It's time for another 10 Day Sugar Challenge back by popular demand!! I love to do a challenge right before the holidays because it really does help us come back to a state of balance BEFORE we get to indulge a bit. This will give us a a great foundation to head into the holidays. Join me and a group of others for 10 days of taking the sugar out starting November 8th! Register here!
I'm reposting an old blog about sugar...it's an oldie but goodie. Take a look!
Sugar. It seems that it's a problem for everyone, and that's because it is! Many clients come to me with sugar being a large part of their diet, and oftentimes even people who think they don't eat a lot of sugar, realize that they do.
Personally, I have made huge strides in lessening the amount of refined sugar in my diet. I used to hold the sugar canister over my cup of coffee for 5 whole seconds. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Really. This happened. But I decided one day to try it without and now, I can't stand the taste of sweetened coffee. The great thing about a sweet tooth is that once you put a little bit of effort into taking sugar out of your diet, the cravings start to disappear. Things will start tasting disgustingly sweet to you. I promise you.
The problem with sugar isn't just the empty calories and the tooth decay. It's a whole host of other things. Read on.
1) Sugar makes you fat! More research is coming out on the idea that different calories are metabolized differently in the body, and the way sugar is metabolized will cause more of those calories to be stored as fat. (If you happen to have an extra 90 minutes lying around, watch Robert Lustig's youtube video, The Bitter Truth. Or if just an extra 10, watch Sean Croxton's summary of that video. Enlightening)
2) Sugar could give you wrinkles. Boo, right? An article in Discover Magazine reported that sugar in the blood can bind to collagen in a process called glycation.
3) Sugar suppresses your immune system. Can't quite beat that cold? Are you eating a ton of cough drops? Ann Louis Gittleman in her book, Get the Sugar Out, writes that the ability of cells to kill off foreign invaders can be reduced up to 5 hours after we ingest sugar. Also, it reduces the production of antibodies, interferes with the transport of vitamin C, and makes cell walls more permeable to outside invaders. Ooof.
4) Sugar disrupts your body's mineral balance. In sugar refining, nutrients such as chromium, manganese, cobalt, copper, zinc and magnesium are all stripped away. Not only are many of these the same minerals that help to control our blood sugar in the first place, but without them our bodies then have to use our own nutrients to absorb and metabolize sugar.
5) Sugar is an ANTI NUTRIENT. It's not just empty calories. It pulls nutrients, that I would rather keep, away from the body. Gittleman also writes that it interferes with absorption of minerals and can increase the secretion of B vitamins and almost ALL minerals, but especially calcium and magnesium. Double oof!
6) Sugar can feed cancer cells. Cancer cells feed on sugar. Also, with a continuous influx of sugar into the blood stream, our insulin levels are chronically elevated and insulin can trigger the growth of cancer cells.
7) Overuse of sugar can lead to insulin resistance, which can lead to type II diabetes. The more you eat foods that directly send sugar straight to the blood stream (think foods that are almost pure refined sugar, like soda), the more your body has to work to bring your blood sugar back down to a safe level. (Too high or too low blood sugar is dangerous.) If the body becomes overworked by what you are consistently eating, pretty much it will just stop working properly.
8) Unfriendly yeast in your body feeds directly on sugar. Ladies, have you ever had a yeast infection? Unfortunately, they are really common, and for you, it is imperative that you take sugar out! Men, you are equally at risk? Jock itch? Athlete's foot... You almost certainly have an overgrowth of Candida, which is the yeast that naturally occurs in our body, but can run rampant if the conditions are right. However, an overgrowth of candida can have all sorts of symptoms (jock itch, headaches, brain fog, fatigue), so even if you never experience yeast infections, candida can still run rampant. Men are also affected!
9) Sugar is addictive. According to Nicole Avena, and her great youtube video, eating sugar releases dopamine and affects our pleasure centers every time we eat it. No wonder we crave it, we want to feel good!
There are many more things I could include, but these are some of the important ones. If you think these facts are meant to scare you....they are! It is important for us to realize the far reaching consequences of over indulging in refined sugar; it is not a harmless food. My personal experience is that once I start eating it, I start craving it all the time. It is extremely addicting.
But the good news again, is that as we start to cut it out of our diet, we will lose our taste for it. I work with many of my clients to cut sugar out for a week, and invariably they report craving it significantly less. It is possible! And those that dramatically reduce consumption lose weight. It's really as simple as that.
So join me in the intention of cutting out the sugar. It is something that requires a little effort for sure, but it is one of the most health promoting habits you can have.