How To Eliminate Sugar From Your Diet

Are you ready to get sugar out of your diet? Great! You've decided that you don't want anything to do with sugar and you're going to do whatever it takes to eliminate it so you can improve and protect your physical and mental health? Fantastic! Were you right all along when you thought sugar was bad for you and now you're going to demonstrate your personal integrity by getting sugar out of your life? Go go go! What are steps should you take to eliminate sugar from your diet? I'm going to show you. This is your Twelve-Step Program for eliminating sugar. 1. Do it cold turkey. That may sound extreme but it is really the best way. Did you know sugar was originally refined and kept under lock and key as a potent medicine? That's right. Sugar was originally considered to be strictly medicinal just like we would consider a controlled prescription drug. And sugar is addictive just like a drug too. "Tapering off" sugar is like saying you're tapering off heroin. No can do. It just doesn't work. 2. Right away, besides not dumping sugar into your coffee and onto your cereal, find out what alternative sweeteners there are that can be used. I will never recommend substitute fake sweeteners like the ones in the pink, blue and yellow packets. They are even more deadly than sugar! But there are whole grain sweeteners and herbal sweeteners made from stevia that you can start using. 3. As you are withdrawing from your sugar habit, you will probably feel the symptoms. To handle that get more exercise, drink more water and if things get really out of hand, you can use a little bit of organic, unpasteurized raw honey. This is not meant as a recommendation to start dumping honey, instead of sugar, in everything. Honey is still a sugar but not as refined. Consider it your "methadone" treatment but be aware that in the long run, honey will not get you where you want to go. 4. Learn what the different ingredients are that are essentially sugar. There is information about this on my other Street Articles and blogs as well as other sources. 5. Go through your pantry, cupboards and refrigerator and read those labels. Throw out everything that has sugar in it. You will likely be getting rid of a lot of food items including ketchup, peanut butter, jelly, bread and other baked goods, crackers, canned soups, fruit-flavored yogurt, low-fat and no-fat dairy products and much much more. Look at how much more room you have now! 6. Start shopping in a store that at least offers some non-sugar products. But beware! Even your so-called "natural food store" is jammed with products that have some form of sugar in them. You've got to be a regular Sherlock Holmes and read every label to be sure. One good way to be sure is to just buy real, whole food. There's no ingredient label on an apple or a stalk of broccoli. You only need to check that it is certified organic (preferred). 7. Eat less red meat. Red meat increases the craving for sugar. I know this from personal experience and observation. 8. Eat a lot more vegetables. Vegetables are naturally sweet and they have fiber, minerals and all kinds of phytochemicals (aka minute amounts of beneficial known and unknown nutrients) in them. In fact, to mitigate sugar cravings you can make what is called a "Sweet Vegetable Tea." Cut up pieces of sweet-tasting vegetables such as cabbage, onions, carrots, winter squash, parsnips, cauliflower and put them in a big pot of spring water with a pinch of sea salt. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer about an hour. Strain out the veggies and save them for soup. Chill the vegetable water and drink a half cup of that - chilled or warmed - whenever your sugar cravings are getting the best of you. What? Cabbage and onions are sweet tasting? Yes they are and you will appreciate their sweet taste once you've gotten sugar out of your system. 9. Reduce the amount of breads and baked goods that have refined flour in them. Look for the ones that have whole grains and whole grain flour (and of course, no sugar) in them. Your body responds to refined white flour products just like it does to sugar. So eating such things that are made with white flour is pretty much just like eating sugar. 10. Make it go right to cook your food at home more and more. Even the finest restaurant uses a multitude of ingredients that contain sugar (not to mention a lot of other ingredients that you would not include in home cooking.) For me, there is absolutely nothing like my own good home cooking. Not because I'm an amazing chef - I'm a pretty decent cook - but I use quality ingredients and I've learned how to make the most delicious whole food without sugar and chemicals. When you cook or prepare your own food, that is the only way to really be sure what is in it. Don't get me wrong, I do go to restaurants sometimes. But as much as I enjoy the experience of being served and spending time with my dear husband, more often than not I am at least slightly disappointed with the food because it is not as good as mine. Just saying. 11. Tell your family and friends about your new adventure. Let them know you are getting sugar out of your life and ask them to help you. No whining about how you can't eat that doughnut they have at work! Stay positive! Share your successes and if they pooh pooh it - well just fuhgeddaboudit and talk to someone else who can be more supportive. 12. And finally, use this article as a forum to share your wins, ask your questions and express your concerns. This is a very friendly group here on Street Articles and you will be surprised how many like-minded people there are who are also trying to eliminate sugar from their lives. Believe me I know it is not always easy. In fact, I know that many people struggle and struggle with sugar cravings. But if you follow these steps, you will not have such a hard time. Article Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/nutrition/how-to-eliminate-sugar-from-your-diet

Smoking And Obesity: Cigarettes Are Not Helping Anything, After All

it has long been believed that smokers are thinner because nicotine depresses their hunger and that if they were to quit smoking, they would automatically gain a lot of weight. That may not be as scientifically valid as previously believed. While nicotine does depress the appetite to some extent, it does not do so enough to account for a huge amount of weight loss. What’s more, smokers who quit smoking by using behavior therapy were not only more likely to give up the cigarettes but to also gain little to no weight while doing so. In one study, it was found that smokers, especially women, who received weight centric counseling in addition to smoking cessation medications while quitting not only had a higher success rate but also managed to do so with less weight gain over all as well. It has long been thought that only a smoker should focus on changing only one behavior at a time, however, it was quickly found that in the case of smoking and weight loss or weight maintenance, the combination worked better for the long run. In her senior thesis, Lisa Webb, from the Nordic School of Public Health in Sweden, looked at the link between a decrease in cigarette smoking in many western countries while the number of obese people has continued to rise. In her paper, Webb looked at the information for 6000 people who had two weight classing measurements taken: first their body mass index, BMI and their waist to hip ratio. Her findings revealed that the WHR reading was higher for both the male and female smokers while the female smokers had a slightly lowered BMI number compared to their non-smoking peers. Overall, the WHR and BMI increased slightly for smokers in the study, regardless of gender. Most smokers agree that it is bad for their health and will try to stop smoking. However, many of them will worry about possible weight gain and will start smoking once again. Smoking has long topped the list of avoidable habits that contribute to heart disease, lung disease and cancer but obesity is also high on that list. Combining the two habits can be doubly dangerous for people, putting them at extremely high risk for a number of conditions and making some illnesses more serious. Obesity, for instance, can add time to a hospital stay due to the weight related complications. There have been a number of smoking cessation products on the market, some with decent success rates and others that have been less than stellar. One that seems to meet the approval of the smoker and the health community is the nicotine free, plastic inhaler which is often referred to as an electronic cigarette or e-cig. An Italian study showed that the device made it easier for smokers to actually give up their cigarettes in a shorter period of time and without relapsing like other methods. Article Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/obesity/smoking-and-obesity-cigarettes-are-not-helping-anything-after-all

What Does It Mean To Be Healthy?

We, as humans, in our Western society seem to be programmed to look at a slim person and determine that he or she is healthy. They look it, so the must be, right? And so goes for the reverse situation: if someone looks overweight they must must be unhealthy. Well this most certainly isn't always the case... a slim person may have extremely unhealthy habits, and someone who is slightly overweight might be much healthier by comparison. So yes, don't always judge a book by its cover. Especially all those magazine and runway models who are the perfect example of what young women should NOT strive to become. Anyway, when it comes to the great debate of healthy vs. unhealthy there are certain things that we can do to help determine if we are or aren't. For example, we can go to our doctor and get weighed, be measured, have blood work taken, discuss our fitness routines and eating habits, talk about any stress in our lives, if we smoke, drink, party too hard, get enough sleep, and the list goes on an on. And what about our own diagnosis? I'm talking about being self-aware of our own bodies - inside and out, how we really feel, what we see when we look in the mirror? I mean no one by ourselves can be the better judge of HOW we feel, am I right? I'd say that with all the "information overload", we are no longer able to provide an excuse of not knowing how to be healthy. First of all it's not rocket science, and there are ton of steps that we can each take to help get ourselves on a healthier path. Even the littlest of things can make a big difference. This even includes our mental health. Yes it's included under the general term of "health" because it controls our thoughts, our feelings, our reactions and how we choose to live our lives day to day. Becoming a healthier person by choosing to be one is a lot easier than being told by some doctor, or some stranger on tv. Good health comes with a life-long list of benefits, while living an unhealthy lifestyle only increases our risk for future health concerns and serious problems. So I'd like to ask, what is it that you personally do to live a healthy lifestyle? Do you feel alone in this "quest" or do you include your family, surround yourself with people who have the same goals? Or perhaps you know deep down that you have some issues you know you have to deal with but you don't know where to start, you're scared and not quite confident that you can change your life for the better. I'd love to hear your personal thoughts. Feel free to share this article, and leave a comment below. Thanks for reading! Article Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/obesity/what-does-it-mean-to-be-healthy