Woman shares what happened to her face after giving up sugar

A social-media video showing a Gen Z woman’s face before and after quitting sugar has racked up almost 11 million views.

Chloe‑Anne Cortes, 24, shared the Instagram clip (@chloeanne.cortes), which shows her face appearing puffier in the first shot before looking slimmer and more defined in the second.

Cortes told Newsweek: “My face has completely changed shaped with more-defined cheekbones, and I have a jawline now.”

Before cutting out refined sugar six years ago, Cortes described herself as feeling “bloated all of the time” with “no energy.”

“I thought I was ‘healthy.’ I used to eat low‑calorie meals, protein powders, trendy skincare, and very expensive supplements, but my skin kept flaring up,” she said.

Today, the tech and innovation consultant, who lives in Brisbane, Australia, said she feels like a completely different person.

“Trying to be healthy became so exhausting, trying everything when it didn’t even work,” she said. “I was tired of spending money on things that were marketed as healthy but weren’t helping my body.”

Cortes said her skin was “horrible” as she struggled with acne, gained almost 20 pounds, and found she could not lose the weight.

“My body felt extremely sluggish, and everything felt like a struggle,” she added.

Since quitting refined sugar, Cortes said the changes to her appearance have been so dramatic that some people questioned their authenticity.

“Now, after losing weight and finally clearing my skin from acne and acne scars, I have been accused of using videos of two different people!” she said.

“I even had someone ask me if I had gotten a nose job, but it was just my whole face slimming from the weight loss.”

Cortes now relies on natural sugars from fruit and honey when cravings hit. While cutting out sugar may sound daunting, she said it is achievable with the right approach.

“It might seem like a big thing to cut out sugar, but if you have a strong foundation in place, anyone will 100 percent be able to succeed!” she said.

“I was a former sugar addict so, if I can do it, you can do it. The goal isn’t to ‘never eat sugar again’ but to control the cravings so it doesn’t control you.”

Cortes added that one unexpected change was how much sweeter fruit tasted once her sugar cravings subsided.

“One thing I also didn’t expect to happen was how good fruit tastes, now that I’ve overcome my sugar cravings!” she said. “I eat fruit all day, every day. I am genuinely a fruit bat.

“When your body adjusts and you have overcome artificial sugars, fruit and honey tastes so much sweeter!” she said.

Cortes added: “The kick I used to get from sugary pastries and cakes, I now get from fruit.”

The March 12 post has so far received more than 317,000 likes, with many users sharing similar experiences in the comments.

“Being so real, I feel so unattractive when I eat sugar. Like my face looks different and all my joints hurt and it makes me feel old,” one user wrote.

Another commented: “It does work! I gave up processed sugar for [three] months and lost 10lbs. Healthy diet and natural sugar in your fruits work!”

A third added: “It’s very true! I cut out all sugar; I do NOT crave it. [and] my skin loves me due to it.”