10 Reasons to do a Sugar Detox
Do you have a sweet tooth? Do you often seek solace with cookies, cake, or ice cream? If you are under stress, you often look for comfort foods and often these can be sugary ones. When hormones are out of control, sweet temptations are higher. All too often succumbing to these temptations can lead to unwanted weight gain. Sugar can be addicting. If these cravings occur at night, they indicate you have not eaten enough during the day. Make sure you eat 3 balanced meals and 2-3 healthy snacks per day.
Added sugar is now found every where because companies want you to be addicted to their products. Sugar is often added to the following:
- Alcohol
- Tomato sauce
- Bread
- Salad dressing
- Crackers
- Broth
- Yogurt
- Peanut butter
- Candy
- Cake
- Soda
- Teas
- Desserts
- Ketchup
- Cereals
How to know if there is added sugar to products? Reading food labels and ingredients list are your best bet. Look for words ending in “ose,” such as fructose, dextrose, and maltose. Also look for corn syrup, malt sugar, and fruit juice concentrates. Read my quick blog: 18 artificial sugars to avoid (Dr. Oz’s show).
What happens when you consume added sugar? The added sugar goes in the blood stream and causes the pancreas to produce the hormone insulin. Insulin helps keep the sugar level in your blood consistent. Unfortunately, once the sugar wears off, your body is left with an overabundance of insulin and not enough glucose to provide you with energy, which in turn causes the dreaded “sugar crash.” You might feel tired, fatigued, and/or irritable. The solution, another sugar craving and the cycle continues.
Dietary sugars are converted to glucose during digestion. Glucose is the muscle fuel. If you are inactive during the day, your muscles and liver cells will bank that sugar for later. That “later sugar,” if not metabolized by exercise or physical work will be stored as fat. The key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is maintaining a proper sugar balance.
Indeed, consuming too much added sugar makes you crave for more and can cause health issues such as:
- Increase your risk of heart and kidney disease, dementia, gout, and cancer
- Mess with endocrine function causing insulin resistant
- Damage the liver, increasing one’s risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
- Disturb sleep
- Depression
- Obesity
- Type II diabetes. Read my latest blog on how to reverse type 2 diabetes.
- Skin problems and acne
- Accelerate skin aging process
- Increase risk of gum disease and cavities
Dietary guidelines suggest limiting calories from added sugar to less than 10% per day. If you are on a 1800 kcal per day diet, that is an equivalent of 180 kcal of sugar for your day. If you are on a 2,200 kcal/day, try to avoid going over 220 kcal of sugar and added sugar. The least amount of sugar as possible is always a better option.
Instead of consuming sugar, try to find alternatives such as:
- Add cinnamon to your cereals and oat meal (read the benefits of cinnamon here).
- Use blueberries, bananas, apple sauce, dates, maple syrup, coconut sugar (only for my kombucha!), and honey. I don’t bake with white sugar at all because the alternatives are simply better options and healthier. Your body will digest and process them easier.
- Instead of drinking a soda, choose an organic and sugar free fruit juice.
- Eat non-processed foods.
- For your lunch, pack healthier snacks such as fruit, yogurt, mix nuts, etc.
- Swap sugar with stevia for your coffee or drink it black.
- Make your own salad dressings instead of using the bought ones. The are filled with sugar and preservatives. Get 8 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes You Should Make at Home.
- Choose these sugar alternatives as mention earlier and these ones: raw honey, agave, erythritol, xylitol.
Do you need a sugar detox? Try to be sugar free for a minimum of 21 days and journal the positive effects on your health and skin. If you cheat, you need to start the calendar over again. Here are the benefits:
- Healthy weight loss
- Stabilized blood sugar
- Reduced mood swings
- Increased energy
- Less bloating
- Improved skin health
Another big benefit of staying away from sugar is you will increase your lifespan for many more years. Again, eating healthy and staying active is a choice. What is yours? Enjoy the process of change:)
Read more here:
Watch Out For THESE TERRIBLE Sugars by FitLife.TV
Do You Have Cravings? Your Body is Trying To Tell You Something by Abstract Fitness
Too Much Sugar = Fat and Weight Gain by Abstract Fitness
What is Hidden Sugar Doing to Your Child? Alternatives for Healthier Eating and Better Behavior!
11 Reasons Why Too Much Sugar Is Bad for You by Healthline