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What Happens to Your Body When You Cut Out Sugar: 15 Science-Backed Benefits

August 28, 2025•2 min read

What Happens to Your Body When You Cut Out Sugar

Wellness Academy USA Nutrition and Personal Training Programs recommend reducing and eventually cutting out sugar for improved athletic performance. Data for daily sugar intake suggests up to 65% of adults living in the U.S. regularly exceed the Dietary Guidelines' recommendation, a statistic that illustrates just how much sugar we consume. This intake contributes to obesity and can increase our risk for heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, depression and even some types of cancer.

Significantly reducing or cutting out sugar is a smart move for everyone, regardless of age and health status, but this doesn't mean cutting out all forms of sugar. Natural sugars found in fruit, some dairy products and some vegetables come packaged with other nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals, and foods with natural sugars aren't associated with the health risks above. In fact, they are considered important components of a healthy diet when consumed in appropriate amounts.

Instead, added sugars (the ones added to foods during processing, production or cooking) are the ones to target. Added sugars come in many forms, including refined versions like white and brown sugar or corn syrup and more natural-sounding versions like honey and maple syrup. But no matter the form, the result is the same. Added sugars contribute calories while providing few, if any, nutrients, which makes them unnecessary and harmful in excess.

So, what happens when you cut out added sugars? Turns out, the effects go way beyond improvements to weight and blood glucose.