Resolution You Need to Make: Quitting or Reducing Sugar!

Don’t get me wrong, I know that you’re trying to eat healthier and avoid processed food, but while you might think you’re not eating much sugar, chances are you’re eating a lot more than you realize.

A team from the University of North Carolina conducted a detailed survey of the packaged foods and drinks that are purchased in American grocery stores and found that 60 percent of them include some form of added sugar.

Your average American will eat about 17 teaspoons of added sugar a day, and that’s not even including the sugars that occur naturally in foods like fruit or dairy. This is around double the recommended limit for men and triple the limit for women. For children, the limit should only be three teaspoons of added sugar at most.

The average American consumes almost 152 pounds of sugar in one year. And the worst part is, you may be in this statistic without even being conscious of it.

Now, even if you’re a generally a very healthy person, who cooks your own meals, but struggles to say “no” when faced with a cookie or other sugary treats. This means sugars addictive hold is still over you and you still need to address your relationship with sugar.

Yes, sugar is addictive!

Sugar is even more addictive than cocaine. Yeah, you read that right.

A study in 2007 found that 94% of rats tested would rather choose artificially sweetened water over cocaine (after being sensitized to the drug). Just think about that for a second!

Sugar fires up dopamine and lights up your brain in the same manner as drugs, and there’s gotta be a problem with that – especially given the issues that come with high sugar consumption, problems I have had first hand experience with. I used to have a full-blown sugar addiction – I was in really bad shape, both physically and mentally – so I certainly know the signs of an unhealthy relationship with the stuff.

The same goes for sugary junky foods; junk food is addictive in the same way that heroin or cocaine is addictive too.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that high sugar, high glycemic foods are just as addictive as table sugar.

David Ludwig and his colleagues at Harvard, conducted a study showing that foods that raise blood sugar even more than table sugar such as white flour, white potatoes and refined starch, have a high glycemic index, and trigger a region in the brain “nucleus accumbens” which is the area in the brain that is ground zero for a drug abuse addiction.

Basically, foods that spike your blood sugar are addictive. The don’t even have to be traditional ‘sweets’. That means when I’m talking about reducing sugar… I’m also referring to junk foods that raise your blood sugar levels, like fries, chips, white breads, white pasta, burgers, etc.

Cutting down on sugar (and junk foods) isn’t going to be about fads, dieting or deprivation, there is no calorie counting. It’s about creating a master health for your body and in fact, once you stop eating sugar and junk foods, and break its addictive pulls, you’ll actually crave healthier and wholesome foods intuitively.

Sugar is everywhere… and is the main cog in your wheel standing between you and living your most vibrant best life this new year.

If you want to live a healthier, more vibrant life, full of vibrant wellness or even if your goal is only to lose weight, reducing junk food and sugar in your diet is the quickest way to get there.

There are so many other reasons why you should avoid sugar, but hopefully, you see with just these few powerful reasons the true harmful consequences of a diet high in sugar and junk food.

Are you resolving to make this year the start of your healthiest best life?

Then taking on sugar and junk foods in your diet is the last New Year’s health resolution you might ever need to make!

However, the first question you probably have is: where do I begin?

The sugar and junk food addiction and struggle is everywhere and is a mine field of traps to avoid. I’m now going to share with you the best ways, trips and tricks and facts you need to know to successfully achieve reducing or completely removing junk and sugary foods and drinks systemically from your diet.

How to Start Your Reduced-Sugar Diet

1. What Is Sugar? What’s The Difference Between Table Sugar, Glucose, and Fructose? Does Fruit Count as Sugar?

Before you can get started with reducing sugar in your diet, you first need to understand what sugar exactly is.

When I’m talking about avoiding sugar and sweeteners here, yes, I’m referring to even the “healthy” ones like coconut sugar, agave, molasses. I even recommend heavily limiting honey (unless you have insulin issues in which I recommend no honey at all).

Whether it’s white sugar, honey, agave, or corn syrup, they’re all processed like sugar in your body, spiking your blood sugar levels.

The reason why I do allow some honey (only if it’s unprocessed – raw) unlike agave or molasses is that raw honey’s health benefits can outweigh the blood sugar level spike if consumed in moderation. If you’re a regular person with a stable well-being a teaspoon of raw honey twice a week is good for your health, because of the powerful minerals found in it.

Also, most importantly as I talked about earlier a no-sugar or low sugar diet, should be cut out refined carb like white flour, and refined starches should be avoided, because they too are addictive and toxic to the blood sugar levels – like sugar.

Basically what we want to be doing here is reducing high blood sugar level spiking foods and drinks in their entirety. You’re looking to receive only natural sugar from natural whole foods like fruit, veggies, non-processed carbs like beans and whole wheat, and dairy, like milk.

Sugar & Fruit Consumption:

Although eating whole fruits is healthy (as long as you try to stay within the daily recommendation for fruit; about five servings), the same isn’t true for fruit-based drinks and snack foods like fruit juice and dried fruit.

These fruit snacks and drinks usually contain way more fruit than if you ate them whole (leading the sugar content to increase), are easy to overeat and can contain sneakily hidden added processed sugars.

Sugar & Sweeteners:

You’ll also want to avoid most processed artificial sweeteners (sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol, etc) as they’ve been known to produce excessive bloating and gas, and have been shown to increase cravings for sugar.

If you’re looking for another alternative, your best bet will be getting your sweet fix from your daily servings of fruit, or using unmixed pure natural stevia or monk fruit.

2. Clear Your Pantry of Sugar and Junk Foods

If you want to have a successful sugar free diet, low-sugar diet, or just general ‘clean eating’ non-diet diet, then you’ll really want to scan through your pantry and kitchen, and take stock of how much sugar or hidden sugar is hiding in plain sight!

You may actually be shocked about how much hidden processed sugar has crept into your everyday eating and drinking, despite your best intentions.

Sugar and junk food ingredients are hiding everywhere in your everyday essentials. So it’s time to embrace the spring cleaning bug early and create an immune system boosting, sugar free, and super healthy pantry.

3. Eat The Right Foods