The No Sugar Diet: How to Lose 5 Lbs in Just 7 Days by Cutting Out Sugar From Your Diet
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Table of Contents: 1. The Confessions of a 30 Year Sugar Addict 2. Why is Sugar Added to Just About Everything? 3. Why Sugar is So Damaging 4. How Removing Sugar Helps You Lose Weight 5. A Fourteen Day Plan to Remove Sugar from Your Diet 6. Fruits and Their Sugar Content 7. Herbs, Spices and Miscellaneous Foods that Lower Blood Sugar Response 8. Supplements to Lower Blood Sugar Response from meals 9. The Seven Day Eating Plan without Added Sugar 10.Why Not Just Use Artificial Sweeteners 11.Two Natural Sweeteners as Alternatives to Sugar 12.Final Thoughts
The Confessions of a 30 Year Sugar Addict Ever since I was a kid, for as long as I can remember, sugar seemed to form a large part of my diet. I seemed to be allowed to eat as much sugary food as I wanted and looking back that probably wasn’t the best choice that my parents made. As a kid I remember being allowed to eat as many sweets as I wanted and washed down with Pepsi or Coca-Cola. I knew I was addicted to both of these drinks but I just couldn’t help it. The more I drank of them the more I wanted to drink them. By the time I was a teenager I was hooked on all kinds of sugar and was happy to add it in to anything and everything. Heck, I remember making sugar sandwiches round a friend’s house one day!! I went through the last 30 years of my life addicted to sugar and not being able to drink coffee unless it had four sugars in it. All of this sugar had caused severe dental problems with my teeth constantly needing attention each time I visited the dentist. It seemed like I needed at least one filling each time I the dentist said “open wide”. The reason that I’m sharing this with you is so that you’re fully aware of how bad my addiction was and for the length of time I’ve suffered it. I want you to know that what you’re reading isn’t some theoretical diet plan made up by someone who just did a lot of research in to how bad sugar is. What you’re about to read has been written from the personal experience of a sugar addict who’s suffered from that addiction for more than 30 years until one day, aged 40 years old, I decided to say enough is enough! Being 40 years old and 42 pounds overweight with energy levels that mimicked a rollercoaster I knew I had to do something to change the current situation. What I didn’t realize is that simply by removing all of the added sugar from my diet in just one week I’d turn my life around. Who’d have known
that an everyday ingredient like granulated sugar could be responsible for such a large impact on a person’s life?
Why is Sugar Added to Just About Everything? It’s a question that’s asked by so many people because they simply accept that sugar is an everyday part of their diet. After all it’s in just about every processed food available, so if it’s so harmful to us why would it be used in so many food products? Sugar is often used to sweeten foods that are marketed as ‘low fat’. Often when you remove the fat from foods it doesn’t taste the same so food manufacturers add in extra sugar to compensate for the taste while still being able to claim ‘low fat’ on the food labels. Things like yogurts are notorious for having hidden sugar in them just so the label can state ‘low fat’ or ‘fat free’. Chocolate bars are another example of why sugar is added in to a product. Chocolate is a naturally bitter tasting product but to make them more palatable the manufacturer adds in a large amount of sugar to sweeten the taste. Where ever you turn it appears that sugar is added to the vast majority of manufactured foods today and you’re so bombarded with them it seems impossible to avoid them. But it’s actually easier than you think and your best weapon is knowledge!
Why Sugar is So Damaging Consumption of processed foods (which are laced with sugar) cost the American public more than $54 billion in dental bills each year, so the dental industry reaps huge profits from the programmed addiction of the public to sugar products. Today we have a nation that is addicted to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup. To add more horrors to these facts there are some people that use no sweets and some who use much less than the average figure, which means that there is a percentage of the population that consume a great deal more refined sugar than their body weight. The human body cannot tolerate this large amount of refined carbohydrates. The vital organs in the body are actually damaged by this gross intake of sugar. Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no fats, no enzymes, only empty calories. What happens when you eat a refined carbohydrate like sugar? Your body must borrow vital nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the incomplete food. Calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to make use of the sugar. Many times, so much calcium is used to neutralize the effects of sugar that the bones become osteoporotic due to the withdrawn calcium. Likewise, the teeth are affected and they lose their components until decay occurs and hastens their loss. Refined sugar is void of all nutrients, consequently it causes the body to deplete its own stores of various vitamins, minerals and enzymes. If sugar consumption is continued, an over-acid condition results, and more minerals are needed from deep in the body to correct the imbalance. If the body is lacking the nutrients used to metabolize sugar, it will not be able to properly handle and rid itself of the poisonous residues. These wastes accumulate through the brain and nervous system, which speeds
up cellular death. The bloodstream becomes over-loaded with waste products and symptoms of carbonic poisoning result. Sugar also makes the blood very thick and sticky, inhibiting much of the blood flow into the minute capillaries that supply our gums and teeth with vital nutrients. Therefore, we wind up with diseased gums and starving teeth. America and England, the two largest sugar consumers, have horrendous dental problems. In 1948, a $57,000 ten-year study was awarded to Harvard University by the Sugar Research Foundation to find out how sugar causes cavities in teeth and how to prevent it. In 1958, Time magazine reported the findings, which were reported in the Dental Association Journal. They discovered there was no way to prevent the problem and their funding immediately disappeared. Diabetes is another commonly known disease caused by sugar as well as a high fat diet. Diabetes is caused by the failure of the pancreas to produce adequate insulin when the blood sugar rises. A concentrated amount of sugar introduced into the system sends the body into shock from the rapid rise in the blood sugar level. The pancreas eventually wears out from overwork and diabetes then rears its ugly head. Hypoglycemia occurs when the pancreas overreacts to the large amount of sugar in the blood and releases too much insulin leaving one with the "tired" feeling as the blood sugar level becomes lower than it should be. "A recent article in the British Medical Journal, entitled The Sweet Road to Gallstones, reported that refined sugar may be one of the major dietary risk factors in gallstone disease. Gallstones are composed of fats and calcium. Sugar can upset all of the minerals, and one of the minerals, calcium, can become toxic or nonfunctioning, depositing itself anywhere in the body, including the gallbladder.
Sugar, especially fructose and sucrose, increase insulin levels, while decreasing your body’s ability to effectively counteract that rise in blood sugar. This is a major cause of degenerative diseases.
Sugar in excess also weakens or paralyzes the immune system, making you more susceptible to infectious disease, or complications of minor diseases. For example, that minor cold can become the flu, pneumonia or bronchitis—and in some cases deadly if you are elderly and in frail health.
The average American eating a stereotypical Standard American Diet consumes 2.5 pounds of sugar a WEEK. And when you think about adding in the other processed foods such as white or wheat bread, pasta, pastries, and all the refined carbohydrates, which turn into sugar in the body, it’s no wonder there is such a huge increase in diabetes.
Could it be that sugar is THAT bad? In a word…YES!
Let’s define what we are talking about when we say ‘sugar’. We usually think of sugar as the white stuff that sits in cute little bowls on our tables, or in those little packets at restaurants. The truth is there are many different types of sugars and our bodies do not react to all of them in the same way.
“High fructose corn syrup” is the form of sugar that you see on virtually every label of processed or packaged foods, or in most soft drinks. There are many other forms of sugar but for now, let’s concentrate on the two most often consumed sugars, sucrose and fructose.
Regular white table sugar (and brown sugar) is called 'sucrose'. Sucrose is composed of one molecule of glucose bonded to a molecule of fructose. So, that makes sucrose about 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Fructose is 2x sweeter than glucose. Since table sugar is half fructose, it is lots sweeter than starches in potatoes, bread or other carbs that also turn into glucose in the body.
The more fructose in any type of sugar, the sweeter it is.
High fructose corn syrup is approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose (but can vary higher in fructose content based on type). So that makes it sweeter than regular table sugar. The harmful effects of sugar have to do with the way your body metabolizes the fructose portion of the sugar. For instance, if we eat 100 calories of starchy foods like pasta or potatoes (which is converted to glucose in the body) or 100 calories of sugar (remember basically 50/50% of glucose and fructose), they are metabolized differently and have a different effect in your body.
This is key:
• Fructose is metabolized by our livers. • Glucose from sugar and starches is metabolized in our cells. Why does this matter? Consuming cane sugar or HFCS causes your liver to work very hard to process the fructose. If that sugar comes in a liquid form like soda or fruit juice, the fructose hits your system instantly and causes your liver to go into overdrive in an attempt to process it. And the fructose in High Fructose Corn Syrup hits your liver even faster than regular cane sugar because the fructose is not bound to the glucose in it. So your liver gets a massive shot of fructose faster!
When fructose is ingested quickly in larger quantities, the liver converts it to fat. The fat becomes a substance called triglycerides, a key contributor to heart disease. Some of these triglycerides float around in your bloodstream and get stored as fat on your body.
However, excess fat is also stored in the liver. Ever hear of ‘fatty liver disease’? When the liver starts storing excess amounts of fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome follow, and not far behind then, is type 2 diabetes.
The result—accelerated aging, chronic disease and sometimes, eventually death—all from excess sugar.
Some other ways fructose accelerates aging and disease:
• Fructose elevates uric acid, which not only leads to high blood pressure, but also chronic, low-level inflammation which can affect virtually every system in your body to speed up aging and multiple chronic diseases. Ever heard of gout? This is a painful form of arthritis in which the uric acid forms crystals on joints, mainly in the feet and hands. • Fructose tricks your body into gaining weight by turning off your body's appetite- control system. Consuming foods containing fructose actually makes you hungrier, by confusing your hormones. You don’t feel full when you should, so you keep eating. • Fructose quickly and easily leads to weight gain and abdominal obesity (yes, this is where the dreaded "belly fat" comes from), decreased HDL (good cholesterol), increased LDL (bad cholesterol), elevated triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and high blood pressure, which leads to metabolic syndrome. And of course, it can continue straight to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. In 1980, only about 1 in 7 Americans were obese, and about 6 million people had diabetes—it was not nearly as much of a common disease as today. Today, 1 in 3 Americans are obese, and 19 million Americans have diabetes, according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet (2011).
Another seven million people are estimated to have undiagnosed diabetes. That’s 26 million people! Add to that another 79 million people with ‘pre-diabetes’.
That’s staggering!! That combined number is approximately 100 million people with diabetes or pre-diabetes in the United States. That’s one third of the population!
Diabetes leads directly to premature aging (including wrinkly, saggy skin) and more serious complications including:
• Heart disease and strokes • High blood pressure • Blindness • Kidney disease • Nervous system disease (neuropathy) • Amputations of extremities We know that one of the most accurate predictors of heart disease and diabetes is a condition called ‘metabolic syndrome’. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) at least 75 million Americans have metabolic syndrome, and probably many more have it but have not yet been diagnosed.
What is metabolic syndrome? It means your body has become resistant to insulin, among other issues. Normally when you eat carbs or sugar, blood sugar goes up, insulin is then released to counter the rise in blood sugar, and blood sugar goes back to a normal level.
If your diet is high in sugars and starchy foods, your body is continually pumping out insulin to lower your blood sugar. Eventually your cells stop responding to insulin, and your pancreas cannot create enough insulin in response to the demand, and it becomes exhausted. Blood sugar levels begin rise out of control, and stay constantly high, until you end up with type 2 diabetes.
Add one more deadly disease that is tied directly to sugar and insulin— Cancer.
According to World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer: Your chances of getting cancer are much higher if you are obese, diabetic or insulin resistant.
What’s the connection? Sugar.
And, your chances of dying from a form of malignant cancer are way higher if your diet is high in sugar. Cancer researchers now know that the problem with insulin resistance and cancer is that as we secrete more insulin, we also secrete a related hormone known as ‘insulin-like growth factor’, and the insulin encourages bigger tumor growth.
Craig Thompson, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, says many human cancers depend on insulin for fuel to grow and multiply. Some cancers develop mutations that actually feed off the insulin, and other cancers just take advantage of the elevated blood sugar and insulin levels from those with metabolic syndrome, obesity or type 2 diabetes.
Many of the pre-cancerous cells would never acquire the mutations that transform them into malignant tumors if they weren’t being driven by insulin to take up more and more blood sugar and metabolize it.
How Removing Sugar Helps You Lose Weight I wouldn’t have believed it myself until the day I cut out all additional sugar from my diet but after the first seven days of doing so I dropped more than five pounds in body weight. I didn’t switch to low fat alternatives, I didn’t go hungry and I didn’t do any exercise at all yet I still lost five and half pounds which were most noticeable around the belly area. I weighed 186 pounds the first day that I decided to cut out sugar and seven days later that had dropped to just over 180 pounds. Seven days later of continuing the same routine and my body weight had dropped by another 4 pounds. It was staggering to see such a dramatic and sudden weight loss which was due simply to cutting out the added sugar from my diet. After the second week I started to exercise and concentrated on building muscle so I could no longer judge my progress simply by weighing myself each week. I knew that although I was losing body fat I would also gain muscle mass and because muscle weighs three times more than fat weighing myself would no longer give a clear indication of my progress. Instead I just used a mirror to see how my body was changing shape. It was unbelievable at how quickly my body changed shape and this was simply by cutting out all sugars that had been added in to foods. So what causes this weight loss simply by giving sugar the elbow? Well, on its own, white granulated sugar doesn’t actually contain that many calories. A level teaspoon contains just 16 calories which isn’t a lot but it’s the fact that sugar is usually accompanied by other things which add to our waist line such as refined starches which include white flour,
white bread, white pasta, white rice and cereals that contain little to no fiber. If you take the typical shortbread recipe you’ll find it consists of 350 g flour plus 100 g white sugar plus 250 g butter. In 100 grams of cooked shortbread is 29 grams of fat, 12 grams of sugar and 65 grams and starch. If you choose to cut out foods that have sugar as an added ingredient then you’ll automatically cut out all the fat and starch that comes with it. And this is why weight loss becomes so much easier. No lollies, chocolate biscuits, cupcakes, fizzy drinks etc. means you're removing "junk food" that is high in calories, of poor nutritional value, comes in huge portions, is highly refined with added colors, flavors and preservatives. These are all the things that we know are bad for us yet we seem unable to avoid or resist them. When you quit sugar you're cutting out foods nutritionists have always said you shouldn't eat.
A Fourteen Day Plan to Remove Sugar from Your Diet As I mentioned earlier in this book, removing sugar from your diet will cause weight loss in the first seven days but here is a fourteen day plan to help you get prepared. The first seven days are all about planning and educating yourself about the hidden sugar in foods. Knowledge is everything and knowing ‘what’ to avoid and ‘why’ makes it so much easier to achieve your goals. So, in the first week you need to decide that you no longer need sugar in your diet and this means accepting that if you currently drink fizzy drinks you’ll no longer drink them. The same applies to things like milk chocolate. You need to be ready to make that commitment and know
that you can see out the first seven days of actually cutting out the extra sugar from your diet.
Week one: Decide that you’re going to kick sugar out of your life and that it’s no longer going to be a main staple of your diet. Educate yourself on what sugar is, where it comes from and how your body reacts to it. Start to examine every single food item that you buy. Become aware of what’s in your food simply by reading the ingredients list on the label. Once you’ve had time to absorb this information it’s time to head to the store where you buy your food from and as you walk around keep in mind all the foods that you know contain sugar. At this point it will seem like 90% of the food in the store contains sugar and this is a realization. This is your awakening. Trust me, it will open your eyes and you’ll see things very differently when you enter the supermarket to do some food shopping. On a side note, what still really bugs me is that when you first enter the store you come to the fresh fruit, veg and salad section. You’re surrounded by the best foods that nature offers and those that can provide just about all the vitamins, nutrients and minerals that your body needs. This is the healthiest section of the any supermarket and food store BUT in this section you’ll find things like cakes, biscuits, chocolate desserts and other sugar laden foods to tempt you. Seriously, you just have to ask “why”. Why would these kind of foods be in this section and placed in such a way that they invite impulse purchases if they’re so unhealthy? When was the last time you walked down the crisps isle or the biscuit isle and found a selection of fruit positioned to catch your eye in the hope of causing an impulse buy? Think about why this is.
Week One Takeaway: Knowledge is everything and especially so when it comes to knowing what’s in the food you’re eating and how your body responds to these things. You can’t take for granted that the food in the packaging is healthy just because the label says so. Everything that you need to know about the food inside the packaging is on the label but it comes down to how much know about the individual ingredients that makes the difference. Empower yourself during the first seven days as you prepare to remove the added sugar from your diet. Using the internet you can easily research the things that you’re unsure about. Learn all you can about different food ingredients but don’t get overwhelmed by it all. As an example you probably already know that brown bread is better for you than white and brown rice is better for you than white rice but do you know why? Do you know why there is a difference between brown and white rice or brown and white flour? Seriously, do an online search to find out because it will take just three minutes of your time but you’re then educated for life. There are many great resources online that can provide you with all of the answers you’re looking for and they’ll do a much better job of explaining things than I can do here in this section of the book.
Week two: Now you’re ready to start. For the past week you’ve intensely scrutinized the food labels to see what contains sugar, you’ve decided that you have to cut down on the amount of sugar that’s in your diet and you’ve done some online research to better understand how your body responds to sugar.
At this point if you don’t think you can drink tea or coffee without sugar then, for now, just stop drinking it. It’s one of the easiest things to do to cut down on the amount of sugar entering your body. The same applies to fizzy drinks too. Have you ever tried flavored water? I don’t mean the expensive bottled water from the shops. You can buy a home water purifier that fits in the door of your fridge and fill it with regular tap water. To flavor it all you need to do it add just a little juice from any fresh fruit. To do this with strawberries you simply mash a couple of washed strawberries in a bowl using the back of a spoon and then pass that through a fine sieve. What you get is the sweet juices from the strawberry that you simply add to your filtered water. Add just enough to flavor the water. Try it with a little lemon juice. Add just a little juice at a time just so that you can taste it slightly. You’ll be amazed at how receptive your taste buds become when you remove sugar from your diet and lemon water has many great health benefits too. I make it a part of my daily fluid intake. When you go food shopping you have to make conscious choices and take a look at the label of everything you buy in the first week. Once you know what you can and can’t buy it becomes second nature to you when you’re food shopping. Here’s the trick to avoiding hidden sugar in food; check the part of the label that says “Carbohydrates from sugar”. Apart from the actual list of ingredients, this is the biggest indication of how much sugar is in the food you’re buying. In the first week I never bothered checking the number of calories or the fat content of food, I just focused on the list of ingredients used to make the food and how many grams of carbohydrates were made up of sugar. I didn’t buy any foods where sugar was mentioned in the first five main ingredients. This on its own will remove so many foods from your diet that you could just stick to that rule and you’ll lose weight (as long as you don’t eat to excess).
The next thing I checked was to see how many grams of the carbohydrates were made up from sugar. If a food has 50 grams of carbs but 45 grams of those are made up from sugar then you’re basically just eating sugar disguised as carbs. Always check the “carbohydrates from sugar” section of the food label because it’s one of the best indicators of the hidden sugars in food.
Week two takeaway: Congratulations, for the past seven days you’ve not added extra sugar in to your diet and that has taken dedication and will power. Your body has started to adjust to the changes in your diet and thanking you for it too. But don’t stop now because you’ve already proved to yourself that you can do this and your body hasn’t stopped functioning because of it. I appreciate that there may be times when you really do want something that tastes sweet and it’s ok to have these feelings but you don’t need to hit the sugary foods. Instead I’d like to introduce you to your new secret sweet weapon.
Drum roll please…….. FRUIT!
Ooh yeah, fruit, that food stuff that nature has grown forever. Some fruits were my absolute savior when I wanted the taste of something sweet but didn’t want the refined sugar in my diet but it is absolutely vital that you EAT the fruit and don’t blend it in a juicer for a drink. I cringe at the sound of someone saying, “I’m on a juice diet where I only drink fruit juices that I made at home in my new $400 juicer machine.” Honestly, the worst thing you can do to any fruit is to juice it if you’re trying to minimize the amount of sugar you consume. When you eat any
fruit your body has to digest the flesh of the fruit and your stomach can send signals when it’s had enough to eat and you get that “full” feeling which makes you stop eating. That’s how it’s meant to work. The problem when you juice fruit is twofold; 1) You can drink the juice of 10 oranges and NOT feel full 2) The sugar in the fruit is not is liquid form and hits your body MUCH faster compared to what it would have done if you’d have eaten that fruit. When you chew any fruit you’re giving your body time to deal with the contents of that fruit. Your digestive system can break it down in to the sugars and fibre etc which it can easily deal with but when you juice the fruit in to liquid form it changes everything. The obvious change is that you won’t feel full at all so you’ll feel like eating something soon afterwards. The other change is that the sugar content of the fruit is no separated from the fibre so it can enter the bloodstream much faster than if you’d eaten the fruit. This doesn’t give your body adequate time to deal with and process the sugar in the fruit and you end up with a huge sugar rush. As an experiment try this; Juice 10 small oranges and drink the juice from them. The next day set out the same amount of oranges, peel them and then try to eat them in one sitting. If after eating 5 of the oranges and you feel full or that you can’t quite eat the other 5 think about how your body had to deal with the sugar from those oranges the day before. Fruits and Their Sugar Content Here’s a list of fruit categorized as being low, medium and high in sugar. Yes, all fruit contains sugar but the sugar in fruit is naturally occurring rather than the refined type that’s added to foods just to make them taste better.
Fruits Lowest in Sugar Rhubarb Raspberries Blackberries Cranberries Fruits Low to Medium in Sugar Strawberries Casaba Melon Papaya Watermelon Peaches Nectarines Blueberries Cantaloupes Honeydew melons Apples Apricots Grapefruit
Fruits Fairly High in Sugar Plums Oranges Kiwifruit Pears Pineapple
Fruits Very High in Sugar Tangerines Cherries Grapes Pomegranates Mangos Figs Bananas Dried Fruit, such as dates, raisins, dried apricots, and prunes
The aim of this type of diet/lifestyle is to remove foods that have had sugar added to them to improve their taste or flavor. This includes foods that are processed and, along with the added sugar, usually have other hidden things in them which will do your health and body no favors at all. If you went back to a time when there were no processed foods and we simply ate things that were grown from the earth then it would be a very different picture from what we see today. When you look at it like this you suddenly realize what a highly processed diet we have now. However, there is nothing stopping you from living that lifestyle choice today and it is a choice you can make. Unfortunately, today, we tend to live such hectic lives and always seem to have very little time to get everything done in a day that we have become reliant upon processed foods as a convenience. And that’s probably one of the biggest reasons that the western diet has become what it is today. OK, by this stage of the plan you should already be able to see measurable weight loss and be feeling better.
You may have had your highs and lows and felt sluggish at times but you’ve made it seven days without having all that extra sugar in your diet. Your body will be adapting to the new changes and thanking you for it too. I remember on my eighth day eating a banana and thinking how incredibly sweet it tasted. Then everything started to taste sweet, sweeter than it had ever tasted before. It was amazing. The natural sweetness of this food had been suppressed simply because of how much extra sugar I’d been adding to my diet for the past 30 years.
Herbs, Spices and Miscellaneous Foods that Lower Blood Sugar Response Many herbs and spices have been found to be as powerful as some medications in lowering and stabilizing blood sugar. But if you are on medication, always check with your physician to be sure adding spices will not interfere with your current prescription.
Cinnamon – Studies have shown that cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar stability with as little as a ½ teaspoon per day. When cinnamon was taken for 40 days, moderate doses of it (1 to 6 grams per day) actually reduced blood sugar levels by 18-29%, according to a study published in 2003 in the medical journal Diabetes Care. Best type of cinnamon to use—Saigon cinnamon. Add a half teaspoon or so of cinnamon to your daily cup of coffee as a tasty way to enjoy the blood sugar controlling benefits!
Cloves – This spice contains powerful antioxidants, including anthocyanins and phenolic compounds. Cloves have antiseptic and
germicidal properties, and they offer anti- inflammatory, analgesic and digestive health benefits. Clove oil can even be used to for pain relief from toothaches, headaches, and as a remedy for cough and even indigestion.
Cilantro and Coriander – The leaves of the cilantro plant are used in many foods, as well as its seeds (coriander). In Europe, coriander is often referred to as an "anti-diabetic" plant. Coriander is known to stimulate the secretion of insulin and lower blood sugar. It also has very beneficial effects on the cholesterol, lowering the LDL and raising the good cholesterol, HDL.
Cumin – Like cinnamon, cumin keeps blood sugar levels stable. Cumin has been proven to work as well as some commonly used diabetic drugs at regulating insulin and glycogen. Cumin is also effective at stimulating pancreatic enzymes, which help in digestion of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
Fenugreek – Fenugreek seeds help with lowering blood sugar levels, particularly after meals. The active components of fenugreek are trigonelline, and 4-hydroxyisoleucine. These ingredients seem to stimulate insulin directly. This reaction is dependent upon high glucose levels, so it may not act in the same manner in lower blood sugar levels.
Ginseng – American ginseng contains a substance called, ginsengosides. Researchers have found that ginseng slows carbohydrate absorption, increases cells’ ability to use glucose, and stimulates insulin secretion in the pancreas. Studies done at the University of Toronto showed that ginseng capsules can lower blood glucose 15-20%.
Sage - This herb contains phytosterols that, according to German study on this herb reduced blood sugar levels in diabetics who drank
infusions of this herb. It is often used to flavor meat and soup dishes, but can also be drunk as tea.
Turmeric - Turmeric has properties of being able to block enzymes that
change carbohydrates into glucose, thereby lowering blood sugar. One of the active ingredients in turmeric is curcumin, which induces the flow of bile, and in turn breaks down fats. I like to add turmeric to my eggs a couple times a week whenever I make scrambled eggs. And eating a curry dish a few times a month is not only tasty, but very healthy! I also take a couple capsules a day of pure turmeric to get a little extra since it’s not a spice that we cook with daily.
Lemon Juice - Studies show that as little as 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice in a glass of water lowered blood sugar levels by as much as 20%. The effects appear to be related to the acids, as it is know that other acids can also have a blood sugar lowering effect. Acidity in food slows the natural rate of stomach emptying, resulting in a longer time for carbohydrates to be absorbed. I like to squeeze a couple lemon slices in my unsweetened iced tea throughout the day or in water with a meal.
Supplements to Lower Blood Sugar Response from meals Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) – This super powerful antioxidant helps to control blood sugar levels and increase insulin sensitivity. Studies showed alpha lipoic acid rejuvenates and replaces damaged and aging, which are the powerhouses and generators of energy within our cells. ALA is especially known to raise glutathione levels, (one of the body’s most protective antioxidant and detoxification compounds) to those of a younger person. It also acts as a strong anti-inflammatory agent, which helps prevent many degenerative diseases. ALA also improves body composition and lean muscle mass, glucose tolerance, and energy. ALA is thought to be a very promising treatment for obesity and diabetes type 2.
Magnesium – It is thought that 80% or more of the populations of civilized countries have a magnesium deficiency, and this can worsen the effects of high blood sugar and insulin resistance. Some studies show supplementing with magnesium helps with carbohydrate metabolism, improves insulin sensitivity, and lowers blood sugar levels, while it helps the body perform at least 300 different necessary enzymatic functions in the body. Magnesium also reduces the fasting blood sugar number in diabetics.
Chromium - This trace mineral is thought to enhance the action of insulin as well as being involved in carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism. Some research shows that it helps normalize blood sugar if there is a chromium deficiency.
Vanadium - This mineral is found in low concentrations in foods like mushrooms, shellfish and some spices like black pepper, parsley, and dill weed. As reported by the University of Maryland Medical Center, studies suggest that vanadium may reduce blood-sugar levels and improve sensitivity to insulin in people with type 2 diabetes.
Zinc - The mineral zinc helps the production and storage of insulin. People who eat a vegan or vegetarian diet (especially those who eat a lot of soy) tend to have zinc deficiencies. Foods that have zinc include fresh oysters, ginger root, lamb, pecans, split peas, egg yolk, beef liver, lima beans, almonds, walnuts, sardines, chicken and buckwheat
The Seven Day Meal Plan without Added Sugar Here is a seven day meal plan that you can use to help you cut out all added sugar from your diet. This is the exact same meal plan that I followed for the first seven days of giving up sugar from diet. Remember, I was a 40 year old man who was overweight by 42lbs and had been a sugar addict for the past 30 years. If I can do this then anyone can do it. I never felt hungry when following this eating plan as it allows you to eat 5 times a day which is great. Day one. Breakfast: 1 Banana, 2 handfuls of cashew nuts. Mid-Morning: A small bowl of grapes Lunch: 2 eggs scrambled on two slices of brown bread with margarine spread. Dinner: Two steamed chicken breasts, two small baked sweet potatoes plus steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Evening: Two brown rolls filled with fresh mixed salad. Day two. Breakfast: Grilled bacon with poached eggs on two slices of brown bread toasted. Mid-Morning: Greek style yoghurt with blueberries and some chopped almonds. Lunch: 2 brown rolls with sliced ham, mixed salad and salad cream. Dinner: Oven baked salmon fillet with lots of mixed veg steamed. 5 small new potatoes boiled. 1 Banana. Evening: A large bowl of mixed steamed veg with a little butter. Day three.
Breakfast: Greek style yoghurt with chopped almonds, chopped dried apricots and cashews. Mid-Morning: Smoothie made from full fat milk, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Lunch: Chicken salad dressed with a little extra virgin olive oil. Dinner: Steak with a large amount of fresh veg that was steamed. Evening: 2 brown rolls with sliced ham and mixed salad. Day four. Breakfast: Omelet with various veggies Mid-Morning: 2 brown rolls filled with chicken and mixed salad Lunch: Stir-Fried Pork with Broccoli and Cashews Dinner: Grilled salmon fillet with steamed mixed veg and spinach Evening: Greek style yoghurt with chopped almonds and cashews Day five. Breakfast: Wholegrain bagel with peanut butter. About 6 strawberries. Mid-Morning: Bowl of green and black grapes. Lunch: Tuna sandwich using brown bread with fresh mixed salad. 1 banana. Dinner: Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry With Peanut Sauce. 2 pears, washed well with the skin left on. Evening: A large bowl of mixed steamed veg with a little butter. Day six. Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled on 2 slices of brown bread. Mid-Morning: Bowl of green and black grapes.
Lunch: Wholemeal wrap filled with chicken, mixed salad and a little mayonnaise. Dinner: Prawn stir-fry using egg noodles, packet of veggies for stir-fry, cooked prawns and a peanut stir-fry sauce. Evening: Greek style yogurt with a handful of chopped almonds. Day seven. Breakfast: Bacon and mushrooms on 2 slices of brown bread toasted. Mid-Morning: Brown pita bread with mixed salad with some sliced ham. Lunch: Good quality burger in a brown bun with any salad of your choice. Dinner: Baked salmon, small baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Evening: Bowl of mixed, fresh, steamed veggies Make sure that you’re drinking plenty of water each day as this will also stop you from feeling hungry. Don’t forget that you can also drink milk but don’t go for fruit juices all the time. While fruit is very good for you it still contains sugar and when you drink fruit juice you’re making it very easy for your body to quickly absorb the sugar in it. You’re much better to eat the actual fruit and drink a glass of water with it. By eating the flesh of the fruit your body has to break it down which means the sugar enters your system at a slower rate. Plus you’ll get the extra fiber that’s contained in the flesh of the fruit. The above meal plan is also packed with foods that will keep you feeling fuller for longer without giving you any sugar spikes that can cause cravings a few hours later. If you are tempted to snack then always head for the fresh fruit and refer to the list of fruits that are I mentioned earlier in this book. Any of the low to medium sugar fruits should cure your temptation for something sweet.
I found that bananas were my savior but I stuck to eating small ones so as not to take on too much sugar. Of course there are many other snacks that you can eat because it’s just added sugar that you’re trying to remove from your diet. You may be surprised to know that salted pretzels, the hard, baked version that are packaged in the same way as potato chips (crisps) are very low in sugar. In a 1oz (28.4 gram) serving there are 108 calories, less than 1 gram of fat, 23 grams of carbohydrate but only 0.8 grams are from sugar. It’s worth checking out snacks such as these because it feels like less of a diet when you can eat things like these. Remember, you’re cutting out added sugar from your diet so you can still eat a packet of potato chips without feeling guilty.
Why Not Just Use Artificial Sweeteners? Personally I’ve never been too keen on the thought of an artificial sweetener that’s been designed by a chemical company from different compounds in a lab. Call me a skeptic but the idea of this just doesn’t fill me with confidence that it’s going to be safe to consume. Below are four of the most popular artificial sweeteners that are used in foods today. You can decide what you think about them after reading the next section. Aspartame Aspartame contains: Phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. There are many reported side effects associated with Aspartame including; irritable bowel syndrome, depression, headaches, anxiety, brain tumors, weight gain, heart palpitations, arthritis and vision problems. Both Phenylalanine and aspartic acid can directly affect functions of the brain and central nervous system. Evidence points to the fact that they play a role in mood disorders, memory problems and other neurological illnesses. Methanol is converted in to formaldehyde when metabolized. Although the makers of methanol say that it, and its by products, are quickly excreted research has found measurable amounts of formaldehyde in the kidneys, livers and brains of test subjects after ingestion of aspartame. Acesulfame-K Acesulfame-K is a potassium salt containing methylene chloride, a known carcinogen. Reported side effects: Long term exposure to methylene chloride can cause nausea, headaches, mood problems, impairment of the liver and kidneys, problems with eyesight and possibly cancer. Acesulfame-K may contribute to hypoglemica.
Concerns: Of all artificial sweeteners, acesulfame-K has undergone the least scientific scrutiny. Early studies showed a potential link between the sweetener and development of multiple cancers in laboratory animals. Sucralose What's in it: Sucralose is a synthetic additive created by chlorinating sugar. Manufacturers say the chlorine in sucralose is no different from that in table salt. Fact: the chemical structure of the chlorine in sucralose is almost the same as that in the now-banned pesticide DDT. Reported side effects: Head and muscle aches, stomach cramps and diarrhea, bladder issues, skin irritation, dizziness and inflammation. Concerns: Research has shown sucralose can cause shrinking of the thymus gland, an important immune system regulator, and liver and kidney dysfunction. A recent study by Duke University found sucralose reduces healthy intestinal bacteria, which are needed for proper digestion and can impact the effectiveness of prescription and other drugs. Saccharin What's in it: Saccharin is a sulfa-based sweetener; its primary ingredient is benzoic sulfimide. Reported side effects: For those with sulfa allergies, saccharin may cause nausea, diarrhea, skin problems or other allergy-related symptoms. Concerns: Early safety studies of saccharin showed the sweetener caused bladder cancer in rats. The FDA recently lifted the requirement that saccharin be labeled as a probable carcinogen on food packaging. The link between saccharin and bladder cancer has contributed to saccharin being the most investigated of all artificial sweeteners. To date, no connection between saccharin and bladder cancer in humans has been proven.
Switching out artificial sweeteners for all-natural, low-sugar substitutes is a smart option; you just might feel better. There are a number of all-natural, low-sugar substitutes that you could use instead and maybe avoid the diet fizzy drinks, or any food, that contains any type of artificial sweetener as well.
Two Natural Sweeteners as Alternatives to Sugar Stevia Stevia is a natural sweetener made from the leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni), which is native to Paraguay, and mostly grown there and in Brazil. Steviol glycosides are high intensity sweeteners, 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose, and comes in liquid or powder form. It has no calories, contains no sugar or carbohydrates and boasts a glycemic index of 0, making it attractive to dieters. Stevia comes from the stevia plant and has been added to Sprite lemonade by Coca-Cola Until a few years ago, stevia was mainly known among industry insiders, but as such an attractive sweetener, it is a growth ingredient. The EU law passed a law in 2011 allowing stevia to be used in food and drink, and between 2008-2012 there was a global 400% increase in stevia product launches, according to Mintel. Most notably this year Coca-Cola has added stevia extract to its Sprite lemon-lime drink - cutting 30% of the calories previously from sugar. "Europe is experiencing phenomenal growth and is now a key market driver for stevia. It accounted for a quarter (25%) of global new product launches containing stevia in 2012, up from just 4% in 2011," says David Turner, global food and drink analyst at Mintel. "The number of new products coming to market in Europe is up, and interest seems high, but in some categories companies have struggled to turn that into real commercial success. "However, that may be about to change. In the UK for example we are seeing strong sales for products that use stevia in combination with sugar to provide great tasting, low calorie food and drink." So what is it being added to? Mostly non-alcoholic beverages - which were 31% of the global products launched in 2012.
Mintel says 26% of new stevia products were snacks, 13% natural tabletop sweeteners and 7% were dairy products.
Coconut palm sugar Produced from the sap of the coconut palm's flower buds, coconut palm sugar has a glycaemic index rating of 35, much lower than refined sugar. It has also been found to contain amino acids, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron and B vitamins. "Honestly Healthy" chef Natasha Corrett and "Guilt-Free Gourmet" chef Jordan Bourke like to use coconut palm sugar as a substitute for refined sugars in their baking. "Anything that comes from nature doesn't quite affect your blood sugars in the same way," says Jordan Bourke. "Coconut palm sugar's higher in b minerals and it's great in sweet baking whatever it is, and by using it, it's not quite as bad for you." It can be used in the same ration as refined table sugar in recipes.
Final Thoughts If someone had told me that after 30 years of being so totally addicted to sugar that I’d be able to just give it all up in the blink of an eye I would have called them ‘crazy’. I honestly thought that they’d be no way I’d ever be able to cut out all the extra sugar simply because I loved the taste of sugar in everything. But here I am, I did it and so can you. It’s much easier than you think it is and I really would urge you to at least give it a try. Even if you do it for just one day to try it and then you’ll see how easy it is. Your body will thank you for it and your health will improve as soon as you kick out all that extra sugar that your body doesn’t need and can’t handle very well. Educating yourself about the dangers of sugar and the adverse effects that it has on your body is one of the best things you can do with your time. Yes, it’s true that 90% of foods that are high in sugar are aggressively marketed to us on a daily basis but once you realize just how bad sugar is you will see all of these adverts in a very different light. You’ve taken the first step by buying and reading this book. You already know that you need to cut out the extra sugar from your diet so you’re now halfway there and this is the time to take action and do it. I know that you can do this, you know it too.
Disclaimer: For legal reasons I have to include the following disclaimer but do not let this detract from the fact that the information contained in this book details the exact same method that I have personally used to cut out sugar from my diet and led me to lose the weight that I mentioned. All information contained within this book is intended for educational purposes. Any health, diet or exercise advice is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment. If you think you have any type of medical condition you must seek professional advice even if you believe it may be due to diet, food or exercise. Weightlossforall.com is not a medical institute and therefore none of its staff will give any diagnosis or medical advice. By reading this book you are agreeing that you understand this. The information in this book is not intended for people under 18 years, pregnant or breast feeding women, underweight individuals or people with eating disorders or any health condition that requires a special diet. Therefore the author, publisher or and owners cannot be held responsible for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies published. It is advised that you check the information provided in this book with a professional source. The owners, distributors and any participants disclaim all liability or loss in conjunction with any content provided here. We disclaim any liability for products or services recommended within this book including defective products or direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, arising out of the use or the inability to use the materials/information published or products sold on this site. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED PRACTITIONER BEFORE USING ANY DIETARY, EXERCISE OR HEALTH ADVICE FROM THIS BOOK!
