Is sugar Killing you?

Is Sugar Killing You?

Sugar has been likened to cocaine for its addictive nature and if you’re like me and enjoy the odd chocolate bar or glass of wine, and struggle with weight around your belly and ‘love handle’ area then sugar could be having a negative affect on you!

I took a few tests in the past and found that sugar was a huge problem for me so most of my diet is lower carb and higher in fats and protein.

Do you suffer from any of the following:

Brain fog and forgetfulness

Headaches

Irritability

Fatigue

Trouble sleeping at night and having no energy on waking

Craving sugary foods

Skin conditions - spots, dry skin

fungal infections including thrush

Feeling low - maybe even depressed

If so, then you may need to cut out the white stuff for a while!

However it’s not all in the form of sugar that need to be addressed, but other foods that convert to sugars in the body very quickly, white flour, milk, white pasta and white rice to name a few. Choosing lower fat options such as skimmed milk or low fat yoghurt may also contribute because the lower the fat content the higher natural sugars there generally is which creates a bigger insulin response within the body. This means that if you're blood sugars are regularly spiking and dropping you may be hungry a lot, crave sugary foods and feel lethargic all the time. With excess sugars becomes yeast, the breeding ground for bacteria, meaning that you might find you have skin issues and suffer from thrush.

In time, with a diet of white bread, pasta and sugars it could lead to diabetes, metabolic issues such as an underachieve thyroid and further health issues.

The reason to cut out sugar, wheat flour and milk are the following:

sugar is obvious as it’s creating havoc within our body – this also includes other forms of sugar as in sucrose, fructose (natural fructose in fruit), honey, agave nectar and so on, if you believe sugar may be having an adverse affect on your health then it may be wise to limit fruit intake too, choosing lower GI fruits such as berries may help.

All white flour and products containing it: this causes a quick sugar response within the body and your body produces insulin to reduce the blood sugars, however, if your body starts to become insulin resistant then those sugars will convert to fat and generally lay stores.

As well as stress from foods eaten, there’s also the stress from lack of sleep and also during times of stress, money hardships, work troubles, relationship troubles, etc. When we become stressed our body releases adrenalin for the ‘flight or flight’ mode, it also releases glucagon (to increase blood sugars for energy to handle the situation). However if you don’t do anything to burn that energy released then your body will lay down more fat stores with the excess sugars in the blood.

If you believe this might be a problem you're having trouble with, the main priority is cutting out the sugar, wheat flour and milk too as the lactose in milk converts to sugar VERY quick. Other things to consider cutting out for a period of time would be alcohol and fruits that convert to sugar quickly. It's best to do your own research too - look at low GI foods for example and start adding them to your diet.

If you've been drinking lots of tea or coffee for energy throughout the day, it might be worth cutting this out and replacing with green tea, the caffeine in tea and coffee could be adding further stress to the overworked adrenal glands (those responsible for making adrenalin), after a few days of tiredness, this will lift and you will be sleeping better and feeling less stressed.

Choose good fats and good quality protein as these fill you up and help to curb those sugar cravings, this means that the body can repair quicker as protein is your building blocks for repair and regrowth within the body. It might also be worth considering additional food supplements to the diet to support a healthy eating regime such as a multivitamin and pre/pro biotic (to support healthy gut flora).

What's the best type of exercise to help with this?

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and strength training to increase the muscles and basal metabolic rate. Other things to consider would be some form of relaxation such as yoga, deep breathing exercises and nature walks - especially if you're stressed and wired.

Give it a try for the next 28 days - cut out all sugars from the diet and come back to me and tell me how you're feeling.

Have a great week,

Love Debbie