FOUR TIPS TO GET YOU OFF THE SUGAR ROLLER COASTER

Sugar is pretty insidious. Everywhere we turn, there is sugar in our modern world. And I’m not talking about the teaspoon you add to your coffee every morning or that dollop of whip cream on your dessert. I’m talking about all the added sugar to the processed/packaged foods we eat. If you look carefully you’ll find sugar in just about everything you buy that is not freshly grown.  It’s in ketchup, bagels, yogurt, chips, salad dressings, bread. 

The frustrating thing about this is, we become conditioned to want these foods because they have been CHEMICALLY ALTERED to be more appetizing. They are saltier, sweeter, stronger in many ways than any natural food, so your body is tricked into thinking this is what you want, what you need! And the more you eat, the more you want. 

Physically, all this sugar puts your body on a roller coaster, starting with driving up your insulin levels. Short term this gives you a high, but as you well know, I’m sure, there’s always the resounding low that shows up with you feeling like crap. In addition, these excess amounts of insulin usually get stored as fat, and typically as visceral belly fat. This type of fat is especially dangerous as the Harvard Medical School states, “Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, and insulin resistance.”

Not to mention, sugar then inhibits nutrient absorption, assuming these processed foods have any nutrient value whatsoever. The result is your body is HUNGRY! It’s hungry for the nutrients it needs to do its job. And so, you find yourself ever looking for that next hit, that next serving of sugar that will not only spike your insulin back up, giving you a false sense of energy, but your body is trying to find the nutrients it needs. And so the cycle goes.

This is not fun on a daily basis, but the longterm effects are much worse. All this sugar we are consuming can bring on conditions like depression, decreased sex drive, weight gain, heart disease and of course, diabetes, to name a few.  

Below are a few suggestions for how to start kicking the sugar habit:

1. Cut out the sugary drinks, especially soda.  And don’t tell me diet is better. It’s actually worse because it’s doubly enhanced with artificial sweeteners. If you have any doubts about the effects of soda on your body, watch this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1JZ3MLS-k0  This suggestion also includes so called ‘juice’. These are typically all sugar and just a scant amount of real juice, check the ingredient list.
2. Throw out those processed foods: packaged meals, crackers, flavored yogurts, bbq sauce.  A good barometer for judging if something is good for you, is to see if you can recognize (and pronounce;) all the ingredients on the package.  Where you can, make meals from scratch with REAL ingredients. Check out my blog for recipe ideas!
3. Be sure to start your day out with a nutritious breakfast. Skipping breakfast puts your body at a disadvantage. Typically when you skip breakfast you’re hungrier later and your cravings get stronger. You may actually then eat MORE when you finally do eat, or consume some less healthy options because you are ravenous! Try starting your day with a protein rich meal, like an omelette with spinach and avocado.
4. Try to broaden your knowledge and use of fresh, whole foods. When you eat more fresh greens and clean proteins, you’re giving your body the nutrients it is looking for! Your body will then feel satiated sooner, longer and you won’t find yourself craving a caramel latte so often ;) Also, this type of diet gives you a more consistent energy level, without the sugar highs and lows. Imagine your day with you running around full of energy!

Many of these tips may seem extreme to you, and I can admit some of them are, but then so is heart disease. Nonetheless, these tips are first and foremost just information, something you can consider and think about how sugar may be affecting you. It would be silly to think we could all just go cold turkey on sugar, but what we can do is change just one thing at a time: perhaps cutting our soda/juice consumption by half each day, or maybe trying a new, whole food recipe instead of going out for dinner once a week.  

We can certainly make small changes to our daily/weekly habits. And soon, you may find that your tastebuds have woken up a bit, maybe remembered how good fresh pineapple tastes! You can re-train your body to want fresh, whole foods again. Armed with some new insight into our food landscape you can go forth with your eyes open and make little changes that in the end, add up to good health. After all, we are not what we do on occasion, we are what we do consistently, day in and day out. Make today your day to start your journey to better health!

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