The sour side of sugar

So many of us love sugar. But why? Is sugar really that bad for us?

Many books have been written about this topic but I'll try to answer the most common questions in this blog. After all, this is a topic I'm very familiar with having been a serious chocoholic for much of my life. I’m not joking. My mom used to lock up the chocolate just because she knew that I couldn’t just have a piece but would eat the entire bar or the whole box of cookies. Once I started I couldn’t stop and before you knew it all of it was gone. I’m happy to say that I was finally able to quite.

The average American consumes about 80 pounds of sugar per year and consumption continues to increase. The reason is that sugar is simply addictive (and the food industry knows that!). In a study 43 lab rats that were addicted to cocaine, were given the choice between staying with cocaine or switching to sugar. A whopping 40 of the 43 chose to switch to sugar. Wow!

What’s really the problem with sugar? For one simple sugar (or fructose) interferes with your hunger hormone, not giving your body any signal to stop eating. But the bigger issue is that sugar makes us really sick. It is linked with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, allergies, Alzheimer, ADD, ADHD...should I go on? And this isn’t even including the things we are most worried about in the short term, like increased weight, accelerated aging, tooth decay, and insomnia.

Are all types of sugar equal? Without getting too detailed, at its simplest form all sugar breaks down to some amount of fructose. That includes all the sweets we eat, but also "healthy sugars" like honey, maple syrup, and fruits. The impact of fructose on your body is the same but the reason why we prefer the healthy kind is because they come with a slew of health benefits like vitamins and antioxidants.

What can you do to quit? As with any addiction it takes some patience, self-discovery and tenacity to stick with it. The first thing I recommend is for you to become aware of when you crave sugar. Very often it's when we are stressed, bored, get into an argument with our kids or boss, or simply crave a hug to feel loved. So the next time you want to devour a bar of chocolate or open a bag of candy, take a few deep breaths, calm down your system and ask a friendly co-worker, your kids or spouse to give you a big hug.

I also would love for you to start reading food labels. Know that every 4 grams of sugar is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon or 1 sugar cube. Make sure to check all packaged foods (hey, even bratwurst has added sugar in America!) and look at the serving size to understand how much sugar is truly in the portion you plan to eat. Cereals, sauces as well as anything low fat or fat free is typically ladled with sugar so don't assume that your favorite food hasn't been altered to appeal to your taste buds.

Quitting sugar altogether is a fantastic step to reclaiming your life and improving your overall health. Ideally you remove all sugar from your diet. Just don't have it in the house. Throw it away. Don't even give it away and pass on the burden to someone else. Just put it in the trash and take the bag straight to the big garbage bin in the garage. That's what I did.

Then stay away from all sweets for at least three weeks. Yes you can! I can't tell you how liberating it feels for me to now be at a place to the point where I can have a box of my favorite cookies in the house and savor one (just one!) once or maybe twice a week.

Initially staying away from sweets will feel very hard, especially if you are programmed to eat them at certain times, like right after a meal. Remind yourself why sticking with it is important for you. Read this blog to learn how to create a powerful vision that will help you achieve your goals. You will see noticeable benefits once you get passed those three week (or even sooner). Your skin will look better, you will experience clearer thought, your energy level will increase, anxiety and moodiness will decrease, and let's not forget your weight will start to come down.

Would it be helpful for one of our executive health coaches to support you when you move towards your vision of your healthiest, most JOYful life? We’d love to guide you every step of the way in this process and along your journey to reaching that vision. Click the 'Contact' button in the top right corner or simply send us an email to info@joyvial.com to schedule your free discovery session.

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