Why Quit Sugar?

Sugar is toxic to health, with pain as the final warning.

It is difficult to balance the dangers of refined sugars with the flood of joy you get after consuming it. The delicious, creamy sweetness of ice cream floods your tongue.  A soda bubbles up happiness.  Alcohol is the bliss we long for after a crazy week.  Salty snacks call to you.  Red meat is your go to protein.

But hold up!

What?  Am I suggesting there is a sugar connection in red meat and salt?

Yes.  Yes I am.  It may not surprise you to learn that sugar is in everything from canned soups to cookies but it hides in many places you wouldn’t suspect.  Salt, for example.  In order to keep regular table salt free running, sugar, in the form of dextrose, is added to keep the potassium iodide in salt from oxidizing.  All iodized salt contains sugar.

If you quit eating red meat at the same time as you quit sugar, your task becomes much easier.  It’s science!

Quitting sugar is no easy task. There are tricksters and seducers everywhere.  But there is hope.

 

What are the benefits of a sugar detox?

A proper 4 week science based sugar detox can reset your organs of blood sugar handling, clear out poisonous chemicals, create free flowing blood, boost your immune system, improve brain function, help you lose weight, create clear glowing skin and more.

Ridding sugar from your body will sky rocket your energy levels and stop the cycle of cravings, carbs, cravings, carbs which all lead to weight gain (sounds a bit addictive doesn’t it?)  Once the sugar is gone the hormones and brain chemicals that make you want more of it are gone too!

That means that instead of your body being burdened by a slow metabolism and fat production, your metabolism will rev up and you will shed fat.

You also develop an awareness as to where sugar is in your diet. You may be shocked by how much sugar is there.  So eating becomes mindful again.  

Eating also becomes easier.  You can trust clean foods and get back to living life rather than reading labels or counting calories.

How much Sugar is okay to eat?

The American Heart Association recommends that women limit their sugar intake to 6 teaspoons per day, while men should limit their intake to 9 teaspoons.  I say, Ground Zero is the best number!

A teaspoon of sugar contains 4 grams, so this amounts to 24 grams per day for women and 36 grams for men. Most people today eat much more than that.

What’s shocking about that number is just how easy it is to get there:

 

• 1 cup (245 grams) of low-fat yogurt can contain up to 47 grams of sugar, which is 12 teaspoons
• 1 tablespoon of ketchup contains 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1  20-oz (570 ml) bottle of a sports drink will contain 32 grams of added sugar or 8 teaspoons

I say, Ground Zero is the best number! Why consume an ingredient that can’t be classified as a food because it has no nutritional value whatsoever??

 

How long does it take to withdraw from sugar?

The average person consumes from 22-30 teaspoons of added sugar per day.

The clearing of sugar and its metabolites takes at least 4 weeks but can take as long as 12 weeks depending on your habit. It is encouraging to know however, that deep within you, your cells are responding to the sugar detox within 10 days.  

The reason it’s challenging to quit sugar is because your brain has a reward system based on survival.  Food is a reward and something sweet activates your brain’s natural reward response.

Sugar also releases dopamine in the same part of your brain that responds to heroin and cocaine. Eating sugar regularly changes the makeup of your brain.  Brain tissues become tolerant to sugar so now you need more to get the same effect = addiction!

Eating sugar regularly changes your brain so that it becomes tolerant to the sugar, causing you to require more to get the same effect.

Now you can see why it may take some time to rid yourself of the harmful effects of long term sugar use.

 

Quitting sugar side effects

It may feel lousy to quit sugar, especially in the first few days or as long as 10 days.  Here’s why.

Your body is working hard to reset itself from operating on sugar to other more nutritious foods.  The feelings of cravings and withdrawal are intensified, especially in the beginning. 

You may feel any number of symptoms including physical and mental.

Physical symptoms may include shakiness, headaches, thirst, nausea, tingling and fatigue.

Mental symptoms may include depression, anxiety, changes in sleep patterns, cravings and changes in cognitive function.

Quitting sugar may feel awful in the first few days but the end result is 100% worth it.

 

What can I eat while I quit sugar?

Focus on eating only clean, whole, nutrient dense foods and drink plenty of water.  Removing sugar from your body is thirsty work. Clean foods are the basis of my Eat Clean way of eating.  When you consume such foods your body has an opportunity to re-establish balance and health. 

If you are feeling the need to eat something sweet, choose a modest amount of fresh berries.  But for the duration of the Strike Sugar program, no sweet foods will be eaten.

 

Can I have fruits on a Sugar Detox?

It may seem counterintuitive to say that no fruit is consumed on a Strike Sugar program because fruits are healthy, aren’t they?  Remember the purpose of a proper sugar detox is to rid the body of the offending matter – sugar – and reset the organs of blood sugar handling. 

Virtually no fruits are eaten on this program.  While fruit is healthy, all fruit contains sugar, and even natural ones will trigger an insulin response.  For now fruits will be avoided. After the 4 week program is over, you can introduce fruit again.

Quitting sugar is no easy task. There are tricksters and seducers everywhere.  But there is hope.

 

Let’s start with SEVEN STEPS TO STRIKE SUGAR™ from your diet

 

1. Realize where is the sugar in your diet.  I always start by asking clients what the one food is, they cannot live without. Usually it is sugar based.

 

2. What’s your level of love for sugar? We are all biologically unique.  How sugar affects one is not the same as another.

3. Strike Sugar™ to break the addiction. A 4 week, medically vetted program will achieve that, not a “detox in a box.” You will know you are cleansing properly when you experience headaches, hormones and crappiness but that only lasts for a few days.

4. Read labels and understand the content. Accept that sugar is everywhere and you have to know how to read the code to decipher it.  There are over 100 terms for sugar!!

 

 

5. Eat balanced meals to balance blood sugar. This means eat plenty of fibrous greens, fats and healthy fats AND eat them at regular intervals.

 

 

6. Heal your gut. Different colonies of bacteria ask for more carbs and sugar.  Your sugar addiction is simply these bacteria driving your cravings.  Adding pre and probiotics to your diet to restore balance in your microbiome.

7. Watch other “healthy” sugars like agave, honey, maple syrup and more. The more you eat, even the healthier versions of sweet ingredients, the more you want. Cleanse them out of your diet for a time to reset your body.

 

 

 

 

Looking for Sugar detox Recipes?

You’ll find them in my Strike Sugar program. All for you because they work. 

I believe no one can make significant wellness changes until they have undergone a thorough elimination of sugar.  I healed myself this way and lost 84 pounds of excess fat.  Out of that journey I created the Strike Sugar™ program.  It is what I follow even today.

Strike Sugar™ has healed tens of thousands of people.  It can heal you too.  Is today your day?

Sign up here for my next Strike Sugar challenge.  The next 4 weeks of your life are worth it, aren’t they?

Don’t forget to hit the link for the best 4 weeks of your life.

I am always listening,
Tosca Reno

Oh, by the way, that link is waiting …