Did you find yourself indulging a little bit too much over the holidays? How can you get back on track with your diet and your health and nutrition and balancing hormones now that the new year has come? A sugar detox just might be what you need!
You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode42
Topics Discussed in this Episode:
- Why sugar is bad for you
- Why you need a sugar detox
- Simple strategies for sugar detoxing that will help you combat sugar addiction
- What sugar detoxing could look like
- Why flour and artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar
- How to support your cravings and balance your blood sugar
Key Takeaways:
- Sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine.
- Sugar in all its forms, not fat, is the culprit behind many diseases as well as obesity.
- When it comes to fat, it’s so essential that we eat the right kinds of fat and avoid trans-fats.
- The average American consumes about 152 lbs of sugar a year, which is roughly 22 teaspoons every day.
- Kids consume 34 teaspoons of sugar every day. That’s more than two 20 oz sodas, making nearly one in four teenagers prediabetic or diabetic.
- A sugar detox will really help you break this addictive cycle of over-consuming carbs and sugar and just really managing these cravings that can really rob you of your health.
- It can literally take just a matter of 10 days for you to start feeling better, losing weight, having more energy, sleeping better, and managing those cravings really, really well.
- The first few days are going to be a little bit painful. You are going to have more cravings.
- If you are really addicted to sugar and drinking a lot of artificial sweeteners in the form of diet drinks, those types of artificial sweeteners are even sweeter than sugar and eliminating those can be more challenging. And so it really does take time to rewire and reset your brain and your body.
- Excess insulin means fat storage. If we have elevated insulin levels as well as elevated cortisol levels, then we are going to put more weight on our body.
- Artificial sweeteners will increase your cravings, slow down your metabolism, and lead to fat storage.
- Artificial flavorings trick your brain into wanting more food and to not feeling fully satiated so that you keep eating more and more.
- Any form of liquid sugar calories can be worse than solid food because of how quickly it gets digested into the body. It’s basically like you’re mainlining sugar directly into your liver.
- A can of soda a day increases a child’s risk of obesity by 60% and a woman’s chance of getting type II diabetes by 80%.
- Studies show that inflammation triggers blood sugar imbalances as well as insulin resistance and type II diabetes. The major culprits are gluten and dairy.
Action Steps:
- Make it a priority to get healthy. Focus on eating whole foods and eliminating sugar as much as you possibly can if you want to have longevity and vitality.
- When you think about sugar, think beyond the sweets. A lot of people are overdoing it with grains and with bread, so be conscious of not just eliminating the sugar but also being conscious of how much flour products you are taking.
- Key Strategies:
- Make a decision to really actually detox and really decide that this is what you want for yourself, that you are going to commit to this, and that you are really going to put a strategy in place for yourself and figure out what that strategy looks like.
- Commit to going cold turkey. Stop eating all forms of sugar, all flour products, and all artificial sweeteners. Also get rid of trans-fats or hydrogenated fats or foods with MSG or artificial flavorings that cause your taste buds to want and crave more sugar.
- Don’t drink your calories.
- Support your cravings and balance your blood sugar at the same time.
- Power up with some protein. Eat protein at every meal, especially for breakfast.
- Eat the right kind of carbohydrates. You can have unlimited amounts of carbohydrates in the form of vegetables.
- Skip your grains, and maybe even the beans and legumes, for 10 days.
- Make sure you are getting healthy fats.
- Be ready for emergencies. If you are going to embark on a sugar detox, then you want to make sure that you have food on-hand.
- Be conscious about stress. Studies show that taking deep breaths activate a special nerve called the vagus nerve that shifts your metabolism from fat storage to fat burning, and it can actually help you move out of the stressed state.
- Take 5 slow, deep belly breaths: Inhale, extending your belly button, for 5 counts. Hold for 5 counts. Exhale, pushing your belly button into the spine, for 5 counts. Repeat 5 times.
- Do this every meal, which will help support your digestion. Or do this first thing in the morning when you open your eyes and you’re lying in bed, or do this right before going to sleep.
- Manage inflammation.
- Get in the proper amount of sleep.
- Don’t think about what you’re removing from your die but pay more attention to what you’re adding in to support your health.
- If you feel like you can’t go cold turkey on sugar, then try replacing your sugar with things like stevia and focus on adding in some real whole foods like protein and fat and making sure you’re getting enough of them at each meal.
- Pay attention to your carb cravings: How are they showing up? How do you feel by eating more fats and more proteins?
Samantha said:
“[Sugar detoxing] is not about deprivation. You can still enjoy delicious, healthy, amazing food... Having the right strategy in place can really help you to combat these cravings and overcome the sugar addiction.”
“True psychological addiction is something that has to stop completely, and many people do have a true psychological addiction to sugar. It really is just as addictive as cocaine.”
Thanks for listening!
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