Self Care

It’s hard to get away from all the evidence pointing to the dangers of sugar consumption. Even if you stay away from candy and yummy bakery items, sugar is hidden in just about everything including condiments, breads and even canned foods. But despite all the warnings, sugar consumption has skyrocketed in many households. Following are 5 reasons why you should do a total sugar detox.

Sugar Will Spike Your Insulin Levels

Within minutes of eating sugar, your blood sugar will become elevated. While your body needs glucose to function, too much of it is toxic to your system. Consistently elevated sugar levels will slow decrease the ability of your pancreas to make insulin. This causes the pancreas to overcompensate with the end result of elevated insulin levels. And over time, the pancreas will become permanently damaged. This process picks up speed as you pass age 40.

Consuming Sugar Makes You Gain Weight

The more sugar you consume the more likely you are to be suffering from insulin resistance. This causes the dreaded midlife belly fat which is extremely dangerous to your overall health, resulting in increased risk for high blood pressure, full blown diabetes and inflammation throughout the body.

Baby boomers grew up hearing health authorities advise consumers to lower fat intake. The food industry was happy to provide us with all kinds of low fat and fat free food options. But since these usually tasted awful, they had to add lots of sugar in order to keep consumers happy.

Next time you’re out shopping, compare regular and low fat or fat free salad dressing. You’ll notice that lower fat options have a lot more carbs and sugar. You may not taste it, but it’s definitely there. Our tastebuds are wired for more sugar. And since sugar is more quickly digested than fat, you’ll be hungry sooner after consuming a low fat meal and you eat again. It’s a vicious cycle, and the end result is unwanted weight gain.

Too Much Sugar Harms Your Body

With all that increased sugar and weight gain comes a higher risk for diabetes and a condition called metabolic syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome is a group of symptoms and behaviors that put you at a much higher risk of developing heart disease and Type II diabetes. Untreated, this can lead to further damage including kidney disease, strokes, vision loss, nerve damage, poor circulation and slow wound healing.

You’ll be thankful to know that these conditions are reversible and the first step toward better health is to cut out the sugar. Take action now to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as you can.

Sugar Causes Tooth Decay

Sugar is terrible for oral health including tooth decay and gum problems. Untreated oral problems can also lead to an increased risk of heart disease.

Sugar Has Zero Nutritional Value

Finally, it’s important to remember that aside from a little boost of temporary energy, sugar doesn’t provide any nutritional value to your body. If you want something sweet, you’re much better off grabbing a piece of fruit than a cookie. That being said, sometimes you want that cookie no matter what. Read on to learn what you can do!

How Do You Get Started with a Sugar Detox?

Learn how to cook low carb or Paleo style. Baked goods are typically made with almond flour, coconut flour and use honey or coconut sugar as a sweetener. A quick Pinterest search will give you dozens of yummy ideas. The food plan that I’ve been using, Trim Healthy Mama, recommends using stevia, erythritol or xylitol (note to pet owners…don’t buy xylitol. It’s toxic to your dogs.)

If you  need to lose weight, the first thing you want to cut out is sugar and all refined carbohydrates. They will cause spikes in your blood sugar, which will make your body produce a large amount of insulin to pull the sugar out of your system (and convert it to unwanted body fat). The unfortunate effect of that process is that your blood sugar goes on a roller coaster ride that will leave you hungry and craving more sugary treats. It’s a vicious cycle but it is one that you can overcome.

It’s been said that sugar cravings are a form of chemical dependency. Be eliminating this toxin from your lifestyle, you’ll feel better, lose weight and enjoy improved overall health.

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One of the most important decisions you’ll need to make in terms of ongoing health and fitness is what the best eating plan to lose weight is for you. There are SO MANY eating plans to choose from. How do you know what works and what doesn’t? And more importantly, which one are you likely to stick with for the long term?

New food fads pop up all the time. It can be really tempting to jump on yet another diet band wagon. Let’s narrow the options down to eating plans that you’re interested in learning about,  especially if your goal is to lose weight. There are so many to choose from, it can be really confusing in terms of what actually works and what doesn’t. And with new fads appearing all the time, it can be tempting to jump on yet another diet bandwagon.

But let’s keep things simple and narrow the eating plan options down to proven options that will work for both weight loss and overall health.

Counting Calories

Counting calories probably what you’re most familiar with and is the most common way to lose weight or maintain it. It does require a database of the caloric values of foods and a calculator or pen and paper. A food diary to keep track of exactly what you eat will also help. You simply calculate the calorie counts for your favorite recipes and stick to reasonable portion sizes.

The recommended daily allowance of calories for men is 2,500, and for women, 2,000. This is assuming that the person is pretty active. For those of us who work at a desk every day and love the TV at night, 2,000 and 1,600 might be better options.

For this method, simply cut calories and increase exercise. You should see a slow, consistent weight loss.

Counting Carbs

Atkins is probably the original one of most famous of the low carb diets, with almost 50 years of results behind it. The theory is that carb calories make us fatter because they tend to get stored rather than burned, particularly as the dreaded belly fat. The Atkins induction program allows only 20 grams of carbs per day for the first 2 weeks, about 40 for stage 2 and about 60 to 80 for the maintenance phase, to help you keep off the weight you have lost.

To put these numbers into perspective, the average American eats a whopping average of 300 grams of carbs per day. Atkins is a pretty radical diet that will involve a good deal of counting to begin with. The advantage is that you can lose 10 to 20 pounds very quickly because of the significant changes in the chemical makeup of your body when you cut carbs. There are also lots of free resources online to help you.
Use a food diary to keep track.

The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is modeled on the diet of the people in Italy, Greece, and other countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Their diet is made up of small portions of an average of 60 different foods each day. The foods are mainly fruits, vegetables, 3 portions of fish per week, and high-quality olive oil.

The Keto Diet

The Keto Diet is red hot right now. Keto is short for ketogenic. The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that is designed to provide rapid weight loss. Instead of counting calories, you count carbs. This is similar to the Atkins low carb diet, with some important differences. Simply put, the word ketogenic refers to the act of putting your body in the state of ketogenesis, the production of ketone bodies in the bloodstream. Ketones are the result of the breakdown of fat in the body.

The body normally gets its energy from carbohydrates. However, if you switch to low carb and eat only protein and fat, your body will have no choice but to start using the fat in your food or your body to get its fuel, and thus you will lose weight.

The Paleo Diet

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