Breaking up with Sugar
If I’m honest, I love sugar. As a Caymanian, I grew up loving the taste of sweet foods – Caymanian mangoes, ripe plantains, and my grandpa’s cassava cake. I also grew up as a kid in the age of post-industrialization, where donuts, hostess cookies, Burger King milk shakes, and gummy bears were normal everyday foods. Back then, no one really understood the impact of sugar on the body, but everyone knew how good sugar tasted and still tastes. Sugar makes us feel good, experience pleasure and enjoy moments of euphoria. Sugar has become our friend when 3pm rolls around and our companion after dinner. Yet, within the last few years there has been a rise in scientific studies that show sugar isn’t all that we make it out to be – that in fact, an overconsumption of sugar is actually the cause of many illnesses and diseases, leaving us with only one choice – to break up with sugar.
WHY
Breaking up with sugar is a must, but is something really hard to do. Not only do sweet foods just taste good, sugar has sneakily interwoven itself in almost every food humans have created, but is naturally occurring in many of the whole, natural foods we eat. So are natural foods such as fruits bad for us? No, but some still have a high amount of sugar which can be harmful if consumed in excess. So how can we really break up with sugar then, if even natural foods have sugar? Well, when I say break up with sugar I mean to take a step away from processed foods (with are loaded with refined sugar), added sugar (in the form of cane sugar and even natural occurring sugar such as honey), and high sugar fruits such as mangoes and bananas for a time period to allow my body to reset and detox.
Sarah Wilson, founder of the 8 week program I Quit Sugar, notes that sugar in the form of fructose (fruits, veggies, honey, molasses, etc) is not used always used as energy and can read out the liver, and store fat. Fructose messes with our appetite hormones (Leptin) in particularly and switches off our feeling of being full, causing us to eat more. When we consume more sugar than we need, it can lead to excess sugar our blood which is then stored as fat. Excess sugar has also been known to lead to weight gain, obesity, skin issues, immune system responses, and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and even cancer.
Yet, there is hope. There is a way for us to break up with sugar by simply eating as much real, whole foods as often as we can. Many eating plans have risen in the last few years from this concept and have advised eliminating certain problematic foods from your diet for a time period, in order to allow your body to reset and learn to operate without all the excess sugar. Some of the more popular eating plans include ones such as Whole 30 and Paleo, and for sugar specifically, I Quit Sugar and the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I’ve done Whole 30 a few times, regularly follow the Paleo diet (with occasional treats), and have even done the 21 Day Sugar Detox before. Yet, even after all of this, I’ve seen how easy it is to let my “Sugar Dragon” awaken by enjoying a lot of sweeter more natural foods regularly, as well as sweeter treats each week. Thus, as a health coach and someone who loves to study all about the science behind nutrition, I know the affects that all of this sugar has been having and can have on me, leading to my decision to break up with it for a little while to detox my body.
HOW
Therefore, I plan to break up with sugar by doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox (21DSD) from March 2nd – March 23rd, 2016. Originally developed by Author & Nutrition Consultant Diane Sanfilippo, the goal of the detox is to help bust sugar and carb cravings naturally by eating real, whole foods that aren’t sweet in taste and do not have as much sugar. The detox follows more of a Paleo diet with foods such as lean meats, most vegetables and nuts, non-sweeter fruits, and nutritious oils. However, there are three different levels of the detox one can choose to follow which include what some may call “non-paleo” foods:
- Level 1: Includes Whole Grains & Legumes and Full-Fat Dairy
- Level 2: Includes only Full-Fat Dairy
- Level 3: Excludes Grains and Dairy (Strict Paleo)
The idea behind the levels is for individuals to choose the most do-able detox plan they can do, at whatever stage of nutritional change they are in. There are also modifications to each level for those who have autoimmune conditions, are athletes and/or workout at high intensity regularly, and for those who are pescetarian. However, regardless of what level and modifications are chosen each person will still detox, re-set their bodies internally, and bust sugar cravings.
Furthermore,tThe difference than between Paleo and the 21DSD is that while certain foods are natural and good for you, the 21DSD cuts out the sweeter foods to help bust the sugar and carb cravings. Some of these sweeter foods include:
- Veggies/Fruits: Plantain, all fruits both fresh and dried(besides green apple, grapefruit, and non-ripe bananas), Cassava, and Sweet Potato
- Nuts: Cashews (sweeter nut) and of course peanuts (which actually aren’t a nut)
- Sweetness of any kind: honey, molasses, stevia etc.
For more information on the different levels and what is a yes/no food for each level of the detox, I encourage you to purchase the 21 Day Sugar Detox Official Program Guide as well as Cookbook which are both filled with great information on sugar and great recipes to choose during and even after the detox. Feel free to also check out the 21 DSD Pinterest and Facebook Page.
Personally, I’m choosing Level 3 of the Detox since I eat more Paleo and actually have become sensitive to grains and dairy over the last couple of years. During the 21 days, I will blog about my detox experience and highlight the great parts, the not so great parts, and even any recipes I’ve tried that I thoroughly enjoyed. Lucky for me, a few of my friends are actually going to be joining in on the detox with me so I will also highlight their experience as well in this challenge to break up with sugar and rest our taste buds.
WHAT NOW?
After reading all of this you are probably thinking breaking up with sugar is not only something you really haven’t want to do, but seems to be something you can’t do. Don’t think that way! Many have done this program before and have been successful at it! It’s all about choosing to commit and understanding what you personally need to do to succeed at breaking up with sugar. I know for me, having others walk alongside me who I know and even those who I don’t know (the 21 Day Sugar Detox communities on Facebook) have made tasks such as these not only do-able, but enjoyable and possible.
Therefore, if breaking up with sugar and busting your sweet cravings is something you are interested in, join me on this detox. Reach out to me! I’ll be there to encourage you and walk through it with you. However, if you don’t quite feel ready for the detox, reach out to me anyways! I would still love to journey with you in choosing foods that are tasty and that will give your body the nutrients it needs. Feel free to reach out to me by commenting on this post, messaging me on Facebook, or emailing me at madewellky@gmail.com
Trust me, I get it. I love sugar and will always sugar. It taste good and makes me feel good. However, sugar and I need a break from each other as we aren’t so good for one another right now and our relationship is on the rocks. We need time apart to think things through, and once we’ve grown up a bit, maybe (just maybe) we will get back together.
