Welcome to Part 3 in Healthful Mama’s Sugar is Toxic Series!
Resetting Your Body
Because sugar causes addiction-like cravings, and because your body craves more and more of it to get a “fix,” the best way to eliminate sugar is to ELIMINATE SUGAR. Most diets or diet foods want you to reduce sugar or simply use a sugar replacement–and that won’t work. I find that when I don’t have sugar, I don’t want sweets, and when I do indulge in something like ice cream, I notice wanting MORE of it. However, if you change your diet to exclude hidden sugars, your cravings will diminish, you’ll get better at stopping yourself from buying that pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and your cravings will (hopefully, eventually) disappear.
You’ll find a number of “sugar detox” diets online, everything ranging from a simplistic “Sugar Free in 28 Days” from Dr. Oz to raw-food diets to specialty products specifically for cleansing your system. These types of extreme change don’t work for everyone’s personality, however, and can often set you up for failure!
The Solution is Simple: EAT UNPROCESSED FOOD.
When your food is made from simple ingredients that you made yourself, there is no need for concern about hidden, craving-inducing sugars. This doesn’t mean you need to be a great cook! In fact, unprocessed eating, at its core, is very basic.
Start Today.
[pinit]
1. Commit to Change.
2. Try a basic detox.
3. Clean out your pantry. Replace processed foods with easy, unprocessed ingredients.
4. Make whole grains a centerpiece to your meals. See my easy solution to having them available without the wait.
5. Change up breakfast. Many people begin their day with a sweet breakfast. Make is savory and destroy that craving for sugar all day.
6. Take it slowly. Don’t think you should make a complete turn-around right away (but if you do, GREAT!). You’re up against a lifetime of food marketing, diet blitz, and advertising campaigns. You’re not only resetting your body, you’re resetting your brain and the way you think about food, too!
Good Luck! These changes have not only helped me take toxic sugar out of my life, but created a completely new lifestyle and way of thinking for me. I look better and feel better, I am rarely sick, and I no longer find the need for a litany of products meant to, supposedly, enrich my health. My purpose in this series is to help you achieve the same.
If you feel like this series has helped you, please consider sharing this post or this site with your friends. Subscribe to Healthful Mama for the latest health news and recipes to help you achieve a less-toxic life!
Yay! This is the post I was waiting for–the how to kick the habit! Thanks. I’ve decided to replace the sugar in my coffee with raw honey, it’s basically the only sugar (in that form) I eat. And as for those late night cravings for sweets, I just won’t eat any! Baby steps. I’ll work on a detox later. Now, you mentioned whole grains, I’ve been reading on the Paleo diet lately which basically says grains are bad for us, what’s your stance on that? Did I say thanks for this series on sugar? Thanks!
Hey Stephanie, thanks for reading! I hope that this series has been of some help. If honey is the only added sugar you’re having, then I’d say you’re doing well! I have so much to say on the topic, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time I address it! I know the Paleo diet doesn’t involve grains, but I honestly haven’t read enough about the theories to understand why. (Sounds like a topic for the future!) My knowledge about nutrition dictates that proteins need something to bind to in order to efficiently work in the body–this is where grains come in. I don’t shun grains, but I know that the paleo diet, when done appropriately, can be very effective for some. You might want to read this article for an interesting take on the Paleo diet.
I really like how you offer practical suggestions for changing the way we eat!