Why is sugar so bad for you? It’s not that sugar is bad for you, it’s that large amounts of sugar is bad for you. Sugar is one of the primary energy sources for our bodies, but too much is also toxic. This is why it’s so important to give up sugar.
Our bodies are amazing machines that prioritize homeostasis. Homeostasis is your body’s way of maintaining an equal balance between your many different systems. So when there’s too much or too little sugar in your bloodstream your body makes adjustments to keep it at the optimal level.
When carbohydrates including sugar (super-refined carbohydrates) enter our bodies, we release the hormone insulin that tells our cells to open so they can be “fed.” When the cells are “full” our body sends sugar to our liver and fat cells for future use. Your liver can only store about 100 grams or 400 calories of glucose (sugar), so when your liver has reached its maximum capacity all the rest goes to your fat cells. If you’re constantly feeding your fat cells, you’ll keep accumulating it and won’t burn it.
Not only does sugar cause weight gain it’s also linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer which are all GREAT reasons to minimize your sugar intake.
If you want to reduce your risk of disease, stop storing extra sugar as fat. Want to also start burning existing body fat for energy? Try these.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy? Try these!
1. Eat Earth Grown Foods
Earth-grown foods are just what they sound like- fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. They’re also known as whole foods.
Looks like our moms and grandmothers were right when they told us to eat our fruits and veggies. What they didn’t (or mine at least) tell us was that some are better for us than others.
Eating earth-grown foods is a must if you’re going to improve your health and give up sugar!
Fruits
Fruits are naturally high in sugar (and why they taste so good). To reduce sugar consumption stay away from mangoes, grapes, cherries, and other high sugary fruits. Some lower sugar options are raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, kiwis, grapefruit, and avocados (yup, fruit not veggie).
Vegetables
Try eating these low-carbohydrate vegetables that are also high in vitamins and minerals: broccoli, spinach, cucumber, and tomatoes. Avoid eating vegetables that grow underground such as beets, carrots, and potatoes (sorry that includes sweet potatoes). These tend to be high in carbohydrates and break down into simple sugars which are readily available to your body and spike your blood sugar. Corn is another vegetable that should be avoided when trying to decrease your sugar intake.
High Protein and High Fat Foods
Beef and other meats are high in protein and fat. They leave you feeling full and satiated distracting your brain from craving the quick hunger fix that sugar provides.
Protein has been shown to decrease food cravings and leads to eating less frequently. Eating less frequently with lower food cravings helps you avoid going for those sugary snacks.
All meat is not created equal. When buying beef and chicken try to buy grass-fed, hormone-free, free-range, and other healthy options.
When buying fish, wild caught is usually the healthiest and sustainable option.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy.
2. Avoid Processed Foods
Processed foods are everywhere in the Standard American Diet (SAD). Heavily processed foods usually contain a lot of sugar. Sometimes it can be really tricky (deceiving) when it comes to sugar because it goes by many different names.
Avoid foods with the following ingredients to reduce sugar intake:
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Galactose
- Glucose
- Lactose
- Maltose
- Sucrose
These are all sugars with different chemical compositions. Don’t want to try to remember all of them? Then look out for ingredients that end in OSE. Food manufactures don’t want you to give sugar up so they try to “disguise” it.
When looking at food labels, make sure you look at the label for sugars, carbohydrates (simple and complex sugars), and the ingredient names. Try to stay away from food that has sugar (or ose) in the top three ingredients. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ingredients are listed in “order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed by those in descending order…”
Avoiding processed foods is a lot easier said than done in our fast-paced, instant gratification world that we live in. However, a little preparation in your own kitchen goes a long way.
Try preparing easy simple 3-5 ingredient recipes like salads with low carbohydrate mix-ins such as cucumber, tomatoes, avocados, nuts, and seeds. Chicken breasts are very versatile and can be cooked in many different ways so you don’t get tired of them.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy.
3. Eat Dark Chocolate
As you give up sugar, you’ll notice that the less sugar you eat the more sensitive you become to sweetness. Once your taste buds have “detoxed” from sugar you’ll notice that sugary sweets are too sweet and don’t even taste good.
If you haven’t tried giving up your “sweet tooth” yet, you may be a little skeptical. If so, try a little experimenting with dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate comes in different percentages of Cacao. Cacao is the raw bean that has been processed at low temperatures leaving the good stuff such as enzymes, minerals, and nutrients. The higher the percentage the less sweet and the more bitter.
Start with a 60-70 % Cacao, and it shouldn’t be that bitter to you. Eat at most one square a day. Once that’s gone, buy chocolate with 70-80 % dark chocolate increase a little bit at a time until you get to a point where you can’t tolerate any more. I tried 100% Cacao once and just couldn’t do it, but I’m up to 92%.
After maximizing your cacao percentage you’ll probably start to not enjoy other sweets because they will taste too sweet.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy.
4. Drink Water
When you fill up with water, you are less likely to reach for sugary snacks and drinks. Sure, you can drink a diet soda with 0 grams of sugar, but the sugar is replaced with chemicals that are worse for you. They also trick your brain into thinking you’re eating sugar, so you’re still keeping your taste buds in a high sugar-loving state.
We all know we need to drink more water. It’s most commonly recommended to drink half your body weight in ounces per day. So if you weigh 140 lbs, you should drink 70 ounces of water a day.
Drinking too much water can also cause you to flush vitamins and minerals out of your body. If you drink a lot of water you should take an electrolyte supplement to retain the good stuff. Drinking Springwater is better than drinking purified water because it contains minerals that purified water is lacking.
If you want a little flavor in your water try adding a “splash” of fruit juice, cucumber, or mint.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy.
5. Make Your House “Sugar Free”
This may seem like a “no brainer,” but we don’t always think of the obvious when we’re at the grocery store (especially when you’re hungry). Sugar free in this context means no sugar which includes sugar subsitutes.
It’s amazing how much sugar is in so many foods which is one of the reasons sugar is so hard to give up. Even things we would never think of such as granola, yogurt, “healthy waters,” and especially sports drinks. Some Gatorade has as much as 36 grams (8.5 tsp) sugar in a bottle. Can you imagine putting 8.5 teaspoons of sugar in your iced tea or anything else?
If it’s not there then you can’t eat it. I know it’s easier said than done for many reasons including family members who love their sugary foods and snacks. Treat it like anything else you are trying to give up- “out of sight, out of mind.”
Unfortunately, this doesn’t help when you’re out of the house, but this strategy should help you reduce your overall sugar intake.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy.
You Got This!
I know it’s not easy to give up sugar, but if you implement these 5 steps you not only will reduce your risk of disease, you’ll start burning fat for energy.
Significantly reducing your sugar intake is one of the 4 pillars of our High Energy-Low Carb Lifestyle Program that teaches your body to burn existing body fat instead of storing it.
Let me know in the comments if, and how you’ve given up sugar, or any additional advice you may have for the community.
Click HERE to get your FREE LOW CARBOHYDRATE- HIGH ENERGY STARTER KIT and start burning fat instead of sugar for energy.
