Make January A Sugar Free Month
Posted on 25 December 2009
Dr Olson has been kind enough to Guest Post on Zen to Fitness before, check out his great post over here………
He is now Pioneering to try and make more people go sugar free and experience a better lifestyle
Sugar Demons
Sugar does, at times, seem more like a demon than the fun and enjoyable treat that we so often associate with the white stuff. Demons are well-known to possess your thoughts, visit you at night, make you do things you wouldn’t do and make you regret your choices. By that definition, I think that sugar rightly qualifies as a demon.
All joking aside, sugar is now well understood as a very addictive substance, and as an addiction it comes with some pretty harsh consequences for our health.
You might agree that sugar is addictive, but you may not know just how addictive or how harmful that addiction can be. Let’s take a look and see what science is starting to show us about sugar:
- Sugar addiction: Animal studies show that sugar is every bit as addictive as cigarettes, alcohol and even drugs. If you understand that sugar is an addiction, you understand a lot of your behavior around the foods that you eat: bingeing, cravings, hoarding, obsession are all signs of addiction. If you have ever tried a diet, but couldn’t stick with it, or if you lost a lot of weight only to gain it back, you have your addiction to blame.
- Weight Gain: While medicine denies that there is an association, sugar leads directly to weight gain. It does this because eating sugar creates large spikes in blood sugar. Whenever your blood sugar is higher than the current needs of your body, your body will store the extra sugar as fat. This does not happen with other foods, like broccoli, meat, or even an apple.
- Insulin Insensitivity: Insulin insensitivity occurs when our cells become resistant to insulin. Both metabolic syndrome and diabetes are forms of insulin insensitivity. Your cells become resistant to insulin when there is constantly too much sugar in your blood stream. While even medical societies such as the American Diabetes Association deny the connection, sugar and foods that act like sugar are largely responsible for diabetes.
- Toxic: The most surprising thing I uncovered while researching Sugarettes, my book on sugar addiction, was that sugar is toxic to the blood vessels in the body. In the exact same way that cigarette smoke damages the lungs, sugar in the blood stream damages blood vessels. This damage is clearly seen in diabetics who have blood vessel damage in the form of heart disease, eye disease, kidney disease and more. The exact same damage occurs in people who aren’t diabetic but who eat sugar, only slower.
Join us in January
Breaking the sugar habit is not easy; but with the right support, you can succeed. Taking sugar out of your life means that you are taking steps towards a much healthier you and preventing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Taking the 30 Sugar Free Days Challenge is a step towards your better health. So join us in January for 30 days without sugar.
Comment by Chris
25 December 2009
Heyy!!
yeaa!! I’m joining this challenge! I had already set a personal goal of making January a very healthy month. I want to:
1. Limit my spendings on food.
2. Have a six pack by the end of the month (very doable, but requires me to be strict with my diet).
The first point is related to the second.. I sometimes get carried away and spend too much on food on the go and then lose track of my diet.
Thanks for posting inviting us to the challenge
Chris
Comment by Grok
26 December 2009
I’m on board, but I’ll start tomorrow.
Comment by Betsy Henry
26 December 2009
Sounds like a great idea! I’m all for it!
Comment by Don
26 December 2009
I have given up most addictions, alcohol, cigs, grass. But I have not been able to give up sugar. I’m going to give it a try. Wish me the best.
don
spiritnewsdaily.com
Comment by george
27 December 2009
I have downloaded the ebook……Here
BUT it advises you to eat APPLES – and they are very high in fructose and of all the fruits, should be avoided!
@ George: Although apple’s are high in fructose they still have a Low GI and relative low Carb content. And therefore can be included in a healthful diet rich in real food and low in refined sugar.
Comment by Joanna
28 December 2009
Hi great info! I have been pretty much off sugar for awhile now and the results are amazing. Not only do I feel fantastic I have dropped 5 dress sizes (of course i do workout as well) I have never had such low bodyfat. Also once you have been of it for awhile you stop craving it and it becomes easy and then just the smallest treat like a few squares of dark choc on wknds is all you can handle. The only sugar I do use (very little) is rapadura sugar its is completly unprocessed and still has all the goodness from the molases and aparently dosnt have the same insulin spike on your body. I fing raw honey and agave syrup fantastic for sweeting anything you like and great for you.
Good luck for anyone taking the challenge its the best thing you can do for yourself this year.
Comment by Micheal
29 December 2009
I’m all for it too. Started yesterday, and I’m lovin’ it.
Comment by Rodney
30 December 2009
I’ll be signing up tomorrow for the 30 day challenge. Sugar is the last of my demons (now that diet soda has disappeared from my diet this year) and though I can stop for shorter periods of time, now is the time to gain control for good. Hopefully a month will get me started on the right foot for a lifelong healthier diet.
Chris, I want to say thanks for keeping up this awesome blog! I suspect it takes lots of time and effort, and trust me it isn’t wasted! All the best for the coming year!
Comment by Kyle
3 January 2010
This post makes me very weary because very cell in the human body runs off of simple sugars. proteins,carbs and fats are all reduced to simple sugars (carbs) before the body can actually use them. To say that sugar is an addiction is a little misleading. We have sugar cravings because our bodies have not taken in enough simply sugar carbs during the course of the day. This is why we want to pig out of a loaf of bread or pizza or candy–they are very highly concentrated sugar and carbs so our body can “get a lot of bang for its buck”
I assume this post was targeted at refined sugars as per your picture of gumdrops which I DEFINITELY agree with. Cut all refined sugars out immediately. I just saw the comment about apples being bad though. fruits are one of the very few foods to which our digestive system is actually geared towards. They digest in under an hour and do not need to be converted to anything because they already are simple sugars.
Let’s just keep in mind that we’re talking about REFINED sugars here!
Comment by Leanne
4 January 2010
If you want a great Facebook support group for this month, become a fan and get daily support through this month of sugar free January. The page is titled Let’s make January sugar free