Sugar

So what’s wrong with sugar?!  Why is it so bad?  To really understand, we need to look back a few years.  Hunter-gatherers consumed around 22 teaspoons of sugar per year.  The average American nowadays consumes 22-30 teaspoons A DAY!  In the 1800's, the average person consumed 5 pounds of sugar per year.  And now Americans average 152 pounds per year!!!  Our bodies were never designed to handle this amount of sugar. 

When you eat sugar:
 1. Your blood sugar spikes.
 2. Your pancreas secretes insulin which lowers blood sugar and escorts glucose from blood stream to the cells.

 

Ideally...the energy level is high enough and the sugar is put to good use.  But if there's too much sugar or its too frequent....the pancreas has to put out waaaay too much insulin.  Insulin triggers the storage of belly fat and increases your appetite and sugary cravings.  This whole process causes insulin resistance which means your body stops reacting well to insulin.  So it requires more and more insulin to keep your blood sugar normal.  The increase in blood sugar and insulin makes the body release inflammatory chemicals.  And inflammation is the root of most chronic diseases.  Eating too much sugar has been linked to cancer (it doesn’t cause cancer, but cancer cells feed off sugar), type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, tooth decay, insomnia, allergies, hair loss, acne and breakouts and much more.

 

Again....we were never meant to take in this much sugar.  The average 20-ounce soda has 15 teaspoons of sugar!!!  Yikes!  All of this extra sugar is making us sick, tired and chronically ill.  But the good news is that there are foods that are naturally sweet!  And if you take all of the processed, refined sugars out of your diet, then those foods will taste even sweeter!  Sugars from natural sources are easily processed by your body.  These are the good sugars that your body needs!  

 Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Milkshakes

Sometimes a perfectly good workout can be spoiled by overindulgence.  Don’t let that happen!  Be mindful of how many calories are in your foods and have a REALISTIC idea of how many calories you are burning during a workout.  Remember:  weight loss is around 70% diet and only around 30% exercise.

 Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Dairy

Here's a startling fact to grab your attention!!!
Humans are the only species that drink milk after weaning.  Let that soak in for a minute…..

We were taught from an early age (through marketing and campaigning) that milk is the best way to build strong bones and muscles. And without it, our bones would surely disintegrate and we would lay there in a big pile of bone dust.  We’ve been told that milk is the perfect food. And it is!  For a cow. J More than 75% of the world is lactose intolerant.  That is the inability to breakdown milk/dairy sugars.  While lactose intolerance can cause bloating, gas and diarrhea, the body’s adverse immune response to milk proteins can also lead to congestion, asthma, sinus problems, kids’ ear infections, rashes and eczema, autoimmune disease and type 1 diabetes.  So it is definitely worth looking into to see if milk and dairy are effecting your body!

 

Now I’m not saying you can’t eat dairy or milk!  It doesn’t bother some people!  But for those of us that it DOES bother….there are many options out there to lead a dairy free life!  As far as milk’s go….there’s almond, soy, cashew, lactaid, coconut, rice. Lots of options!  They also make dairy free frozen treats!  You should also stick with hard cheeses over soft cheeses.  Your body likes those much better!  There are also easier to digest forms of dairy like kefir, plain yogurt or Greek yogurt!  There are TONS of options!  I don’t ever feel like I’m missing out on anything!

 

So how about you?! Do you do dairy?!  If not…..What’s your favorite alternative?

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!