I Quit Added Sugar for 60 Days—The Withdrawal Was Brutal, But the Results Shocked Me

I thought I was a healthy eater. I avoided fast food. I cooked most of my meals at home. I drank water instead of soda. So when a friend bet me I couldn’t go 60 days without added sugar, I laughed. Then I tried it. And my body staged a full revolt.

The average American swallows 17 teaspoons of added sugar every single day. That is nearly three times the amount the American Heart Association recommends for women. I was probably close to that number, maybe higher, and I had no idea. This article is what happened when I found out.

Why I Decided to Quit Added Sugar (And What I Was Eating Without Knowing)

It started with a 3 PM crash. Every single afternoon, around three o’clock, I would hit a wall. My brain felt slow. My eyes felt heavy. I would reach for coffee, drink it, feel okay for an hour, then crash again. I told myself it was stress or poor sleep. I was wrong. The real problem was sitting in my kitchen cabinet.

I started reading labels on foods I had been eating for years. Flavored yogurt: 18 grams of added sugar per serving. Pasta sauce: 12 grams per half cup. Granola bars: up to 15 grams. The ‘healthy’ bread I bought had more sugar than a cookie. I was not eating candy every day. I was eating hidden sugar, hidden in dozens of normal foods I never questioned.

What the data says:

Stat	Detail
17 tsp/day	Average added sugar an American consumes daily (CDC, 2024)
6 tsp/day	AHA recommended limit for women
9 tsp/day	AHA recommended limit for men
>70%	Packaged US foods that contain added sugar (market.us, 2026)

I made one rule before I started: natural sugars in whole fruit, plain dairy, and vegetables were fine. This was not a zero-carb experiment. I was cutting added sugar, the kind put into food during processing. That includes sucrose, dextrose, maltose, corn syrup, cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, agave nectar, and brown rice syrup.

Common ‘healthy’ foods and their hidden added sugar:

• Flavored yogurt: 12 to 18 grams per serving
• Store-bought pasta sauce: 8 to 12 grams per half cup
• Granola bars: 10 to 15 grams each
• Whole-grain bread (flavored): 4 to 8 grams per slice
• Bottled salad dressing: 5 to 10 grams per 2-tablespoon serving

Week 1: The Withdrawal Was Real and It Was Brutal

Days one and two were easy. Motivation was high. Willpower felt fresh. My body still had leftover glucose in the bloodstream, so I felt nothing unusual. I actually thought: this is simple. I was very wrong.

Day three hit like a truck. A dull, steady headache settled behind my eyes and did not leave for two days. I was irritable. I snapped at people for no reason. I kept thinking about sweet food, not because I was hungry, but because my brain was demanding a reward it was used to getting. Focusing on anything felt like trying to read through foggy glass.

The taste change surprised me most. By day five, an apple tasted like candy. Not a little sweeter, actually like candy. My taste buds were starting to reset after years of being bombarded with concentrated sweetness. That was the first sign that something real was happening.

What helped me survive Week 1:

• Exercise: even a 20-minute walk gave a natural dopamine lift and helped with mood
• Urge surfing: noticing a craving and waiting for it to pass instead of acting on it
• High-protein snacks: boiled eggs, nuts, and cheese kept hunger away
• Drinking a glass of water before acting on any craving
• Planned meals: not letting myself get to the point of being desperate and hungry

The sugar withdrawal timeline (when symptoms peak and end):

• Days 1 to 2: Deceptively easy, symptoms not yet present
• Days 3 to 5: Peak withdrawal, headaches, irritability, brain fog, cravings
• Days 6 to 7: First signs of improvement, taste starts to change
• Days 8 to 10: Most symptoms fade, energy begins to stabilize

Weeks 2 and 3: The Energy Shift Nobody Warned Me About

The 3 PM crash disappeared. It did not taper off gradually. It just stopped happening. I noticed it first when I looked up from my desk at 3:30 in the afternoon and realized I had not thought about coffee once.

My brain felt level. Not buzzing with energy, just steady. Calm. Consistent. It was a completely different feeling from what I had been calling ‘normal’ for years.

Practical Tip Before you quit sugar, track your added sugar intake for one week using a free app like Cronometer. Most people are shocked to find they consume 60 to 80 grams daily. The AHA safe limit is 25 to 36 grams. Seeing that real number is often the motivation that makes quitting feel urgent instead of optional.

Sleep got better too. I had not expected that. Evening desserts and sweet snacks spike blood sugar right before bed, which disrupts cortisol and interferes with deep sleep.

Once I cut added sugar, I started falling asleep faster and waking up feeling more rested. And the brain fog that I had accepted as just part of adulthood started to lift. It turns out a lot of that fog is linked to inflammation, and dietary sugar is one of the biggest drivers of inflammation.

Foods that helped stabilize energy during Weeks 2 and 3:

• Oats with nut butter: slow-release fuel that kept hunger away for hours
• Eggs and leafy greens: high protein, high fiber, no blood sugar spike
• Legumes: beans, lentils, and chickpeas are filling and low-GI
• Nuts and cheese: fat and protein kept cravings quiet
• Whole fruit: natural sweetness with fiber to slow the sugar absorption

Week 4: The Physical Changes I Did Not Expect

By week four, people started noticing something. A coworker asked if I had lost weight. I had not, not much at least. Maybe two or three pounds. But my face looked different.

The puffiness I had carried under my eyes and around my jaw was gone. I looked sharper. I looked more awake. And my jeans fit better, not because of major fat loss, but because the bloating was gone.

Fructose, one type of sugar, promotes water retention and visceral fat storage. Many people who cut added sugar report feeling lighter within three to four weeks even without dramatic weight loss.

That was exactly my experience. My skin also changed. The low-level redness I always had, the patches that showed up around my nose and chin, faded noticeably. I had never connected that to sugar. But the science connects it directly.

The Skin Connection Dietary sugar triggers insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and increases androgens in the body. Both of these drive excess sebum production and clogged pores. Reducing added sugar reduces this hormonal chain reaction. Multiple studies show that reducing added sugar intake decreases markers of systemic inflammation, including C-reactive protein, within 4 to 8 weeks.

I also noticed my mood was steadier. I had always assumed my afternoon irritability was caused by stress. But once blood sugar stopped swinging up and down, the mood swings went with it. I was not suddenly a calmer person by nature. The chemistry was just not working against me anymore.

Physical changes you can realistically expect by Week 4:

• Reduced facial puffiness and bloating: most noticeable within 3 to 4 weeks
• Skin changes: less inflammatory redness and acne, reduced sebum production
• Modest weight change: 2 to 5 pounds for most people, mainly from water retention
• Gut improvements: sugar feeds harmful gut bacteria, and reducing it shifts the balance
• Steadier mood: less blood sugar volatility means fewer anxiety spikes

A realistic expectations check:

• You will not lose 20 pounds in 60 days from cutting sugar alone
• You will not wake up with perfect skin on Day 30
• The changes are real, but they are gradual and they are worth it

Weeks 5 and 6: Freedom From Cravings and the Taste Transformation

Around week five, something shifted that I had not expected. I walked past a dessert table at an office event and felt nothing. Not willpower, not resistance. Just nothing. The chocolate cake looked fine, but it did not call to me the way it always had before. I picked up a handful of almonds instead and did not think twice about it.

This is not willpower. It is neurological recalibration. The brain’s reward threshold had reset. Overly sweet foods had started to taste unpleasant, almost chemically sweet in a way that felt fake.

A ripe banana tasted better than anything I had eaten from a dessert tray in years. A bowl of plain Greek yogurt with fruit was genuinely satisfying. These were not coping mechanisms. They were actual preferences now.

Foods that now tasted completely different by Week 6:

• Roasted sweet potato: deep, complex, naturally sweet in a way that felt clean
• Ripe banana: vivid and candy-like without being overwhelming
• Plain Greek yogurt: creamy and mildly tangy, no longer ‘boring’
• Natural peanut butter: rich and satisfying without needing sweetness added
• Sparkling water with lemon: genuinely refreshing instead of ‘just water’

Social situations were the biggest test. Birthday parties, office treats, restaurant dessert menus. I found that two or three simple scripts made it easy.

‘I’m not eating sugar right now, but thanks.’ Or just reaching past the cake for something else without saying anything at all. Most people do not actually care what you eat. They only notice if you make a big deal of it.

Simple ways to handle social situations without making it awkward:

• Eat before you go so you are not arriving hungry
• Hold a drink in your hand so people stop offering you things
• Say ‘I am good, thanks’ with confidence and move on
• Focus on the people, not the food table

How to Start Your Own 60-Day No Added Sugar Challenge (Step-by-Step for 2026)

If you want to try this yourself, do not just remove sugar randomly. That approach fails because you will hit the wall of Week 1 without a plan and cave. The approach that works is phased. You audit first, then you eliminate the easy stuff, then you clean up the hidden sources, and then you build a framework that holds.

The hardest part is over after Day 5. That is not a motivational slogan. It is a fact backed by clinical research. Sugar withdrawal symptoms peak at days 3 to 5 and begin improving by days 7 to 10. If you can get through five days, you can get through 60. The first week is the only week you are fighting chemistry. After that, you are just building habits.

Phase 1: Audit (do this before you start, 7 days of tracking)

• Download Cronometer or Yazio and track your added sugar for one full week
• Identify your top 3 to 5 sources of added sugar
• Read labels for hidden sugar names: sucrose, dextrose, maltose, high-fructose corn syrup, cane juice, barley malt, fruit juice concentrate, agave nectar, brown rice syrup

Phase 2: Eliminate the easy targets first (Week 1)

• Stop all sugary drinks: soda, sweetened coffee, juice, sports drinks, energy drinks
• These are the single largest source of added sugar in the American diet
• Then cut obvious desserts and candy

Phase 3: Clean up hidden sources (Week 2)

• Swap flavored yogurt for plain Greek yogurt
• Replace processed granola with plain oats
• Choose unsweetened nut butters
• Read labels on ketchup, BBQ sauce, salad dressings, and pasta sauces

Phase 4: Build your meal framework (Weeks 3 to 8)

• Every meal should include protein, fiber, and healthy fat
• These three macronutrients prevent blood sugar spikes and reduce cravings naturally
• Think eggs and avocado toast, not granola and juice

Your Week 1 Survival Kit High-protein snacks (boiled eggs, nuts, cheese) | Sparkling water as a soda replacement | Black coffee or unsweetened tea | Whole fruit for sweet cravings | Planned meals so you are never caught hungry and unprepared

Free tools to track and stay on track:

• Cronometer: tracks added sugar specifically, not just total sugar
• Yazio: easy barcode scanner for packaged foods
• Open Food Facts: open-source database of 2.5 million products with full ingredient lists
• EWG Food Scores: rates food products by health impact and flags added sugars

What I Learned After 60 Days (And What I Do Differently Now)

The physical changes were real. But the mental rewiring was harder and more lasting. I had to learn to eat with intention instead of habit. Most of my sugar consumption was not driven by hunger or craving.

It was driven by availability and routine. The granola bar in the desk drawer. The sweetened coffee I made on autopilot every morning. Remove the trigger, and the habit has nothing to attach to.

I did not stop eating desserts forever. That was never the goal. After 60 days, I reintroduced occasional sweets, but intentionally. One piece of good chocolate at the end of a dinner I actually enjoyed.

A slice of birthday cake at a birthday I actually cared about. The difference is that it became a choice, not an automatic reach. That distinction is the most lasting change.

The most important lessons from 60 days without added sugar:

• Most sugar consumption is driven by habit and availability, not actual hunger
• The hardest part is the first five days, after that it gets much easier
• You do not have to give up sugar forever, you just have to make it intentional
• The 90/10 rule works: 90 percent of eating low added sugar, 10 percent flexible
• All-or-nothing thinking is what makes most diet changes fail

What changed permanently vs. what came back:

• Permanent: stable afternoon energy, better sleep, fewer mood swings, clearer skin
• Permanent: the ability to taste natural sweetness in whole foods
• Permanent: reading labels before buying anything packaged
• Back but intentional: occasional desserts, savored rather than automatic

Final Thoughts

Week 1 was brutal. Weeks 2 and 3 brought energy and clarity I had forgotten I could feel. Weeks 4 through 6 delivered the physical and psychological changes that made it all worth it.

If you are thinking about quitting added sugar, the only thing standing between you and more energy, clearer skin, and a brain that finally feels like your own is five difficult days.

Here is your first step. Do not quit anything yet. Just download Cronometer and track your added sugar intake for three days. Look at the number. That number alone, for most people, is the motivation they need. Once you see it, you will understand why you feel the way you feel. And you will want to do something about it.