A Few Things To Consider When Planning Your Own 3 Day Sugar Detox:
- Breakfast should include about 35 grams of protein to help you feel full throughout the day.
- Include protein in every meal.
- Choose healthy proteins like eggs, poultry, fish, and beans.
- Limit red meat.
Health Benefits Of Reducing Sugar Intake
A few health benefits of reducing your sugar intake have been mentioned throughout this article so far, but lets do a quick round up of those benefits, and add a few more.
Slow And Steady Wins The Race But Not Always:
Proceed towards your goal gradually but with full determination. Tearing yourself away from the processed items in one swift motion can have negative outcomes instead of positive. There is no one proven way to delete sugar from the diet. Some people prefer to cut down their sugar intake slowly by replacing them with alternatives along the way.
Other fraction of people cut down their total sugar intake at the beginning of their detox period as they believe in the idea of all or nothing. So it depends upon your will and ability to get rid of sugar completely in the first step or gradually in a stepwise manner.
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How To Stabilize Blood Sugar
When you eat sugar, it signals your body to release insulin to bring glucose down to a healthy level. Extra glucose can be stored as glycogen, which is found mainly in your muscles and liver. But when theres no more room for glycogen, extra glucose is stored as fat.
There are other ways to keep your blood sugar healthy, so you dont need to use as much insulin, and your glucose doesnt get turned into fat.
One way is to follow a low sugar diet and reduce the amount of carbohydrates in your food. Ideally you wouldnt consume any added sugar at all. Stick with the fructose that comes in fruit, and only eat a small amount.
Another way is to eat complex carbs from whole food sources, like whole grains and sweet potatoes. Unlike simple carbs like sugar, complex carbohydrates take longer to digest. Glucose is released over a longer period of time, so your blood sugar doesnt spike. Complex carbs can also give you more energy for a longer period of time.
Finally, a great way to balance your blood sugar is to lower your stress level. Reducing stress will reduce cortisol, which in turn prevents spikes in blood sugar.
How Much Sugar Is Healthy
According to the World Health Organization , theres no nutritional reason to include added sugar in your diet. But if you do, the WHO suggests that a person with a healthy BMI consume no more than 25 grams of sugar per day. Thats 6 teaspoons.
Even if you follow a healthy diet, its possible that youre consuming way more than that.
Our sugar consumption has risen dramatically over the past 200 or so years. In 2005, Westerners consumed, on average, 152 pounds of sugar a year, compared to 6.3 pounds per year in 1822.
Part of that increase is due to lifestyle. Part is due to the amount of sugar included in basically all processed foods and drinks. And part is because a lot of people dont know how ubiquitous sugar is. Its included in products youd never imagine, like dressings and sauces. One brand of popular pasta sauce has more sugar in one serving than two Oreo cookies!
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Eat Lots Of Leafy Greens Protein And Healthy Fats
Kale, collard greens, and spinach are your best friends right now. They will help alkalize the body and give you a high dose of nutrients like Vitamins K, C, and A, which are stored in the liver, one of the bodys major detox organs. Theyre also chock full of fiber, necessary to keep you full when youre cutting carbs and flushing sugar out of your system.
Of course, those antioxidant-packed greens are important, but youll also need to up your protein and healthy fat consumption . Since youre eating fewer carbs when you remove sugar from your body, youll need those other key macronutrients to fill you up. Out of all the macros, protein keeps you satiated for the longest, and then healthy fats like omega-3s help slow digestion, making sure you feel fuller for longer.
How Long Should You Detox From Sugar
This will depend on your personal goals. Just need a reset after too much indulgence? 5 days is fine.
However, if like mine, your relationship with sugar has become a habit or physical addiction, 30 days is a good start. Many people find that it takes about a month to break a habit, however, other research suggests it may take much longer. Furthermore, to break a habit, one must replace it with another behavior.
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How To Detox From Caffeine Sugar And White Flour In 7 Days
Caffeine, sugar, and white flour are substances that interfere with your metabolism and brain health and the ones people usually have the most trouble giving up and getting out of their systems. I recommend eliminating these items from your diet in a systematic way with a detox. This may help you avoid potential withdrawal symptoms, make you feel better, and jumpstart the process to better brain function and overall health. Follow the steps below to help make the transition as simple and painless as possible.
Eat This: Drainage Vs Detox
The meaning of the word detoxify, according to Merrium Webster, is to remove a harmful substance or the effect of such and to render harmless.
In my circles, a detox is usually seen more as removing foods and drinks from your daily diet for a period of time with the view that it will cleanse your body. Whats interesting is that when someone puts themselves on a detox diet or a cleanse, theyre all of a sudden eating healthier than they usually are. The daily glass of wine or beer is gone, the sugar, coffee and whatever is seen as not healthy is taken out. Just like that. And then the headaches start, and body aches and overall blah feeling, to boot. But really, the process of detoxification in the body relies on your liver, kidneys, urinary system, skin, lymph system, lungs that take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide and of course, the digestive system. Have you ever been constipated? That means youre not detoxifying. Getting whats not needed out of the body happens every moment of every day.
So today on EAT THIS with Lianne Detox vs. Drainage, and an in-depth look into how to help your body get rid of what it doesnt need. And, of course, how not load it up in the first place.
Thank you Jason for such an in-depth journey of ideally what our bodies need to be doing for health and the tips on how we can best support that. Make sure to listen to the episode to hear him!
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What Is Sugar Exactly
Sugar comes in many different forms. Four of the most common are:
- High fructose corn syrup
Fructose is a natural sugar found in fruits and veggies but consuming too much can still be bad for your health. It would be hard to over consume fructose from eating fruits and vegetables alone, but it is often used as an added sugar in processed foods. The only organ in your body that can break down fructose is the liver. It turns fructose into triglycerides , free radicals , and uric acid .
Sucrose is white table sugar. This is the stuff that many Americans sprinkle on cereal and what is added to baked goods, ice cream, and most processed foods. Sucrose is composed of a mixture of glucose and fructose. The glucose gets sent to your bloodstream, causing a spike in blood sugar, while the fructose is sent to your liver to be metabolized.
High fructose corn syrup is made from cornstarch. Like sucrose, its about 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Theres debate whether its worse for you than sucrose, but theres yet to be enough evidence to support any conclusion. Regardless, HFCS isnt healthier than table sugar and certainly isnt a good substitute.
Glucose is your bodys primary source of energy. You dont need to consume glucose by eating the right foods, your body creates glucose for you. Having too much glucose in your system causes your blood sugar to rise, possibly to unhealthy levels. Having too little in your blood can also be unhealthy.
Best Foods For A Natural Detox
Theres no single miracle food that will help your organs detox your blood. An overall healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables is a great start.
The following foods in particular have been shown to positively affect the liver and kidneys ability to cleanse and filter out waste and toxins from the blood:
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A Candy Hangover Is Real
Just ask any elementary school teacher. Adults feel the effects even more. Consuming large amounts of sugar in a short amount of time can cause rapid changes in blood glucose levels. This can lead to headaches, nausea, dizziness, fuzzy thinking, general malaise, and dreaded mood swings.
Here are five simple things you can do to help ease your candy hangover.
Quit Soda & Drink More Water
One of the best ways to kickstart your sugar detox is to quit your soda habit. Replace regular soda and diet soda with sparkling water, unsweetened herbal tea, and plain water.
Regular soda has anywhere from 20-48 grams of sugar per eight-ounce serving . Diet sodas arent necessarily a great alternative to regular sodas, though, since scientists think there are some health risks with diet sodas too.
Instead of consuming soda or any type of sugar-sweetened beverage, its probably best to switch to hydrating beverages like water. Water is essential for so many reasons, but it is also very much tied to our detoxification system.
You can make water more interesting by adding lemon slices, cucumber slices, or try sparkling mineral water. Check out these recipes for Lemon Cinnamon Water or Cucumber Ginger Lemon Water.
If you want something even more nutritious and hydrating, try a homemade sugar-free juice like Celery Juice, Beet Juice, or Celery Cucumber Juice.
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If Youre Ready To See The Positive Changes Youve Been Craving Join Me In Breaking The Sugar Cycle And Jump
I cant stop singing the praises of Shelly Roses 25 sugar cleanse. Her food as medicine approach will change your relationship with how you eat, truly.
Not only was I able to shop the periphery of the grocery store without wandering into processed land with ease, but Shellys tips and recipes made getting healthier one of the most satisfying and delicious months of eating to date. You can do this!
Suzanne R.
My family has decided we are only eating real food from now on. Shelly said in the beginning that we would learn to taste the different flavors and I wasnt sure what that meant. But, boy, do I get it now!
This has been an eye opener and a life saver for me and my whole family. Thank you for educating us! I have lost 6.5 lbs. Many more to go but I know now what I really need to do! Thanks to everyone for the great recipes and encouragement!
Cindy M.
I actually havent gone back to the old way of eating, other than occasionally enjoying something with honey or maple syrup in it, and eating barley toast. I cant believe how great I feel, how well I sleep, and how clear my mind is.
Bethany S.
I always had a hunch that I liked my sugar too much to be good for my health. I was working out regularly and trying to eat healthy but having looked into different diets, I had never really stuck with anything.
Anika H.
Jennifer S.
Bisola O.
Andrea W.
Deborah G.
Suzanne R.Anne Bethany S.
Day #: Sip On Lemon Water
On Day one of the five-day sugar detox, start with one of the easiest things you can do.sip on some lemon water! Hydrating is key to moving toxins out of your body, and when youre stuck in a sugar coma, its one of the best things to do to help clear all that sugar out. All you have to do is start your day with a tall 12-ounce glass of water with some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Drink that first thing, even before your morning cup of joe. The lemon will help alkalinize your body and get your bodys natural detox juices flowing.
Heads up-our bodies detox on their own. But, sometimes we can use a little extra boost. By hydrating, and adding some lemon to your water, you can help give your body that extra push it needs to start flushing out all the sugary junk.
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Add Lemon Cayenne And Vinegar To Your Water
For a great homemade morning drink, consider mixing up his cleansing drink that is a boost to your digestive system. Just fill a large glass with water and add the juice of half a lemon, ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Drinking this daily before breakfast will boost your energy levels and knock out toxins from your organs for better health all day long.
Understanding Why You Crave Sugar
Sugar activates the reward center of your brain. Every time you eat sweets, your body releases serotonin and dopamine. These hormones make you feel good in the same way anti-depressants, cigarettes, alcohol, and heroin do.
So why doesnt broccoli trip this reward system as well? Well, healthy meals do in fact trigger dopamine, but the levels are lower and trail off much faster than when you consume sugar. Its the long-acting effect of sugar that has us seeking out the next sweet high versus broccoli high.
The more sugar you consume, the more it blunts your brains reward system. Like any addict, it takes increasingly higher doses to achieve the same lasting high another reason why you dont crave broccoli a broccoli high is nothing compared to a sugar high.
Constant activation of this system leads to a loss of control to say no when sweets are in front of you. Even if you could muster the strength to walk away, cravings will follow suit. The lesson here is that cravings are not about will-power and motivation. Cravings are about your brain chemistry.
So the trick is to re-train your brain to crave broccoli and other good-for-you things.
This is how you do it.
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Common Misconceptions About Detoxing
Detox diets are said to eliminate toxins from your body, improve health, and promote weight loss.
They often involve the use of laxatives, diuretics, vitamins, minerals, teas, and other foods thought to have detoxing properties.
The term toxin in the context of detox diets is loosely defined. It typically includes pollutants, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals, and processed foods, which can negatively affect health.
However, popular detox diets rarely identify the specific toxins they aim to remove or the mechanism by which they supposedly eliminate them.
Moreover, no evidence supports the use of these diets for toxin elimination or sustainable weight loss .
Your body has a sophisticated way of eliminating toxins that involves the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs.
Still, only when these organs are healthy can they effectively eliminate unwanted substances.
So while detox diets dont do anything that your body cant naturally do on its own, you can optimize your bodys natural detoxification system.
Summary
While detox diets have a seductive appeal, your body is fully equipped to handle toxins and other unwanted substances.
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