The primary ingredient responsible for being overweight and for obesity, in general, is sugar, together with fats and carbohydrates. But here, we are not thinking about a reasonable amount of sugar, since this is not dangerous for our health. A lot of people are not even aware that they consume great sugar amounts, by eating various products that can be found in stores including cereals, sodas, salad dressings, drinks, candies, yogurts etc. These products usually accumulate excessive amounts of sugar in the body. You can find simple carbohydrates in foods, like raisins, honey, natural fruit juices, bananas, and mangoes. Our organism is built to quickly use the sugars, usually as a quick source of energy. This process of the body raises the levels of blood sugar, and we are all aware that this has harmful effects on the health. But, even more dangerous – the excessive sugar amounts create issues in the intake of nutrients.
The excessive consumption of sugar has many symptoms and side-effects such as the following: hyperactivity and consequent fatigue, depressive moods, yeast infections, colds, headaches, sinus problems, disorientation, and sleeplessness. Also, chronic overconsumption sugar increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes and sometimes breast cancer.
Sugar Consumption vs. Weight gain?
When we eat consume a lot of sugar, the body transforms the sugar it needs into energy. This is the tricky part – the body accumulates the rest as body fat. The added sugars in various foods don’t cause the same effect on our body like natural sugars. If you eat such products, they can cause bacteria in the bowels, which in turn may increase the level of blood sugar. And this kind of sugar is also transformed into fat! We can all recognize sugar addicts. When people consume a lot of sugar, the body proceeds to accumulate unnecessary fat on their waist, hips, face, and thighs.
Quit Sugar!
Quitting sugar is a rather difficult task. Some experts say that it’s virtually impossible to quit or stop the addition of sugar if you don’t stop consuming it completely. Many people try to exclude sugar from the diets, and they usually experience symptoms including headaches, sadness, queasiness, cravings, and fatigue. If someone has a sugar addiction, these symptoms appear after a meal. The body experiences sugar cravings and the body is sending signals to the brain that it is hungry. For the most part, sugar addicts will consume something sweet again. But this is the worst – when the person satisfies the cravings for sugar, the symptoms – headaches, sadness, and other similar feelings will fade and will feel better. Don’t forget: if you want to quit sugar, you must exclude it completely.
Three Day Sugar Detox
Day 1
Breakfast: A cup of oats (steel-cut) with seeds, almonds or berries or three scrambled eggs
• Snack: a bowl of nuts (small)
• Lunch: Poached chicken breast and one serving of butternut squash, turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets and beans (lightly cooked) and almonds
• Dinner: Green beans and broiled fish, or a salmon and stir-fry mushrooms and broccoli
Day 2
Breakfast: A cup of oats (steel-cut) with seeds, berries, and almonds, or spinach with three scrambled eggs
• Snack: A bowl of nuts (small)
• Lunch: Zucchini with peppers (yellow and red) with lemon dressing, thyme, and vinegar, or a red or green shredded cabbage salad and carrots, olive oil, salt dressing and lemon juice and chopped parsley
• Dinner: Vegetable casserole, bean soup and steamed vegetables, or bok choy with baked cod and roasted turnips and Brussels sprouts
Day 3
Breakfast: A cup of oats (steel-cut) with almonds, berries and seeds, or radish, sautéed kale and walnut salad, shrimp and three fried eggs
• Snack: A bowl of nuts (small)
• Lunch: Chicken thighs roasted in a pan with lemon, sage and rosemary or chicken roasted in an oven with black olives, thyme and onion.
• Dinner: Vegetable broth with onion, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme with mushroom heads or penne pasta with basil, mushroom and tomato sauce (you can also add meat)
DRINKS
Be aware that the drinks are very important if you really want to stop using sugar. If you exclude drinks that are packed with sugar from the diet you will easily break the addiction to sugar. You can substitute them with healthy drinks that will make you feel energized and refreshed and they will boost your metabolism as well.
