No doubt you’ve followed the sugar-bashing these past few years. Perhaps you’ve even attempted to eliminate it or at least reduce it in your life. I hope through this your eyes opened to just how much sugar is a part of our everyday foods. Especially the ones we don’t make ourselves. You hear sugar is bad, it’s “poison” and it eventually leads to a slew of chronic disease. How much do you know about how it affects your hormones and why it’s imperative to be aware of how much sugar you’re putting into your body. A connection to the WHY is where you need to go. That connection will motivate you to make the best decisions when it comes to sugar.
Blood sugar is the KEY to hormone balance- and so many other things when it comes to your health. Understand that we need glucose (aka blood sugar). The hormone, insulin, is responsible for carrying glucose through our bloodstream for fuel for our brain and muscles. After that, our liver & muscles store excess glucose as glycogen for reserve energy. When those tanks are full, insulin stores that excess glucose in your fat cells. Insulin turns into a fat-storing hormone instead of a fat-burning hormone. We have too much sugar in our lives. It’s creating a slew of health problems. And when it comes to your goal of losing weight, it’s blocking you from doing that along with causing you to gain weight.
Insulin is the gatekeeper to all the metabolic hormones according to Dr. Sara Gottfried in her “Hormone Reset Diet”. Insulin Resistance (when your cells are numb to insulin) is a direct result of too much sugar and so is Leptin Resistance (your “I’m Full!” hormone). It’s a chain with many links and when one is broken, it affects the entire chain.
Here are 5 “How To’s” I’ve been following the past 3 days, and will continue the rest of the 21 days:
- Make your own food as much as possible
- Read your labels and all the hidden ways sugar is in your food.
- Avoid sugar substitutes as well! They are just as dangerous, if not more, with all the chemicals they have.
- Focus on good fats, clean proteins, and a ton of veggies. Aim for 1 lb a day. Get a food scale on Amazon.
- Focus on low-glycemic fruits and veggies.
If you’re interested in learning more and trying the Hormone Reset Diet, you can buy Dr. Sara Gottfried’s book on Amazon or her website, www.hormonereset.com. Reach out to me if you need support or want someone to walk you through this journey. It’s never too late!
Next up… Fruit and (gulp!) CAFFEINE.
XO-
