Does a Lot of Sugar in Your Diet Make You Pee More?

The number of times that you pee throughout the day varies greatly, with anywhere up to 2.5 liters per day being normal. However, exceeding this or using the toilet much more frequently than you usually do is one of the major symptoms of both type I and type II diabetes.[Ref 1] Although eating too much sugar can cause you to pee more than normal, you should see your doctor if this doesn't go away when you eat less sugar.

Eating a lot of sugary foods can make you pee more. (Image: Photos.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images)

Diuretic Effects and Blood Sugar Levels

According to Drs. David Jacoby and Robert Youngson, sugar is a natural diuretic. This means that eating sugar reduces the amount of water that your body reabsorbs from your kidneys, thus causing you to pee more.[Ref 2, p. 500] Eating a lot of sugar can also cause you to pee more by boosting your blood sugar levels. Although your kidneys usually are able to reabsorb sugar when producing urine, high blood sugar levels can overwhelm your kidneys. This results in sugars entering your urine, drawing in more water and increasing the amount that you pee.[Ref 3]