Sugar is everywhere—from obvious treats like candy and soda to sneaky sources like sauces, breads, and “healthy” snacks. While a little sugar can be part of a balanced diet, consuming too much can lead to serious health issues, including weight gain, fatigue, and even chronic disease. The tricky part? You might not even realize you’re overdoing it. There are several warning signs your body gives you when you’re eating too much sugar—and recognizing them early can help you take control of your health.
Dr. Eric Berg recently shared seven surprising signs that could indicate you’re consuming “too much” sugar. According to him, some of the signs include frequent urination, blurred vision, and thirst. Read on to discover all seven!
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1. Frequent urination
When you eat excess sugar—especially refined or added sugars—your body tries to flush it out through urine. This forces your kidneys to work overtime, drawing more water from your body to help eliminate the sugar. As a result, you may find yourself needing to urinate more often than usual.
“The body is trying to get rid of glucose because it considers too much” as “poison,” he reveals.
2. Thirst
When there's too much sugar in your bloodstream, your body tries to flush it out through urine, which leads to, you guessed it, frequent urination. As you lose more fluids this way, your body becomes dehydrated, triggering a natural response: thirst. This is your body's way of trying to restore balance and stay hydrated. Dr. Berg says, “You’re going to be more thirsty than usual.”
3. Needing a snack between meals
Needing a snack between meals—especially if you feel shaky, irritable, or hungry soon after eating—can be a sign you're consuming too much sugar. High-sugar foods cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, followed by a sharp crash. This drop in blood sugar levels can leave you feeling drained and craving another quick fix, usually in the form of more sugar or refined carbs.
“What’s happening at the cellular level is the cells are not getting fuel; they’re not getting nutrients,” that the body needs, he notes.
4. Blurred vision
Blurred vision can be a sign of consuming too much sugar because elevated blood sugar levels affect the fluid balance in your eyes. When there's excess glucose in your bloodstream, it can cause the lenses in your eyes to swell or change shape, making it harder to focus clearly.
“So the fluid is actually leaking out of the blood vessel into the lens of the eye, and that’s causing you to be a little blurred,” Dr. Berg states.
5. Easily irritated
When you eat a lot of sugary foods, it causes a quick spike in blood glucose followed by a rapid crash. That crash can leave you feeling tired, anxious, or irritable. Over time, this rollercoaster effect can disrupt your mood and make it harder to stay emotionally balanced.
Dr. Berg says you’ll “be much calmer and better when you eat a meal” instead of a sugar-loaded snack.
6. Feeling tired a lot more often
While sugar gives you a quick burst of energy, it’s usually followed by a sharp crash that leaves you feeling sluggish and drained. This happens because sugary foods cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, triggering a surge of insulin to bring levels back down—sometimes too quickly. That sudden drop can make you feel exhausted, even if you’ve had enough rest. “Despite how much sleep you get,” you’ll feel the exhaustion from high levels of sugar, Dr. Berg notes.
7. Genital itching
When you eat a lot of sugar, it raises your blood glucose levels, and some of that excess sugar can be excreted through urine. This creates a sugar-rich environment that promotes the growth of candida, a type of yeast that naturally lives in the body but can multiply too quickly under the right conditions. “Candida lives and depends on sugar,” Dr. Berg warns.
