Menu
eMediHealth Logo
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
eMediHealth Logo
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result

Home > Nutrition > Lose Weight, Feel Better – Sugar Detox in Just 3 Weeks

Lose Weight, Feel Better – Sugar Detox in Just 3 Weeks

September 16, 2020 - Updated on October 4, 2022
8 min read
By Tatiana V. Larionova, MS, CNS, LDN | Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist

In this article:

  • What Is a Sugar Detox?
  • How to Do a 3-Week Sugar Detox
  • 3-Week Sugar Detox Meal Plan Sample
  • What to Expect During and After a 3-Week Sugar Detox
  • Benefits of a 3-Week Detox
  • Disadvantages and Precautions of a 3-Week Detox
  • How to Keep the Weight Off?
  • Final Word

Summer is almost here, and many people are planning beach vacations, even if limited to backyard pools as the world health situation is still somewhat unclear.

sugar detox in just 3 weeks
Advertisements

The train of thought then leads to a beach-body-ready shape, meaning you need a boost to lose weight, firm up, get more energy, and feel better within and about yourself.

You know what’s sabotaging your weight loss efforts – certain foods you eat, such as processed sugary junk foods, fast foods, soda, and candy, and those foods you don’t eat. That’s right, by foregoing some healthy foods, you may be losing on an opportunity to slim down.

What Is a Sugar Detox?

If you are ready to get in your best shape, inside and out, start by cleaning out your diet and detoxing your body from sugar, to give you a boost to better health and looks.

Advertisements

Setting boundaries with foods is as important as setting them with people, ensuring toxic relationships are out and your personal space and interests are respected. Ditching sugar, as many admit to having a difficult relationship with it, will be step number one to better eating habits.

Sometimes, it takes complete abstinence from certain foods, such as sugar, to reduce or eliminate perceived dependence on it. Detox is meant to be short, as it often keeps people on a restrictive regimen, and is aimed at producing fast results. The resulting weight loss is often based on mostly water loss, with some fat and protein loss.

If you habitually consume foods high in sodium, sugar, and fat, you may be constantly experiencing water retention, and the weight loss from detox may be significant due to a flushing effect – losing lots of water weight. 

Detox with a restricted calorie intake may also give your liver and kidneys a break from processing high amounts of sugar, sodium, and fat in your diet. (1)(2) However, if you have an underlying health condition, chronic disease, or eating disorder (even one that had resolved), restrictive detox may not be for you at all, so first consult your doctor and do not do it alone, if at all.

How to Do a 3-Week Sugar Detox

how to perform a 3-week sugar detox meal plan

Here’s what you need to do:

  • Prepare to eat only whole, unprocessed plant-based foods for 3 weeks. Buy plenty of:
    • Green leafy vegetables and cruciferous veggies, such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale
    • All other non-starchy veggies, such as zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, tomatoes (actually fruit), eggplants, radishes, cucumber, bell peppers, cabbage, and mushrooms (you’ll be eating lots of these)
    • Starchy veggies, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash (1 cup a day)
    • Berries and fruits (limit bananas, pineapple, mango, and watermelon to ½ cup a day)
    • Legumes (1½ cup a day)
    • Whole grains, such as brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, barley, oats, and faro (1 cup a day)
    • Nuts and seeds, raw and unsalted (1 ounce a day)
  • Put away vegetable oils, including olive oil. These are still processed foods. Use lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar for dressings.
  • Stock up on filtered water and herbal teas.
  • Start every meal with a bowl of salad or vegetable soup to fill up on healthy plants. Yes, even breakfast – make it a fruit salad if you can’t stomach eating greens first thing in the morning.
  • Get ready for meal prep. Cooking beans, grains, and veggies in batches will help with time management when assembling your meals. Make a pot of vegetable soup to last you a few days.
  • Start every morning with 2 glasses of fresh, filtered water, and drink plenty of it (up to 3–4 liters) throughout the day. Add cut-up fruits and herbs, such as lemon, lime, oranges, watermelon, mint, and basil, to a pitcher with water to give it a refreshing and appealing taste and smell. Don’t drink more than 2 glasses of water within a 2-hour window. Your system can’t process more than that and can strain your kidneys.
  • Wait till you are hungry to eat. Don’t eat just because it’s breakfast or lunchtime – trust your body on this one.
  • Lock up all processed sugary foods for 3 weeks (and hopefully longer). Stash them all as high as your highest shelf goes, so they are not easily accessible in case you feel that you may not resist them when faced with them.

In this 3-week sugar detox, you will be eating as much food as you want to feel satiated, not stuffed, from the food listed above – only unprocessed, whole plant-based foods. You will eat when you are hungry.

Advertisements

No diet or detox is sustainable if you are constantly hungry, thinking about food all the time, and feeling weak.

3-Week Sugar Detox Meal Plan Sample

sample of a 3-week sugar detox meal plan

Breakfast

  • 2 cups of water
  • A smoothie bowl made with mixed fruit and 1 cup of fresh spinach (you may use frozen, reduce the amounts in half), topped with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, a dash of cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of old-fashioned oats

Lunch

  • A bowl of mixed-greens salad dressed with lemon juice
  • Brown rice and black beans
  • Steamed broccoli dressed with lemon juice, paprika, salt, and pepper
  • Half an orange for dessert

Dinner

  • A bowl of vegetable soup
  • A green salad bowl with cooked beans or lentils and roasted sweet potatoes
  • Frozen cherries and half a banana for dessert

Snacks (any of the following)

  • Carrots and cucumbers dipped in homemade hummus (no oil added)
  • Fresh or frozen berries
  • Cut-up melon or honeydew
  • Steamed edamame beans

As you can see, there are no processed foods in the meal plan above – only whole plant-based ingredients. It may require you more work than usual. However, keep in mind that this is only for 3 weeks, so it is totally feasible, provided you plan ahead and purchase everything you need to go through with it.

What to Expect During and After a 3-Week Sugar Detox

changes during and after undergoing a 3-week sugar detox

Changes take time for adaptations to take place. You may feel discomfort from not eating your regular foods – sugar cravings, restlessness, and even anxiety sometimes – just keep in mind it all passes.

On the first day, you may be fine, filled with motivational drive and accompanying hormones, keeping cravings and irritability at bay. Day 2 and 3 may be a bit more difficult. Some people may experience headaches and fatigue.

Advertisements

If your body is used to deriving quick energy from simple sugars in your diet, it will take it a few days to switch to using complex carbs from the whole foods you are eating and stored fat from your body for energy, leaving you tired and irritable in the meantime.

Just think that you are doing your body good by having it learn how to live on a healthier fare, using up excess fat, improving metabolism, absorbing vital nutrients and minerals, cleaning out blood vessels from cholesterol, feeding fiber to the health-ensuring gut microbiome, and achieving mental clarity and improved cognition. (3)

Advertisements

You will most likely see a few pounds off at the end of the detox, but as I mentioned before, some of it will be water, which is a good thing as well if there was too much of it, to begin with.

You may get a feeling of being lighter, your digestion will improve, and you may notice clearer skin and more energy on the days that follow.

Benefits of a 3-Week Detox

Some of the benefits of doing a 3-week detox include:

  • Weight loss
  • Forming new healthy habits
  • Ditching cravings and finding new tastes
  • Reduced bloating
  • Improved digestion
  • Increased energy

Disadvantages and Precautions of a 3-Week Detox

You may experience the following discomforts during the detox process:

  • Mood swings, irritability, anxiety
  • Preoccupation with food
  • Headache and fatigue
  • Lifestyle changes

How to Keep the Weight Off?

Getting in shape is a slow and gradual process, but seeing quick results helps keep you motivated. But these quick results are often gimmicky, meaning they are not easy to maintain, but the right approach and tools will help prolong and improve them.

While a 3-week detox may bring on some changes that you can see and feel, long-term changes to your diet and lifestyle are required to experience long-term improvements.

Advertisements

It is unrealistic to stay on a detox plan for prolonged periods – it is rigidly restrictive and does not consider life as you have it, with holidays and birthday parties, emotional highs and lows, illnesses, and so on.

However, a modified eating plan with lots of healthy whole plant-based foods will definitely help in losing the weight and keeping it off, along with achieving better health.

The detox may help you with developing lifelong healthy habits such as drinking more water, eating more fresh fruits and veggies, starting every meal with a salad, and waiting till you are hungry to eat.

Final Word

Ditching processed foods sounds like a sound plan, but eliminating them completely out of your diet may make you feel deprived, which is proven to bring on binge-like gorging on them at some point.

Focusing on adding lots of healthy options, rather than eliminating sugary foods, may help with feeling less deprived. After adding more fresh plant-based foods to your diet, you will eventually build a habit of having them daily, at most meals, and develop the taste for them.

Advertisements

Foods rich in fiber, such as legumes, whole grains, veggies, and fruits, help you feel fuller longer by not only filling you with volume but also turning on an appetite-suppressing mechanism that only fibrous foods can do. (4)

References
  1. Altunkaynak ME, Ozbek E, Altunkaynak BZ, Can I, Unal D, Unal B. The effects of high-fat diet on the renal structure and morphometric parametric of kidneys in rats. Journal of anatomy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2423405/. Published June 2008.
  2. Uberdan Mde CG. Age-dependent effect of high-fructose and high-fat diets on lipid metabolism and lipid accumulation in liver and kidney of rats. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256703569. Published September 2013.
  3. Barnes JN, Joyner MJ. Sugar highs and lows: the impact of diet on cognitive function. The Journal of physiology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448146/. Published June 15, 2012.
  4. Frost G, Sleeth ML, Sahuri-Arisoylu M, et al. The short-chain fatty acid acetate reduces appetite via a central homeostatic mechanism. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4611. Published April 29, 2014.
  • Was this article helpful?
  • YES, THANKS!NOT REALLY
Spread the Love❤️
Advertisements
Advertisements
Advertisements

You Might Also Like

Nutrition

Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Diabetics

By Christina Santini, CN, CTT, RYT

Read more
Advertisements

Newsletter

Get our BEST updates delivered to your inbox:



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Categories

  • Nutrition
  • Wellness
  • Oral Care
  • Eye Care
  • Heart Health
  • Skin & Beauty
  • Women’s Health
  • Ear, Nose & Throat
  • Respiratory Health
  • Web Stories

Links

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookie Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Advertising Policy
  • Subscribe to Newsletter
eMediHealth

This site provides content for informational purposes only. The information provided is not intended for use as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. In case of a medical concern or emergency, please consult your healthcare provider.

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation.

Our Network: Little Extra

© 2019 eMediHealth. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Nutrition
  • Skin & Beauty
  • Wellness
  • Yoga & Meditation
  • Women’s Health
  • Heart Health
  • Allergy & Immunology
  • Bones & Joints
  • Child Health
  • Digestive
  • Ear, Nose & Throat
  • Eye Care
  • Glands & Hormones
  • Health News
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Mental Health
  • Nervous System
  • Oral Care
  • Pain Management
  • Respiratory Health
  • Sleep Disorders
  • Urological Health
  • Web Stories

© 2019 eMediHealth. All rights reserved.