Jan 3, 2022
Today, I want to talk to you about sugar. Sugar to me is an important subject because it's something that we don't always have enough information about. But it's so very important to be armed with all the information you can have. I started at an early age, eating sweets and chocolates. It was always the best way to spend my pocket money. My dad would get paid at the end of every week. And so he'd come home and give my sister and I pocket money and we'd go to the local newspaper store and we would buy candy of some kind. Now later in life, this turned into a habit which eventually took hold of my life. My life revolved around my next fix. And it became so bad that I'd hide my chocolate and then go and hide in my bedroom to cover up the amount of chocolate I was actually eating and woe to anybody that touched my sweet stash - my chocolate stash. And of course this not only led to weight gain, but eventually it contributed to worsening migraines, brain fog, lack of energy and disease. And I was miserable. I was so out of control with my cravings, and hadn't even put the pieces together to realize that the sugar was linked to my waning health. And after I finally decided to go to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I was finally armed with the tools I needed to turn my life around, which was exactly what I did and my life's been transformed so that I can maintain my weight, lowered my migraines exponentially. I have endless energy and I'm focused and full of life, but best of all, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. So I do have some real life solutions to the same issues that you might be facing. So are you ready to make a health healthy choice and make your health a priority?
So here are some things about sugar cravings. Sugar is a toxin. It's been closely linked to obesity, insulin resistance, Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, mood disorders, and even cancer. Doesn't sound so sweet, right? While I was experiencing the high blood pressure, the high cholesterol. But after I got onto this healthy lifestyle, I got off my meds and I did so much better. Now our body craves sugar for various reasons. So my intention is to help you understand those cravings and eliminate them for optimal health. When you eat sugar, it releases chemicals in the brain that make us feel good. And let me tell you, this is something that scared me off. It's the same chemical in the brain that may makes people feel good when they're addicted to drugs, to narcotics, to cocaine - it's the same brain function.
And we often turn to sugar in times of stress, boredom and distress, right? When we turn to sugar to make ourselves feel good iIn times of stress, we start to crave sugar as a pick me up when we're feeling down, and then it becomes an emotional dependence on sugar. It's difficult to identify and it's hard to break. So ending sugar addiction is actually about more than just eliminating sugar from your diet, but you have to address your emotional dependency on sugar. You need to identify your emotional triggers that what makes you crave that sugar - what's causing stress eating. When are you eating sugar for energy? When are you eating sugar or sweets out of boredom? And then you have to find non-food ways to fill yourself up. So many of us are even shocked when we, some of the hidden sources of added sugar in our diet.
And that's probably because people are so used to really sweet things that they don't think about it - the added sugars that are present in some of the foods that we eat. But take, for example, the added sugars in salad dressing, sauces, granola bars, yogurt, oatmeal, the sweetened cereals, canned fruits. So you really need to look at labels for condiments. Most people don't know that ketchup is loaded with sugar or sugar added to salad dressing. That turns a healthy salad into a non-healthy food that you're eating. And then people aren't really aware of the fact that refined carbs are no different than sugar. Anything that's made from bleached white flours should be avoided. And then there are certain foods that you shouldn't consume because they're too starchy. And these include you start starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes. So if these are things that you love, I'm not saying don't ever eat them, but just limit them, use them in moderation.
And it's recommended that you avoid fruits that have a high glycemic index. These include bananas, pineapples, and watermelon, oh and make sure not to eat dried fruits either because they contain lots of concentrated sugar or they are often prepared with additional sugars. Then artificial sweeteners. And you might ask, well, why should we avoid artificial sweeteners? Well, aside of the fact that they're just not healthy for you, there are some other issues as well. Artificial sweeteners are many times sweeter than sugar, and they can desensitize your taste buds to sweetness. And that ends up with more sugar cravings. And also artificial sweeteners are known to actually increase your appetite. So that's totally counterproductive. So some of the reasons that we get cravings: Dehydration is a big one. Lack of water sends the message that you're thirsty in on the verge of dehydration and dehydration can actually manifest as a mild hunger.
So the first thing to do when you get a craving is to drink a full glass of water. That will really help to tell you, am I craving something? Am I hungry? Am I dehydrated? It can really be an eye-opener for you. Then you may not be eating balanced meals, or you may be eating too much of one thing because not eating a proper balanced selection of foods can cause cravings. So to try to get that and maintain that balance. So for example, eating a diet to rich and sugar may cause cravings for something salty or savory. Eating too many raw foods might cause cravings for extremely cooked foods. So be sure to incorporate high quality protein and healthy fats into your meals to satisfy your hunger. When you have a proper balance of foods, your cravings won't be as strong. So oftentimes cravings come when we're stressed, sad, angry, or even bored.
So when you're reaching for a bag of chips or you find yourself day that tub of ice cream, ask yourself these questions, am I really hungry? 2. Is something upsetting me? 3. Did someone hurt my feelings? 4. Can I find another way to comfort myself? You can find something that doesn't involve food to comfort yourself. It can be a warm bath, snuggling with your pet, watching a funny movie, reading a good book, or an activity that you love.
Then sometimes we have inadequate nutrients and that will produce odd cravings. So for example, inadequate mineral levels produce salt cravings, and overall inadequate nutrition produces cravings for non-nutritional forms of energy like caffeine. And yes, you guessed it - sugar. So eat plenty of whole foods and cut back on the processed and the fast foods, because that will help to boost your nutrient intake.
Then hormonal imbalances play a role here when women, women experience menstruation pregnancy or menopause, fluctuating, testosterone, and estrogen levels may cause unique cravings.
So if you ever noticed how badly you want chocolate or chips during that time of month, ladies, is if yes, don't be so hard on yourself, just perhaps choose the healthiest snack options on hand, and that will help satisfy those cravings.
Maybe you're not eating enough. We all have busy schedules, stressful lifestyles, and that often causes us to skip meals or not eat enough. And that could result in low blood sugar, mood swings and low energy. And then we reach for the comfort foods or something quick, like a bag of chips because we're starving. So aim to eat three meals per day. And then if you are a snack eater in between, eat some healthy snacks. Now, remember sugar can be found everywhere you look. It's. One of the main ingredients is sweet treats like cakes, cookies, and candy. Um, but it's also used in, uh, to sweeten many common beverages, including fruit juice, iced tea, premium coffees, and soda.
It can even be found in foods you might not expect. And I'm going to list some here for you. And some of them have surprisingly large amounts of sugar.
Bread. So it's a dietary staple that many others eat on a daily basis, but it doesn't have a particularly sweet taste, but it's actually a hidden source of sugar with an average loaf containing approximately 36 and up grams of sugar. So I always tell my clients, if you really want the bread, go to a grocery store here, we have Publix and go to the bakery section. There you go to at least get a healthier version. And of course try if you can eating the dark breads
Cereal Bars. These are seen by many people as quick convenient sources of healthy carbs, vitamins and minerals. But these popular snacks are really a concentrated source of sugar with some packing up to 15 grams of snack per cereal bar.
And the same goes for protein bars, low fat salad dressings. They're often marketed as a healthy way to flavor your salad without adding excess fat to your diet. However, the manufacturers don't tell us that there's extra sugar and salt that are often added to these salad dressings to compensate for their low fat content to make them taste better. And some low fat salad dressings even contain as much as five grams of sugar per tablespoon to tomato-based pastas to tomato based pasta sauce - something that many us use multiple times a week to prepare tasty, pasta based dinner recipes. The rich tomato flavor of these tasty sauce actually masks the fact that they can contain up to 30 grams of sugar per cup.
Yogurt. O love yogurt. And it's a popular food many of us believe to be healthy, but can contain significant amounts of sugar. So the amount of sugar obviously varies between the variety, the brands, what kind you buy. And some of the worst offenders have 30 grams of sugar per serving. My recommendation is always that you go to a healthy whole fat yogurt, something like a Greek yogurt, and then check your labels for the healthier option. Now, despite its prevalence in our diet, sugar is something you really need to limit your consumption of, or even stop eating completely. And here's why. Not only is it damaging to your health, but it can also affect your energy levels, your happiness, your weight, and yes, even how old you look. So it might be surprising to hear that cutting back on sugar can actually make you happier. After all, we often associate the experience of adding in our favorite sugary treat with positive and joyful emotions, right? But what you might not notice is that a few hours after filling up on the sugar, your mood starts to dip and then you start to crave sugar again.
And the only way to satisfy this craving, and lift you mood back up, is to eat more sugary foods. And then it starts that cycle again. And the long term result is that really not good. You experience a temporary boost in happiness after eating the sugar, followed by extended dips in emotion, which ultimately leads to depending on sugar for happiness, becoming addicted to this sweet eat substance. And in fact, studies have shown that sugar consumption can even lead to depression. So if you've relied on sugar to lift your mood in the past, you're probably wondering what you should eat instead. Well, the good news is there are plenty of foods that you can eat to enhance your mood, to stabilize mood - and in a permanent way. So the list I'm going to give you outlines just five of the best foods you can eat for happiness,
Brazil nuts, which are packed with selenium, a powerful nutrient when it comes to your mood, filling up on selenium-rich foods enhances your mood in a stable way. Filling up on these selenium-rich foods has been associated with increased happiness and a reduced risk of depression.
Then oatmeal, your natural oatmeal. It doesn't just warm you up physically. It can also give you a mental feeling of warmth and happiness. And the reason for this is it contains high levels of fiber. And that helps to regulate your blood sugar glucose levels, which keeps you feeling consistently happy.
Oysters. They contain high levels of zinc, and that's an important nutrient for brain health. Been linked with improvements in mood. They also contain high levels of tyrosine, and that's a hormone that helps to keep depression at bay and enhance your mood.
Salmon. This is probably not a surprise, but it's a top source of omega three essential fatty acids and various studies have highlighted that each a diet rich omega3 central fatty acids can stabilize your mood and fight depression.
Then this might surprise you because Turkey is an excellent source of tryptophan. And we often think about the chemical of Turkey, making us feel sluggish and tired, but tryptophan is an amino acid that's been shown to raise the levels of serotonin in your body. Like the Brazil nuts. And studies have linked that high level of serotonin with feelings of happiness and wellbeing. And it's also rich in mood boosting tyrosine. So definitely sugar affects your energy levels. Carbs are your body's preferred energy source. So to hear that cutting back on sugar, which is the simplest carbs, will increase your energy levels might sound confusing, but while it's true that eating sugar will boost your energy levels, as I've said, it's only temporary and eventually leads to that energy crash and over time, those sugar crashes become more and more severe. And your overall health levels decline, and you also become dependent on sugar for energy.
And without it, you feel tired and depleted. And I can so relate to that with my old times past at that 3:00 PM slump. So if you want stay able long term improvements in your energy levels, sugar's not the answer. So here's what to eat instead.
There are lots of low sugar or sugar free foods out there that can improve your energy levels, coffee, for example. So while it contains no sugar and no calories, it is packed with energy boosting nutrients. It contains high levels of caffeine, which stimulates the nervous system. It gives you an immediate energy boost, and it's a brilliant source of cafe acid, which is a nutrient that stabilizes your blood glucose levels and helps you avoid any pressure in energy. And know, I'm not saying go sit and drink coffee all day long. You only need to be drinking a couple of cups of coffee a day to get good results.
Flax seeds are another one with countless health benefits, and they’re are great source of energy production. They're packed with fiber, which slows the release of glucose into your bloodstream and ensures that your body has a constant stable source of energy. Flax seed also contains plenty of omega three central fatty acids, which as we've said, supports your body's energy production process.
Green Tea is another zero calorie, zero sugar energy drink. The caffeine in green tea provides you with an instant energy lift while the flavonoids it contains support energy production helped maintain your energy levels in the long term. And then yes, quinoa a favorite among us vegetarians. And there are plenty of reasons why, because not only does quinoa contain large amounts of protein, but it's also rich and fiber and iron. And as I've already mentioned, fiber helps keep your energy levels stable. And iron keeps your blood cells healthy and ensures that you can transport energy, providing oxygen to the cells that need it.
So let's face it. Sugar affects your health. It can be extremely harmful to your health. It can damage many areas of your body, let alone the fact it rots your teeth, destroys your blood vessels and can overload your liver. It's also the number one leading cause of weight gain and obesity, which further harms your body. And then in, in addition to this, sugar's been associated with various chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and liver disease. So by cutting sugar, out of your diet, you can avoid all of these health problems and significantly, significantly enhance your health.
If you already have these health problems, by cutting it out, it will help improve your health. So eliminating sugar from your diet is a great way to improve your overall health, but to maximize your health, you should also ensure that your done is rich in super foods. Things like avocado. It's a top source of monounsaturated. The monounsaturated fats help regulate the levels of cholesterol in your body, reduce inflammation and protect against cancer. While the glycogen is a powerful antioxidant that prevents free radicals from harming body cells.
Broccoli is a versatile green. It's an excellent source of vitamin B manganese phosphorus and vitamin C and eat it regularly because then you can enjoy a range of health benefits, including cancer protection, improved digestion and healthy eyes. Eggs are good for you. They're rich in healthy fats, protein and many different nutrients.
The protein in eggs actually helps to build, maintain in and repair all your body's cells while the other nutrients boost your brain regulate your blood cholesterol levels, strengthen your eyes and much more. Spinach is another great one high levels of 10 different vitamins and minerals, which enhance your health in various ways. And some of the main health benefits as spinach includes lowering your cancer risk, healthier hearts and stronger bones. And then of course, let's not forget that sugar is one of the leading causes of weight gain, It's a highly addictive substance and it stimulates the area of your brain that causes cravings. As I've said, and this makes you much more likely to overindulge when eating sugar, thereby consuming excess calories, which then causes weight gain. And second processed sugary foods often contain very little if any other nutrients. So as a result of eating sugary foods, they early satisfy your appetite.
But in the meantime, they're adding tons of calories to your waistline. So finally sugars often added to drinks and consumed in liquid calories. Another great reason for getting rid of those and drinking lots of water. So cut down on sugar is a fantastic way to start losing weight and you should see improvements quite quickly, but if you want to accelerate your weight loss further, try adding these five foods and drinks to your diet as well. Brown rice, it's tasty, versatile and filling can be used with so different meals. And it's a great source of complex carbs, which slowly releases into your bloodstream after you eat and stops you from being hungry in between meals, chia seeds, which I recommend that you grind first, they're rich in healthy fats, various nutrients. They regulate your appetite and make it easier for you to eat in moderation, chili peppers.
They're a great way to give your food, a hot satisfying flavor, but did you know, they also stimulate your body's fat burning processes. And by eating them regularly, you can speed up the rate at which your body burns fat. And soy - now, I'm not a huge proponent of soy, but soy has lots of fiber and protein, which are satiating and help you feel full longer. If you eat soy and of course, water by drinking, plenty of water and staying hydrated, you maximize your body's burning fat processes and you lose more weight.
And the last thing I want to mention is how sugar affects your looks. So many people aren't aware that sugar accelerates the aging process. Sugar speeds up the rate at which we age both internally and externally. A comment about bananas. You leave them out on the counter, they go brown on the outside, you open them up and then your banana is soggy and sugary like yucky. Well, that's what goes on the inside AR as well. So not quite so nice when you think about it that way. So when you eat sugar, it causes a surge in your blood glucose levels. And that spike is harmful to your blood vessels, your vital organs. And over time, this damage makes your blood vessels and vital organs deteriorate and become less functional and elevated. Blood glucose also leads to inflammation, which causes your skin to become dehydrated stiff and has less elasticity this results in your skin, having a dry, dull and aged appearance. So by eating less sugar or avoiding it completely, you can ensure that you remain healthy, vibrant, and youthful both internally and externally. So there are some things that you can do to slow down the aging process and feel younger. So cinnamon and I always recommend Ceylon cinnamon. It's an aromatic spice that can be used to flavor your foods. You can drink it in tea, put it in your smoothies. Iit helps promote healthy blood flow within the body, which helps to reinvigorate rate the skin and also slows down the aging of your internal cells and vital organs.
Extra Virgin olive oil is a brilliant source of monounsaturated fats that help to strengthen the heart and keep it youthful. They also say that it promotes skin cell regeneration and protect against age related, chronic disease. Green tea filled with powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants boost your brain and help it to remain functional as you age. And they also say that it reduces the risk of contracting age related disorders like Alzheimer's Parkinson's et cetera.
And then kale, not necessarily everybody's favorite. Although I love it is one of the healthiest foods around and it contains extremely high levels of antioxidant vitamins, a C and K a helps to maintain healthy vision. As you age C keeps your skin young and elastic as you get older and vitamin K prevents various types of aging related declines.
So as you can see, there are plenty of reasons that you should ditch sugar in your diet.
We're going to help you to start breaking your sugar habit by leaving you with five top tips today.
Then don’t forgot to add in self-care. Many people that reach for sugar when they're upset or stressed out can really manage it a different way. Try changing the game. Treat yourself with non-food items and activities like a warm bath, a self-massage with lavender oil or walk in nature, or watch a funny movie, try change a perception of stress. Not only can chronic stress cause high blood pressure, but it also causes hormonal imbalances, sleep issues, weight gains, and it aggravates your autoimmune diseases, but think differently about your stresses and implement these self-care stress, reducing activities, even meditation, deep breathing, and it helps you to feel more balanced.
So my last thing that I want to stress is stop dieting - ditch that diet mentality. Think about it as a healthy lifestyle. When an item is low fat or fat free, then it’s usually replaced with sugar or sodium to add flavor. And this causes you to get accustomed to the sweet foods resulting in cravings. So don't be afraid of fat. Find some healthy sweet alternatives. A piece of fruit can be your go-to when you want something sweet and there's nothing wrong with indulging now. And then with some good quality, dark chocolate or chia pudding, or even dairy free ice cream.
So if this is something that you struggle with, I have lots of ways that I can help you. And I would love to help you stop that sugar craving and loose is the way feel energized. Get back to feeling healthy and vibrant. So all you have to do is email me at lwadsworth@verizon.net. I would be happy to get on a free call with you so that we can assess where you're at. We can come up with a couple of solutions for you and we can ditch that craving for forever.
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