As long as I can remember I have suffered from huge headaches several times a week. I was able to control these headaches fairly well with medication, but they were always there in the background. I had spoken to my doctor and she asked me to keep a daily food diary, which might reveal the cause of the headaches. I thought maybe it wasn’t enough water or enough sleep. I tried a lot of different things to keep them away. Nothing seemed to work. I had heard of people cutting sugar out of their diets as a way to control headaches, but for me I knew this would be impossible. I am a huge junk food and chocolate junkie. Plus my carbs are way too important! So even though I knew cutting back or cutting out could help, I ignored it.

Finally, last September, I decided to do a no-sugar, no carb diet as a means to lose weight, not even thinking about my headaches. I went very extreme, cutting out all sugar, artificial sugars and anything ending in “ose” on a food label. The only sugar that was approved was stevia. By the time I was done, there was literally only a two-page list of things I could have. I found several sites on the Internet with recipes that made it not too bad. So I embarked on a new lifestyle filled with fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, meat and lots of spices and a few other items.

I quickly noticed huge changes that I hadn’t expected. My body responded in ways I couldn’t believe. Not only did my headaches disappear, I felt better and had more energy. I suddenly had tons of motivation both at work and at home to do things and my energy lasted all day. I would have to make myself go to bed.

My goal was to do this for 30 days. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever, but I figured if I could do it for 30 days, then maybe I could slowly start adding some sugar back in. My new goal became not so much about weight loss as finding my ‚Äúsugar tolerance level.‚Äù I wanted to find out how much I could have without having headaches or feeling crummy.

About halfway through I messed up. I had two days where I had some (although not a ton) of sugar. It was too much at once after going without for two weeks. I had the two worst days I can remember in a long time. I was moody, irritable, wanted to scream and had to use all my strength at one point not to throw something at another person. It was horrible. At first I didn’t realize what was going on, but once I figured it out I quickly went back to my original goals and cutting out sugar again.

I made it to the end of October like I planned and slowly began adding in healthier sugars like dairy and whole wheat carbs. It took about three weeks before I was allowing myself to eat all sugars again (and began having headaches again). During the process I lost 10 pounds. My findings were significant: no headaches, more energy, motivation and feeling better overall. I skipped through the holidays allowing myself to eat junk again and literally counted down the days again until Jan. 2 when I could start again. The overall feeling during the process was enough to make me want to continue.

I began the whole process again Jan. 3. I did an amazing job, not having any sugar at all until Feb. 10. I had a similar experience to my previous attempt except for a couple of really small headaches right in the beginning which I hadn’t had last time. On the 13th I decided to drink a beer to celebrate a big test I passed. I ended up getting my first huge headache in more than a month and had to take my pills. I am really enjoying this no sugar diet. Sure it’s hard, but this second round I found some things to make it easier. I’ve found some good dessert recipes I can make with no sugars that are delicious. Currently, I am allowing myself to eat a few things here and there, but I’m considering making this no-sugar diet more permanent.