Is life without sugar possible?
Grand Cru Vitality has invited Cornelia (61) as a guest, to publish her blogs. Cornelia offers her services as holistic life & vitality mentor and as sugar support coach. Amongst other formations she is certified as classical naturopath (Ecole Dargère Univers) agreed by the World Health Organization. Considering physical, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being inter-connected, she provides support that looks holistic (at the whole person) for answers. After she became a widow 20 years ago, she left her stressful life in the Netherlands. To learn to connect with her essence and thus find her purpose, she decided to settle with her 2 kids in rural France. In her blogs she shares her experiences, interests and opinions on different kinds of topics.
Are you in control of your sugar intake?
Sweets can have an irresistible attraction. Given the uncountable amount of quitting sugar books, food styles and, -programs, it seems that many of us are experiencing a sugar-dependency. Mostly women, often in their second spring (I like that expression), are making efforts to liberate themselves. Whatever the gender is, we all have in common a desire to be(come) in control of our sugar intake. Some by reduction and some by total abstinence. A very often-heard motivation is that we realize that we have to do something to prevent, to reverse, or to stop the harmful effects of sugar. As we notice there is an explosion of serious diseases3) such as diabetes, obesity and more. So called abuse of refined sugar, which can be classified as a bad food, puts us at increased risk of getting seriously illness.
What makes us so very fond of sugar?
1st, Glucose plays an important role in our metabolism. We do need it to function normally, the intelligence of the body knows that the main fuel is glucose, and without glucose we’ll die.
2nd, nature gave us breastmilk, sweet breastmilk, to be sure that we drink it to make us feel safe & comfortable.
3rd, our old, not evolute reptile brain still has the positive experiences of our prehistoric ancestors who knew bitter fruits could be life-threatening. As sweet-tasting fruits could be safely eaten.
Why does sugar give us trouble nowadays?
Compared to half a century ago the intake of sugar has grown explosively. It's not because we add so much more pure refined sugar, but mostly because of worldwide changing lifestyles. Having less spare time available, makes us think of lacking moments to prepare a meal. Finding and preparing whole foods can take more time. That’s why we visit easily a Fast-Food restaurant. The food industry and stores also respond to these limited free moments. Through producing and offering lots of canned and prepared products, ready meals included.
Refined industrial food lacks fibers but contains lots of hidden added sugars and salts. That’s because both, as food preservers, are cheap. We know now that added sugar is very addictive1), especially because sugar stimulates instantly liberation of a reward hormone called dopamine, which gives us a very positive feeling. The more often we eat sugar the more we need from it to get the same positive reward feeling. This is because the amount of dopamine receptors decreases by frequency. This process can increase the risk of dependency.
What can be wrong with too much added refined sugar?
Refined sugar doesn’t contain any nutrients. Too much intake of this sugar can lead to a lot of inconvenient issues as it can, for example, crystalize on joints, leading to pain, it also can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver (which is a new pathology), weight gain, depression, inflammation, carries, insulin resistance, osteoporosis, disbalance in the PH level of blood, organs and cells, dependency on sugar1) and so forth3).
Is from a biological view, a life without sugar possible?
No, it is not. But the refined nutrition-poor version is best to be avoided. At least for our brains and red blood cells we surely need carbohydrates (the complex species) to get glucose. Taking charge of our metabolism, as energy sources we need carbs (glucose), some amino acids (proteins), and a bit adjusted fatty acid (lipids). I recognize confusion about fructose contained in fruit. Some people consider fruit as bad for it. However, the percentage of present fructose is low compared to the weight of the fruit itself, and a part of this fructose transforms into glucose as some kind of recycling. Whole foods like fruit, contain fibers3), help avoiding spikes, through preventing fructose from entering too fast in the bloodstream. But for example, fructose in a denaturalized form can also be toxic, as used by the food industry in for example corn syrup, containing 55/60% isolated fructose. Denaturalized fructose will be stocked as fat in the body and also can lead to complications like arterial hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver which is nowadays frequently observed in obese children4).
Do you want to reduce or to stop refined added sugar?
If you have the impression that you eat too much sugar, it’s good to know that it’s never too late to take action.
Do you feel you are still in control over the sugar? Then you can start with quitting eating canned food, industrially prepared food, sodas, bottled fruit juices, food out of a window, etc. By avoiding hidden refined sugar content, which does spike your blood glucose level (BGL) you’re in the right direction. White sugar can be replaced with coconut sugar5). To feel saturated, increase simultaneously whole food in your diet, especially high fiber containing foods as leavy greens, whole grains etc.
If you like to go one step further, here are some tips:
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Step 1.: Determine the sugar goal.
It helps to get clear what goal you have in mind:
1.1 Is the goal sugar-free, in other words, -> total abstinence? Or sugar-less? which is about
a controlled sugar intake as the book titled Sugar-Less, by Dr Nicole AVENA proposes.
1.2 Is the chosen goal going to be a choice between a limited period or life-long?
Responding to those questions is helpful for the plan of approach. I think a sugar-free/less journey (SFLJ) starts with the awareness or feeling, that sugar controls us instead of that we’re in charge of sugar.
Step 2.: Determine “the why” of your choice:
According to Simon Sinek the why statement is “the compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as the source of all we do. Our motivation can be found in the why. The why can be written in a letter to yourself, to someone else and, even directly to sugar.
I advise writing the why based on positive (go-to) goals, which are more motivational than so-called, negative (go-off) goals.
Example of positive motivation -> I’d like to become in shape
Example of negative motivation -> I want to prevent overweight.
Step 3.: Determine “the how” of your choice.
The way how we stop depends of the person, the circumstances and the goal. Quitting sugar abruptly can cause inconvenient, but temporary, detox symptoms. Don’t do this alone, but be supported by a detox specialist or a medical provider.
In general, I should advice to switch gradually from the old lifestyle to the new one, based on whole, fresh, fiber containing foods.
7. More tools.
7.1: There is a relationship between blood glucose spikes (BGL) and sugar cravings. The higher the spikes the bigger the cravings. To keep the BGL stable Jessie Inchauspé2) designed this formula: 1st vegetables -> 2nd plant- or animal proteins -> 3rd healthy non saturated fats -> 4th carbs.
7.2: Replace step-by-step industrial products with fresh whole food. By bringing something healthy with you, you can decrease fast food intake. Bin or donate all the products you don’t want to eat anymore.
7.3: It is worth studying nutritional values and food labels in the stores. The higher the percentage of sugar a product contains, the higher it’s printed on the label.
7.4: To get used of a less sugary taste and to prevent cravings (our brain responds to the sweet taste as if it is refined sugar) it helps to avoid replacing sugar by artificial sweeteners.
7.5: Eating enough during meals prevents hunger in between. Chew well. Eat slowly and mindfully. Put your fork back on the table after each bite. Don’t snack between meals. Avoid low calorie products.
7.6: Keep meals simple. Find some easy recipes. If you don’t have time to cook, one can make a green leafy salad with some proteins. Or put some veggies and maybe other ingredients shortly in a steam cooker which keeps it nutrient rich and is easy. Don’t forget to adjust complex carbohydrates to your diet, they digest slowly and give a feeling of saturation.
7.7: To help your body detox, one can drink more spring water with a dry residual value lower than 61mg/l.
Replace sodas and bottled fruit juices with water or herbal tea.
7.8: Practice mindfulness through doing your tasks focused, with all your attention.
7.9: Observe your emotions and your thoughts. Do you experience them as helpful or not? Repetitive emotions can mean there is something to deal with. Do you recognize what’s it about? Does it have to do with sugar? What do you think you need to compensate? Are you sure sugar will make you feel better? Regularly journalling, or sharing your observations with someone else can be helpful to get insight into your way of thinking and your emotions.
7.10: Practice meditation daily. Dependency makes us seeking a solution outside oneself which is the opposite of connection. Meditation makes it possible to reconnect with ourself. Choose a manner that suits you best. Like counting your breath, sitting still and observing your thoughts, walking solely in nature, etcetera. Whatever way you choose, practice it regularly, about 5-30 minutes daily.
7.11: Be grateful to have chosen this journey, and to be aware of the unsweet site of sugar.
Do you have any questions concerning this article? We’ll offer a free, 30-minute zoom call with Cornelia. Use the Simplybook.me*** link for to make an appointment. Mention your best email address and an invitation gets in your inbox within 2 working days.
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1) PMCID: PMC2235907 / NIHMSID: NIHMS36189 / PMID: 17617461. Nicole M. Avena and others. "Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral …... intake”.
2) The book “Glucose Revolution” by Jessie Inchauspé
3) The book “Fat Change” by Dr Robert Lustig
4) Review Doi: 10.3389: fmed.2022.792949 Marco Giussani and others. “Fructose intake, Hypertension ……aspects. A narrative view”.
5) PMCID: PMC9964017 / PMID: 36834366 2023 Feb. by Arana Saraiva and others. "Sugar ……. Food industry applications".
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The content of this website, blog, or any linked materials, is for educational, informational, and supporting purposes only. Although the content provides general information about well-being, health, personal development, naturopathic items and related topics, none of the content is intended, or to be considered, or to be used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Our coaches are not, nor are they/she/he holding them-/her-/himself out to be a medical professional.
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