As humans, it’s natural for us to be attracted to lots of things that are bad for us, like bad relationships, alcohol, and yes, sugar. Your body sends so many undeniable signals when you eat too much sugar, even if you *really* think you could go for just one more piece of chocolate.

We’d love to sugarcoat (ha) this entire situation and tell you everything we know about how damaging it is to ingest too much sugar is a series of lies fueled by the salt industry. But the harsh truth is that Americans consume nearly 32 teaspoons of sugar a day (!!!) on average, which makes us a bit less opposed to trying a sugar detox, no matter how godawful it sounds.

Honestly, taking our dessert consumption down a notch sounds like a great idea, especially when you consider all the things that happen to your body when you eat too much sugar.

1. Cavities.

You dream of showing off those pearly whites because your toothpaste ad-worthy smile earns you endless compliments. However, it’s a known fact that overdoing it on the sugar causes tooth decay that all of our moms warned us about growing up, even while we rolled our eyes and continued stuffing our faces with candy.
2. High blood pressure.

Wait a sec — we knew about the link between sodium and hypertension but this warning’s for the sweet lover in you: Research shows that excess sugar can cause your blood pressure to skyrocket as well.
3. Problems down there.

Yeah you know where we’re going with this. ICYDK, vaginas are rather sensitive body parts (in more ways than one). They will act out in the strangest of ways if you’re not taking good care of your general health. That said, going overboard on the sugar can lead to recurrent yeast infections.

Additionally, a diet high in sugar can impact a man’s ability to achieve and maintain erection. If you don’t want these sex probz, chill on the sugar intake.
4. Depression.

We’d love to say it ain’t so, but increased sugar consumption can lead to depression. According to a PsychCentral article titled Why Sugar is Dangerous to Depression, the sweetener has the ability to wreak havoc on a person’s mental state and has been associated with aggressive behavior, anxiety, depression and fatigue.
5. Your skin ages in the worst way.

OMGawd, why sugar, whyyy?!? This feels like cruel and unusual punishment just for satisfying our sweet tooth, but sugar doesn’t see it that way, and how it impacts our skin is quite frightening.

 

In fact, sugar can cause acne and rosacea to spread over the skin, something Marie Claire writer Lauren Blum noticed a stark decrease in when she decided to stop eating sugar for a week. Dermatologist and skin researcher Dr. Carl Thornfeldt informed Blum that sugar “activates inflammation and binds to the collagen to make the skin stiff,” which could eventually lead to long-term damage.
6. Your taste buds require higher levels of sugar to acknowledge its presence.

Have you ever noticed how sweet everything tastes when you cut back on the amount of sugar you eat? That’s because the taste buds adjust according to the levels of sugar consumption. The more sugar you eat, the more the taste buds require to actually sense the sweetness.

Thanks for nothing, sugar.
7. Increased risk for diabetes, cognitive impairment, and other serious health issues.

Those severe health issues caused by excessive sugar consumption include but are not limited to liver damage, metabolic dysfunction, pancreatic issues, and, need we say more?
8. It makes you want a nap…

Known as the infamous “sugar crash,” the body tends to get tired after we eat sweets because sugar consumption inhibits orexin, a brain chemical that makes us feel awake.
9. …and eat more sugar.

Like any other type of dependency, sugar addiction is absolutely legitimate, but the good news is that it isn’t unbeatable. You can kick your habit by being informed about which foods contain it and in what forms, avoiding processed foods (which is chock full of the sweet stuff) and eating sugar at the right times — just not all the time.