sugar detox

How to Do a Sugar Detox (& Why Everyone Should)

How to Do a Sugar Detox (& Why Everyone Should)  Sugar consumption is a huge health issue today. Even a little bit can have negative effects on the body. But quitting sugar can be tough (especially considering that it’s everywhere). That’s where a sugar detox comes in. Click here to read more…

How to Do a Sugar Detox (& Why Everyone Should)

The Harmful Effects of Processed Sugar and Why you should sugar detox

Sugar is present in many foods (like fruit), but on its own, sugar is only a simple carbohydrate. Below is why a sugar detox is recommended.

Sugar provides quickly digested, empty calories but doesn’t offer any nutrients. In fact, sugar actually pulls minerals (like calcium and magnesium) from the rest of the body for digestion. So sugar is, in some ways, an anti-nutrient.

Processed sugar causes these effects on the body:

  • stresses the liver (excess intake of fructose can cause the liver to create a lot of extra fat, some of which is stored in the liver)
  • increases bad cholesterol and triglycerides
  • can contribute to leptin resistance, which can then cause many other issues like sleep problems and weight gain
  • creates an addictive sugar response in the brain

Sugar doesn’t fill you up and instead encourages you to eat more (often because of a blood sugar crash).

Is Natural Sugar OK?

Sugars that come from foods like fruits and vegetables have minerals as well as fiber, vitamins, and enzymes that help the body cope with the sugar. They are ideal sources of sugar. Natural sweeteners like maple syrup or coconut sugar are better options than refined sugar but they can still cause some of the issues associated with refined sugar (especially when consumed in large amounts).

Getting your sugars from better sources is always a good first step to breaking a sugar habit. In other words, ideally we would eat zero processed sugar and only occasional natural sugars. An example of natural sugars is like maple syrup.

 

How to Do a Sugar Detox

Resist Cravings

Stay Hydrated

Eliminate Junk Food

Don’t Skip Breakfast

Prepare your meals ahead of time

Get Rest

 

Sugar is a major health problem today and has a negative effect on your body.

 

Surviving the Holidays without Gaining a Pound! (…Even Lose a Few!)

 

 

We all want to enjoy the holidays, and of course, the good food, but most of us don’t necessarily want to sign up for extra pounds of weight gain that is so typical between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Add to that the lowering of our immune defenses with sugar and other unhealthy foods, which allows colds, flus, and other diseases to get a foothold in our bodies. With weight gain and lingering sicknesses, how can we really ‘enjoy’ the Holidays? Is there a way that we can enjoy the company of others and the food without gaining a pound, and actually even lose a few in the process? The answer is, absolutely YES! Here are some tips and guidelines to not only allow you to survive the holidays, but to feel great and move into 2019 with a healthy lifestyle:

(We will unpack each of these in more detail over the next few weeks, so stay tuned)

 

1. Stay Well Hydrated (1/2 BW in oz. of Water)

Quality Spring or Artesian Waters

2. Cleansing Nutrient Dense Breakfast

Eggs & fruit (1 cup or 1 piece)

Fruit Only (1 cup or 1 piece)

Fresh made smoothie

Fresh made vegetable juice

Bone broth

Kombucha

3. Snack on Raw Foods Throughout the Day in Between Meals

Raw veggies

Raw nuts and seeds (walnuts, pecans, almonds, brazil, pumpkin, & sunflower)

Raw Food Bars

4. Start Your Meals with a Large Salad

5. Use Healthier Substitutes:

Proteins: Free range poultry & eggs, grass-fed meats & dairy, & wild caught fish

Sweeteners: Organic, Raw honey, maple syrup, & stevia

Cooking Oils: Organic Avocado oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, grass-fed butter, & Ghee

Flours: Organic Coconut and Almond flours

6. Prepare a Healthy Dish and Let that be the Main Portion
7. Pair Your Food Properly

Veggies, Protein, & Healthy Fats (Raw nuts & nut butter, seeds, olives, & avocado)

Veggies, Protein, & Healthy Carbs (Root Vegetables)

Veggies, Protein, & Dessert or Alcohol

8. Incorporate Intermittent Fasting

  • 5:2: This method allows you to eat normally five days a week. The other two days are your fasting days, although you do still eat. Just keep it between 500 and 600 calories.
  • Eat-Stop-Eat: With this one, you restrict all food for 24 hours, once or twice a week.
  • 16/8: You eat all your daily calories within a shortened period — typically 6 to 8 hours — and fast for the remaining 14 to 16 hours. You can do this every day, or a few times a week.

9. Support Digestion with Targeted Supplementation

Digestive Enzymes- before cooked meals

Betaine HCL with Pepsin-after cooked meal.

10.Exercise Regularly (At least 20 mins 4X a week)

 

SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS WITHOUT GAINING A POUND!

How much water should I drink?

b1I often get this question and 99% of the time, individuals are not drinking enough. I could go into this long rant on the benefits of water and how bad dehydration is for virtually every physiological process of the body, but I want to stick to the question.

 

So, how much water is enough? The recommendation given by Dr. Bob Marshall, PHD in Nutrition is 1/2 of your bodyweight in ounces + 10%.

For example, if you weigh 200lbs, then you would need 120 oz of water per day (that’s just shy of a gallon 128oz).

You may be thinproperty-youking, ‘That’s impossible! I’d be going to the bathroom every 2-3 hours.’ Actually, urinating every 2-3 hours is quite normal if you are getting enough water.

If you are only drinking 60 oz per day, then I would suggest increasing 8oz every 3 days to allow your body to adjust.

Also, try starting your day with the largest intake of water..32 oz or so. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty later on because you are already dehydrated at that point.