3 Huge Ways To Cut The Sugar From Your Diet
There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the evils of sugar consumption. Sugar is hidden in all sorts of foods including bread, salad dressing, ketchup, drinks… everything! Add to that our love for things like cookies and ice cream and it’s no wonder our sugar consumption is skyrocketing. Unfortunately, all of this added sugar is doing a lot of damage to our health and it’s making us gain weight in record numbers.
It’s time to cut added sugar from our diet. In this post you’ll get four HUGE reasons why you should do a sugar detox, learn how sugar is almost worse than cocaine, and get 3 actionable steps you can take to cut your sugar consumption today!
4 huge reasons to cut the sugar from your diet
Consuming Sugar spikes your insulin
As soon as your body starts to digest sugar, your insulin spikes up. Insulin is the hormone that is in charge of keeping blood sugar levels from rising too high and converting extra sugar into fat for storage.
It’s a delicate process and consuming sugar in large quantities will cause your insulin to spike and deal with more than it is designed to handle. Over time it becomes less and less effective; this is when things start to negatively affect your health.
Consuming sugar makes you gain weiht
Because of the insulin and because sugar adds a lot of calories to food, it can make you gain weight and you don’t have to be eating a lot of candy and cakes for that to happen.
Since the late seventies, when health authorities advised consumers to watch and lower their fat intake, the food industry has provided us with all sorts of low fat and fat free food options. To make these low fat foods taste ok, they had to add a lot of sugar.
Take a look at regular and low fat or fat free salad dressing. The lower fat options have a lot more carbs and in particular, sugar. You may not taste it, but it’s there. Since sugar is much more quickly digested than fat, you’re hungry sooner after consuming a low fat meal and you eat again. The end result is weight gain.
Consuming sugar increases your risk for diabetes and metabolic syndrome
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 for developing heart disease and Type II diabetes.
Thankfully, both conditions are reversible and the first step toward better health is to cut out the sugar.
Sugar doesn't have a lot of nutritional value and it makes you hungrier
Last but not least, it’s important to remember that aside from a little boost of energy, sugar doesn’t provide a lot of nutritional value to your body. If you want something sweet, you’re much better off grabbing a piece of fruit than a cookie. At least with a piece of fruit you’re getting some vitamins and fiber with your sugar fix.
If you want or need to lose weight, the first thing you should cut out is sugar. It causes spikes in your blood sugar, that then make your body produce a large amount of insulin to pull the sugar out of your system (and convert it to body fat). The sad little side 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.
What sugar and cocaine have in common and why it's important to your health
Here’s a scary fact. When scientists took MRI images of the brains of people consuming sugar and highly addictive drugs like cocaine, the same pleasure centers in the brain started lighting up. Sounds pretty scary, doesn’t it? But what does it actually mean to your brain and your overall health?
Sugar is truly addictive. That means that it will alter your brain chemistry and over time you start to crave more and more sugar. The urge for your next sweet fix comes more frequently and you need to consume it in larger quantities and like any other drug, it comes with some pretty scary side effects. Not being able to fit into your favorite pair of jeans because your cookie addiction is going to be the least of your problems.
Yes, there will be weight gain, but with it, and particularly because this weight gain is brought on by consuming too much sugar, you’ll increase your risk of developing Type II Diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and with it, an increased risk of stroke. Add to that the extra stress the added weight puts on your joints and tendons and how much harder it is to get enough oxygen pumping through your body, it’s no wonder you feel crappy as you put on weight. All these various health conditions are referred to as metabolic syndrome and it’s just one of the things you can look forward to as you continue to feed your sugar addiction.
But like with a cocaine addition, harming your body and compromising your health doesn’t really matter all that much when you’re face with a box of donuts. That’s a serious problem. Then, as with any highly addictive drug, there will be unpleasant withdrawal symptoms as you start to wean your body off of sugar.
Don't believe me? Give it a try.
Cut out all added sugar for a couple of days. No more soda, no more sugar in your coffee, no candy, no cookies, no donuts. That’s just the beginning. You’ll also want to avoid all foods with added sugars like bread, most salad dressings, ketchup, etc. Cut all those foods out and don’t eat anything without checking the label for added sugars. See how you feel after a few hours.
It will start with a little headache and then the real headaches will begin. You’ll start craving something sweet. We’re talking serious cravings. Next, that little headache will start to grow into a full blown pounding head along with joint aches. You may also experience some nausea and don’t be surprised to experience mood swings, too. Some people will even have flu like symptoms and start to shake a day into their sugar detox.
Doesn’t that sound a lot like the withdrawal symptoms of a “serious” drug addiction? That’s because sugar addiction is just that. A serious addiction.
3 easy ways to cut back on sugar consumption
The average American consumes about 160 pounds of refined sugar every year. Think about that for a minute. That’s a lot of sugar. Just two hundred years ago we only used about 20 pounds of sugar per person per year.
We know all this sugar isn’t good for us. It’s rotting our teeth, giving us Type II Diabetes, and contributing to the obesity epidemic in the western world. The bad thing is that added sugar has found its way into all sorts of foods we consume on a daily basis and it isn’t just the sugary breakfast cereal or the ice cream that is the culprit. There’s sugar in our salad dressings, our frozen dinners, and pasta sauce to give you just a few examples.
What can we do to cut back on the amount of sugar we consume on a daily basis? Let’s start by cutting out some of the big offenders.
Free course
a 7 day sugar detox to help cure your addiction
- How to cut the sugar habit in less than a week
- 3 easy ways to cut back on sugar
- Tips for alleviating sugar detox side effects
- How to deal with temptations
- What sugar and cocaine have in common
- Daily motivation
cut the soda and other sugary drinks
Let’s start with something easy that will also have a huge impact. Stop drinking soda and other sugary drinks. That includes seemingly innocent things like the sweet tea you’re enjoying or the fancy coffee drink but, it could also be your favorite juice beverage. Look at the labels and figure out how many teaspoons of sugar you’re drinking each day. Then cut them out. Stick to water, black coffee and herbal tea for a few days. It’s not an easy transition, but it will be well worth it in the end.
Stop indulging in sugar laden treats
Next it’s time to give up your favorite sugary treats. Enjoy a bowl of oatmeal or scramble up some eggs instead of pouring a bowl of sweet cereal. Skip the muffin, cake, cookies and candy. Instead reach for a piece of fruit or cut up some fresh veggies.
Find sugar free or low-sugar replacements for your favorite treats. Fix a sandwich if you’re hungry in the afternoon instead of raiding the cookie jar. Or grab some crackers. Do your best to train your brain and taste buds to not crave sweet treats all day long.
Stop indulging in sugar laden treats
Last but not least, work on reducing the added sugars that sneak into your diet via all sorts of convenience foods. Anything that’s labeled low fat, fat free or gluten free is worth avoiding since the fat is usually replaced by lots of sugar and salt to make it palatable. Your best bet is to stick to real food. Stick with single ingredients and cook your meals from scratch. This allows you to control what’s going into the food you eat – including the sugar.
Are you ready for a sugar detox?
We’re addicted to the sweet stuff and average consumption is still going up. And as it goes up we see more cases of obesity, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. And each of those bring with them a bunch of other health conditions. Sugar is making us fat and sick and since it’s so addictive, it’s hard to quit it. The only way is to realize and truly understand just how bad it is for you. That will give you the willpower to break free from your sugar addiction, say no to that cookie and opt for a healthier choice instead.
Now that you know the facts, are you ready for a sugar detox? I sure hope so. Give it a shot. Enroll in my 7 Day Sugar Detox Course TODAY and let me know how it goes in the comments!
Want to read more? Check out my article, Let’s Talk Sugar.
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