Even as a child, I always seemed to have a sweet tooth—so much so that my mother was constantly concerned that I would get diabetes, although it is not a disease that runs in my family. It turns out, however, that good genetics only go so far, especially if you mistreat your body. When I was born, type-2 diabetes was non-existent in children and adolescents. It wasn’t until the 1990s when it began being diagnosed in people under the age of 18—and even then it only accounted for three per cent of all cases of new-onset diabetes in children and adolescents. Today, however, type-2 diabetes accounts up to 50 per cent of new-onset diabetes cases in youth! Diabetes—along with other metabolic disorders—are running rampant. According to a report in the Australasian Medical Journal, India tops the list with more than 62 million diabetic individuals.

Fructose, the culprit

Typically our organs, like our liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lymphatic system and the skin, are designed to detoxify our body. When we’re healthy, our body functions normally and eliminates any harmful substances. However, if our system is overwhelmed—our body can’t perform all the necessary functions and instead stores these substances at harmful levels. This appears to be happening in the case of eating too much fructose, which is a type of sugar. Though it’s found naturally in foods like fruits and vegetables, it is being synthesised and turned into high-fructose corn syrup, which in turn can be found in sodas, juices, and other processed foods. The most important point about fructose is that it doesn’t get metabolised the same way that glucose does.

Glucose is a sugar that is utilised by all of the cells in our body. It is our basic form of energy. However, fructose, the sister carbohydrate, [which also happens to be 70 per cent sweeter than table sugar], bypasses the gut and goes straight to our livers. Some of it gets stored as glycogen, but some of it gets turned into triglycerides, which is a fancy term for fat. Too much of this can overload our livers, becoming a chronic liver toxin, and eventually lead to diseases like gout and non-alcoholic fatty liver. Once this happens, our body is negatively affected in many ways. As physician and pioneer of diabetic research, Wilfrid Oakley had said in 1962 in Transactions of the Medical Society of London, “Man may be the captain of his fate, but he is also the victim of his blood sugar.”

Your body is resilient

When your body doesn’t or can’t detoxify itself any longer, disease can set in. Our bodies are, however, intelligent and resilient systems. Even when they are burdened by poor diets, they can improve in relatively short periods of time by small diet changes. A 2015 study published in Obesity showed that metabolic syndrome can be improved in children simply by reducing fructose consumption and replacing it with healthier carbohydrates, keeping caloric intake more or less the same. The children saw improvements in their blood pressure, cholesterol readings and other aspects of health in just 10 days!

Though we should only be consuming six teaspoons of sugar daily according to the World Health Organisation, the typical American takes in 22 teaspoons of added sugar each day—which is well over three times the recommended limit! When we consume more than we should, changes in our body and mind can occur, sometimes without us consciously knowing what is happening. When I began to learn about this for myself, I decided to pay closer attention to what my body and mind was telling me. I learned that so much of what I had—from uncontrollable cravings to dips in energy throughout the day—was very much dictated by my excessive intake in sugar. As such, I began sharing this knowledge on my own personal site called sugardetox.me and sharing with others how to come to terms with one’s sweet tooth.

Signs that you need a sugar cleanse

Once you tune into your own body, you will begin to recognise clear signs that you may want to change your habits overall and give your body an additional cleanse, particularly from excessive sugars and carbohydrates. Some include the following:

You have uncontrollable cravings

Cravings—like the desire to eat a candy bar or a whole loaf of bread—are often caused by an imbalance in our blood sugar level, outside stressors, such as work stress or lack of sleep, and the “need” for a dopamine boost in the reward centres in our brain.

You have energy lulls

Cravings and energy lulls often go hand-in-hand. When we eat or drink something sugary, our body’s typical response is to tell the pancreas to release insulin to help take the sugar out of the bloodstream and shuttle to our organs. This is when our energy levels dip—compelling us to eat more sugar. If you are constantly facing low energy levels throughout the day, then you may need to make a lifestyle switch, and begin eating more nutrient-dense, non-sugary foods.

Mood swings

There are many causes of mood swings and it’s important to note that not all are diet induced. However, if you consume higher levels of caffeine or sugar, you may be more prone to mood swings. Reduce or eliminate your caffeine and added sugar intake if you’re seeking to create a more balanced mood.

Fogginess and mental cognition

Though research in humans is limited, various peer-reviewed studies in rats have shown how a diet steady in fructose slows the brain, hampers memory, impedes learning, and can even be a risk factor for dementia. In 2012, a team of scientists from UCLA documented the link between fructose intake and mental cognition. “Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. Findings show that reducing one’s intake of fructose and eating omega-3 fatty acids can help improve mental cognition.

As more research surfaces about the direct links that excessive sugar intake has on our health, we can expect more moves to not only reduce sugar in our own lives—but also more politically-charged initiatives which are beginning to surface around the world, such as voluntary reduction and mandatory labelling of sugar in processed foods, removal of sugary drinks on children’s menus, banning of sodas and sugary drinks in schools and hospitals, and even sugar taxes at city, state and national levels. According to some researchers, we may very well need to go that far—developing extensive and integrated approaches—in order to bring obesity and preventable metabolic diseases like diabetes back down to pre-epidemic levels. Whatever the case, it’s clear that changes start within an individual who is seeking to make a change.

The post Signs That You Are Eating Too Much Sugar appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Food was my friend, my saviour, my confidante. I ate when I was happy, sad, lonely, angry or bored. My eating had no connection whatsoever to being hungry or full. I don’t think that I have ever really experienced what being ‘full’ was. I was so disconnected from physical sensations that I no longer noticed them. My constant craving for food and overindulgence in it were also a way to ignore my emotions, ‘stuff the food, stuff the feelings’ was all too true in my case.

Did Genetics Cause My Addiction?

I was born at a time when parents wanted to prove that they could afford to feed their family, and feed them well—so I was a chubby baby. But as a child I was surprisingly skinny. I see photographs of myself back then and I’m shocked because I thought I have always been obese! My body dysmorphia [the belief that one’s body must be changed or hidden] began early and persists to this day. In a self-fulfilling prophecy the skinny child became the fat adult.

Was it because my mother’s mother lived through the Great Depression and World War II that food hoarding became routine? Was the desperation for food genetically passed from grandmother to mother to daughter? Or did I get it from my dad, because my father was raised in a residential boys’ home where meals were so meagre and brief that he learned to gulp food without pausing to chew?

Does it matter?

Past events might have formed me but as an adult, I realised that I am now responsible for whatever I put into my mouth.

My Life As An Addict

I treasure my intellect and usually approach life rationally. But no matter how many times I tried to deconstruct my food addiction and think my way out of it, I failed. I truly believe sugar and white flour are addicting, and when I ingest them I am in a crazed state of manic highs and crashing lows. In the midst of my addiction I am no longer a rational person, let alone a decent friend, a hard-working employee, a loving family member. I care more about my next mouthful than I ever cared about you.

Have you heard of someone break a tooth eating frozen food straight from the freezer, because you can’t wait to thaw it? Or do you know someone who has stolen a child’s holiday candy, then lied and told him he must have eaten it already? Is it rational to expect to find the answers to life problems in a refrigerator? No. It is not.

Changing My Relationship With Food

Therefore, to address my food addiction, I had to get clean first. Working with a therapist, or making list after list of food-related resolutions, proved worthless. Until I cut sugar and white flour from my life and flushed them from my system, I couldn’t begin to establish a new relationship with food.

I won’t lie—my first month was difficult. I ate so many vegetables that I thought I would turn green. I drank herbal tea non-stop and tripled the number of times I ran to the bathroom. I was sure I’d drop dead from malnutrition—but I didn’t.

I joined a support group of other like-minded food junkies. Doing this alone is a recipe for disaster. And, knowing that sugar is an additive in many pre-packaged foods, I started reading nutrition labels. Unless sugar [and her cousins sucrose, glucose, honey, etc.] were listed fifth or lower in the ingredients, I didn’t buy or eat it.

Feelings, which were previously stuffed down with the excess food, became overwhelming. I had to learn to feel my feelings, to truly experience sadness, loneliness, anger. Activities other than eating had to be mastered. Compulsive eating was no longer my go-to coping mechanism; so I had to find other coping skills.

The Big Changes Happen

Over time, amazing things have happened.  With sugar and white flour out of my system, the cravings have lessened. Like the volume of music on radio, I can dial down the cravings, so that food calls to me in a much quieter voice, making it far easier to resist. I no longer have afternoon energy crashes; because I eat complex carbohydrates instead of refined white flour, my blood sugar stays level without the spikes and slumps.

I am down 75 pounds and have remained that way for a dozen years. When winter comes, I am astonished that last year’s outfits still fit. Clothes wear out or become dated; I no longer own separate fat clothes and thin clothes.

My physician was stunned by the drop in my blood sugar and cholesterol levels. I was stunned at how much easier it became to exercise, take the stairs or even remain awake after a meal.

In Conclusion

I am a food addict, and I always will be. I can manage my addiction, but never cure it. The chubby baby still lives inside me, and always will. But I can learn to love her, rather than be embarrassed by her and to soothe her without using food. Though still glorious, food is now only food, and I can get out of the food and back into life.

This was first published in the March 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

The post How I Dialed Down My Cravings appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

It was a warm day in July, 2009 when I ran across my college parking lot to get my student ID. By the time I got to the library, I was out of breath and sweating. I gathered myself the best I could and decided I was ready for my picture. When they printed the picture, I looked at it and realised why I was STILL trying to catch my breath after 20 minutes. I WAS FAT!

Enough was enough

I decided that I was going to lose weight and get in shape. I was absolutely mortified that I had let myself get that out of control. I knew that if I really wanted to do this, I was going to have to do it my own way. If I wanted to change my weight, I had to change every aspect of my life; no fad diet or pill was going to give me the results that I wanted or needed.

The first thing I did was stop eating donuts. It might not sound like that big of a deal, but it was to me because that was my ‘go-to’ food. I ate a donut on the way to school at least twice a week. I cut out eating fast food and started walking. Then I started riding my bike. I replaced my diet cola with green tea. Before I knew it, I’d lost 30 pounds.

My body pain vanished

My foot, knee, hip, back and heart no longer hurt. Suddenly I thought, “Wow, I can do this! If I can lose 30, I can lose 50 because that’s only 20 more!” So I pushed myself a little bit harder, watched my diet a little closer. Fifty pounds was gone all too soon. At that point I was riding my bike 10 miles a day and I was walking five miles a day, everyday! Soon it was 60 pounds, then 70, finally 80! I had completely transformed my life! I weighed 268 lbs when I started this journey, I am down to 178. I used to squeeze into a 20W pants, if not a 22W.

I am HALF the woman I once was

I wear a pair of size 10 jeans now! I can wear a large shirt, something I haven’t done since I was in the 4th grade! I would ideally like to lose 20 more pounds, but I am perfectly happy with myself. I have come a long way and have completely changed everything about my life. I have relaxed on the exercise a little, but now I exercise to maintain a healthy weight rather than lose half of my butt!

I turn everything into something physical, my job requires a lot of physical activity, but I make myself do more. I do push-ups whenever I can. I will plop down and do sit-ups, do stretches while I wait for the mop bucket to fill, take the stairs every chance I get!

And jelly donuts? Here’s my trick with those… I will only allow myself to get red jelly donuts with pink frosting, and only from the gas station! Granted, I could drive to the bakery everyday and just get one, but that’s how I got fat! Now I work for it. It took me two weeks to satisfy my craving once, best donut I’ve ever tasted, but I didn’t feel guilty or fat after I was done!

The post How I won the battle with my bulge appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

For most people, cravings for sweet and sometimes starchy foods [such as bread and rice] are rooted in an imbalance in the levels of blood sugar. The cycle can start when you eat food that causes a considerable surge of sugar. In response to this, your body secretes copious quantities of insulin—the hormone chiefly responsible for lowering blood sugar levels. The problem is that a glut of insulin can cause blood sugar levels to plummet typically 2 – 3 hours later.

The sweet roller-coaster

When blood sugar levels drop to subnormal levels [referred to as hypoglycaemia], it’s natural for the body to crave foods that replenish sugar quickly into the bloodstream. It is this mechanism that normally triggers cravings for sweet foods. For some, it can trigger cravings for other foods as well including alcohol. Of course, consuming more of these can cause blood sugar levels to skyrocket again, only to come crashing down some time later. And so the cycle repeats.

The impact of this blood sugar ‘roller-coaster’ can be profound. Not only does it predispose us to unhealthy food cravings, it can also affect your mood. Low blood sugar can starve the brain of much-needed fuel and precipitate low mood, mood swings and anxiety. A lot of people who engage in comfort eating suffer from blood sugar imbalance. But when they eat in a way that stabilises blood sugar levels, their tendency to comfort eat reduces considerably and sometimes disappears altogether.

Peaks of blood sugar can be damaging too because surges of insulin drive fat into the body’s fat cells [insulin is fattening]. In particular, fat deposited in this way tends to accumulate in and around the abdomen—so-called abdominal obesity. It is this form of fat that is strongly linked with chronic conditions such as heart disease and type-2 diabetes.

Not only does the blood sugar ‘roller-coaster’ predispose us to unhealthy food cravings, it can also affect your mood

How to quell cravings

The key to quelling cravings and comfort eating is to eat in a way that stabilises blood sugar levels. This involves limiting those foods in the diet that tend to be disruptive for blood sugar. Foods with added sugar qualify here, but so do many starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potato, rice and breakfast cereals. Many of these ‘starchy staples’ are actually as or even more disruptive to blood sugar levels as table sugar. Plus, when we eat them, we tend to eat them in quantity, which increases the risk of significant disruption.

To combat cravings, scale back on the consumption of disruptive carbohydrates and emphasise foods that help ensure blood sugar stability. Increase your consumption of appropriate foods—meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, paneer and other cheeses, natural yoghurt, vegetables [like okra, spinach, cauliflower], beans and lentils. Basing the diet around these helps stabilise blood sugar levels. But what we eat is only part of the solution—when we eat is important too.

Imagine not eating all day only to eat a huge evening meal. Irrespective of what you eat, this pattern of eating won’t help blood sugar stability. To stabilise blood sugar levels, eat regularly. This means eating three meals a day, but some people benefit from eating healthy snacks in between. Going too long between eating can cause blood sugar levels to fall and really sharpen the appetite. Once hunger bites, it can be difficult to resist the very foods we know are not good for us. This will again destabilise blood sugar levels.

What we eat is only part of the solution—when we eat is important too

One time of the day when a healthy snack can have enormous value is in the late afternoon—to tide you over between lunch and dinner. Fruit is often recommended as the snack of choice, but I don’t rate it at all. First of all, fruit is quite sugary, and not necessarily an ideal food for blood sugar balance. But the other thing is that, for many people, fruit does not do a very effective job of sating the appetite.

Nuts make a much better snack. They actually help with blood sugar stability, and have quite powerful appetite-sating properties. Some people imagine that nuts are fattening and highly calorific. However, studies show that nuts do not promote weight gain, and often actually help lose weight. How can we explain this?

Well, to begin with, nuts are a satisfying food. This means we may not need to eat many of them to feel satisfied, and they may cause us to eat less of other foods later on too. Also, fat storage in the body is not simply down to the balance of calories going in and coming out of the body. The flow of fat into and out of fat cells is under hormonal control, and the key player here is the hormone insulin. Insulin is secreted most plentifully in response to carbohydrate and least in response to fat.

Nuts, being a naturally fat-rich, protein-rich and low-carbohydrate food, actually help temper hunger and insulin levels and therefore may actually assist weight loss.

Nuts help with blood sugar stability, and have quite powerful appetite-sating properties

Supplementary benefits

Blood-sugar balance depends on the supply of specific nutrients, the most important of which is the mineral chromium. Supplementing with this nutrient does seem to help stabilise blood-sugar levels and, importantly, can help to curb carb-cravings. In one study, overweight women treated with 1,000mcg of chromium per day saw their hunger [and food intake] fall significantly compared to women taking a placebo [inactive medication]. In another study, chromium supplementation was found to reduce carbohydrate cravings specifically.

Some supplements offer a blend of nutrients designed to help stabilise blood sugar. In addition to chromium, these often include magnesium and B-vitamins. Such a supplement, or even straight chromium, can be useful during the initial stages of transition to a lower-carbohydrate diet. Whether in combination with other nutrients or alone, I recommend 400mcg – 800mcg of chromium daily, spread out over 2 – 3 doses during the day.

Another natural agent that can help quell cravings is the amino acid glutamine. This nutrient provides ready fuel for the brain and in practice can extinguish carbohydrate cravings. I suggest buying glutamine as a powder and dissolving one teaspoon [about 4g] in about 500ml water.

Sip this liquid throughout the day, particularly between meals as food cravings are more likely to strike then. And, also because the body absorbs glutamine better on an empty stomach.

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