faced, plump skinned, younger looking etc etc. But I actually decided that I enjoy cake more than I enjoy amazing skin, so I do a good second best with green smoothies/oil cleansing/plenty of water/minimal processed food (I bake my own cakes ).

[MrsGSR]

I did for a month. I lost weight and was really shocked at how good my skin looked. I tend to get a few big spots just before my period starts, but didn't that month. Might be a coincidence!
I plan on giving it up again for at least 10 weeks starting from Sunday (run up to a family wedding). Once I'm at my goal weight I might reintroduce treats at the weekends.

[Eliza22]

My name is Eliza....and I am a sugarholic. It's been fifteen minutes since my last hit (two Choc digestives with a cuppa....DH brought up to bedroom).

How. How can you give up sugar? Am going to investigate.

I'm 52. Skin is good.

[ComeClose]

I've reduced sugar a lot in the last month or so and my skin is definitely more clear. Dunno about youthful! I haven't had the usual hormonal spot break out for two cycles now, either, which is interesting...

[frankietwospots]

But what do you all eat instead? Is it all avocado on toast, that kind of thing? What good substitutes are there (realistic ones, not ones I'd find in a specialist health shop)?

[Eliza22]

Precisely Frankie. I have no idea how it can be done without having to be isolated and fed through a hatch.

[antimatter]

For some it is giving up sugra what makes difference but there are also sugar replacements - like glucose syrup, corm syrup and other crap which is v.cheap to produce and most shop bought things are full of it.
In my experience giving up eating all sweet things made massive difference (in just 3 weeks) how my feet look like - no more peeling, dry skin. If for that it is worth it! That's why constant exfoliation of feet never worked for me before giving up sugar and upping fat in low carb diet. I also walk much more last month (signed for walking marathon so training)

[bigkidsdidit]

What do you mean? Eggs for breakfast or sausages. Salads and salmon or chicken for lunch then Greek yog with fruit. Nuts in the afternoon. Somethin normal for tea- stew, fish pie, cottage pie, with green veg. Normal food!

[ComeClose]

I have to eat really, really well to avoid sugar cravings.

I have to make sure what I eat is properly filling so I dont get that low blood sugar snack attack, and I have found that really upping the protein in my diet has helped and eating slow release carbs also.

I eat porridge and fruit in the morning (so fructose, obviously, but no other sweetener).

Filling, high protein lunch - usually eggs with seedy brown toast and avocado, or fish with brown rice & salad. Forget white bread/crisps/soup unless it is seriously hearty and has pulses in it.

Dinner I have chicken/fish/steak and lots of veg.

If I get a killer sugar craving (PMT!) I have plain greek yoghurt with nuts
/seeds and a drizzle of honey or banana/apple with peanut butter or a cup of green tea with half a teaspoon of honey.

Its amazing how quickly I got used to eating like this. It took about 10 days to make it a habit. And I was a former croissant for breakfast, sarnie and chocolate for lunch/pudding every night kinda gal!

[pinkfrocks]

It's a long term thing..

sugar destroys collagen by causing inflammation deep in the skin.

I try to be sugar free as much as possible. I've never bought sweets in decades and can't eat chocolate for other health reasons.

Similarly I am gluten intolerant so don't really go for cakes / biscuits unless I make them( and I try not to) because although there are plenty in the supermarkets now this is relatively new and I've been gluten-free for almost 25 years. The only sugar I might have a bit of jam on toast sometimes or half a teaspoon on some porridge now and then. Obviously sugar is in almost everything you buy- mayonnaise, ketchup, any processed meals, so you need to cook from scratch if you want to avoid it completely.

[pinkfrocks]

Plain greek yoghurt with blueberries is a great sugar-free pudding - and if you must then a tiny drizzle of honey.

If you cut out cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugar in tea/ coffee/ drinks then you are well on your way. All those things are snacks or extras- we don't actually need them.

[Eliza22]

But don't most "produced" foods even bread/pasta have some sugar in or am I confusing sugars with carbs?

[bigkidsdidit]

The building blocks of carbs is sugar, so it depends how strict you are. I eat bread maybe three times a week and pasta if I'm at a restaurant. I do eat potatoes and rice though.

[Greengardenpixie]

Personally, I think it's all a lot of crap. Yes there may be truth in it; but how do you separate it from other factors like pollution? My family - uncles and aunts all have had a sweet tooth, as do I. I have eaten sugar all my life and people constantly tell me I look 10 years younger. So what's the secret? Genetics imo.