KHFP Week 10: Trade Up Your Drinks and Break the Sugar Habit

So, this week may be extremely hard for you if you love drinking pop, coffee, iced coffee, energy drinks etc… and you think you can’t give them up or you won‘t.  If this is your mindset then your weight loss efforts will suffer tremendously.   This is where most diets or weight loss programs tend to fail.  They automatically tell you what you can’t have ever again.   Once again I think that if you slowly adjust your eating and drinking habits you won’t feel so deprived and tempted to cheat.   If you do slip up you won’t feel like such a failure and just quit, you can just pick up where you left off.

One of the fastest ways to derail any weight loss effort is by consuming too many extra liquid calories because of what you are drinking.   You may not be aware of how many calories your favorite drink can contain because you don’t consciously think about it.  The best drink for you is still water because it has no calories or added sugar.   However, there are some good drink choices that you can chose that are not loaded with excessive calories, caffeine or sugar and also have health benefits.

Its not just enough to quit drinking pop, you must find a good alternative to help satisfy the feelings associated with consuming sugar and caffeine.  Remember that both these substances act like addictive drugs when metabolized in the body.  Why do you think they call it “the sugar high” or “the sugar crash”.   Sugar and caffeine are the most popular controlled substances, “drugs” that are not labeled as such.   Sugar and caffeine are in so many products, its hard to avoid them all together.   You can make better choices and limit your sugar and caffeine intake.   The food industry is now trying to convince us that all sugar is processed the same in the body no matter if its corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup.   This may be true, however, not all sugar is created equal.   For instance, true raw honey possesses beneficial live enzymes, both stevia and agave nectar (not syrup) are better choices than white refined sugar.   In “This Addictive Commonly Used Food Feeds Cancer Cells, Triggers Weight Gain, and Promotes Premature Aging” article by Dr. Mercola, it has good information about the basics of the dangers of sugar and how all sugars are not created equal.   Plus, a handy chart on the amount of fructose in specific fruits.

Sugar is an addictive drug, Eric Stice, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the Oregon Research Institute found that heavy users of sugar develop a tolerance (needing more and more to feel the same effect), which is a symptom of substance dependence.  If you crave Pepsi, Red Bull, Frappuccinos or any sweets in any form and you can't get enough.... Guess what??? You are a sugar addict.  I remember awhile back I was buying at least two bags of those Hershey Almond Toffee Nuggets at a time.  I would have to have a few several times a day, I even had them in my coat pockets.  I noticed that when I went a couple days without eating my chocolate I got a headache, but it went away when I ate some more chocolate.  I came to the conclusion that I had to stop because I was addicted.  When I started working out after work I needed an extreme boost in energy, so an hour before I started to workout I would drink one of those Amp energy drinks.  And boy did it give me a boost, I was pumped up.  So, I began drinking Amps every other day in order to get through my extreme workouts, until I realized I couldn't workout without them.  Once again I had to realize that these things were addictive and can cause dependency.  So I had to ween myself off them.  Its a good thing that I've become aware of the highly addictive nature of sugar, but when combined with caffeine, its a lethal combination.


When you go on a diet you are essentially being prescribed to practice abstinence by completely avoiding all foods (you love and crave) deemed not good for you.  Prescribing an abstinence model for the treatment of sugar addiction is similar to the type of recommendation for restrictive dieting: a “weight loss” technique that most research has found only leads to binge eating and weight cycling. When food or sugary drinks are off-limits, it tends to take on power and value.   The things that you cannot have are only that much more enticing says Alexis Conason, Psy.D.   Caution should be used when restricting foods (or drinks) from your diet, (especially foods that you tend to enjoy) and you should be conscious of the effect that this restriction has on your mind and body.


　
Problems Associated With Consuming Too Much Sugar:

When sugar is constantly in the diet, the pancreas must constantly produce insulin.  When sugar is continually overused, the pancreas eventually wears out and is no longer able to clear sugar from the blood, and diabetes is often the result.  This tendency toward diabetes rises severely after menopause.  Also, for some people, they have enough insulin but the cells have become insulin-resistant, so they do not absorb the insulin to facilitate absorption of glucose.

Sugar also increases the urinary output of essential vitamins and minerals.  According to L. K. Massey in "Acute effects of dietary caffeine and sucrose on urinary mineral excretion in healthy adolescents" Nutr. Res 8(9): 1988, calcium loss through the urine doubles when a soft drink containing sugar is consumed.  Cola drinks containing both caffeine and sugar caused the greatest calcium and bone loss in these subjects.

White, refined sugar is bleached with Chlorine Bleach, a substance that many people are sensitive to.   Chlorine, when it combines with organic compounds, converts to Dioxin, a lethal chemical.

High fructose corn syrup is a liver toxin.  It is metabolized in the body the same way alcohol is metabolized.  Now, alcohol is metabolized by the brain, and so you get effects that you can recognize, we call it intoxication.  Effects like impaired judgment, slowed response time, impaired motor function, etc.  But fructose is not metabolized by the brain, so you don't notice that it is affecting your body the same way alcohol is, says Judie McMath for The Center for Unhindered Living.  Drinking a can of soda does the same thing to your liver that drinking a can of beer does. And you are allowing your kids to drink this every day.  You may be a person who doesn't believe in drinking because it destroys your body, but the soda is destroying your body just as much.

As long as you ingest anything containing fructose or sucrose (table sugar) you will be unable to cure yourself of high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes.  It also causes kidney disease which contributes to diabetes and high blood pressure as well.

These are just a few things to inform you of the effects of both sugar and caffeine which we all consume on some level.  Some more than others.  Caffeine is in so many products because it is considered a natural product.  Much in the same way as sugar, it is added to products that already naturally contain sugar.  You may not be able to completely eliminate these substances from your diet, but you can control consuming excessive amounts by educating yourself and reading labels.

The main focus for the coming weeks is to limit your sugar intake, plus avoid excessive caffeine consumption.   How can this be accomplished if you are already addicted and don’t know it?.   First, become aware of what you are drinking on a daily basis.  Then take note how many of them are sugary drinks.   Next, start to note how many calories you could have saved if you didn’t drink them and how much weight you could lose.  The idea is for you to become conscious of what you are drinking, therefore making you think before consuming these calorie laden drinks.


What Drinks Can You Trade Up To?

• If you must have a carbonated beverage, then add lemon or lime juice to sparkling water or club soda.
• Add unsweetened fruit concentrate to sparkling water or club soda. You can invest in a home soda machine but skip their sugar laden flavor packs and opt for unsweetened fruit concentrate that you find in health food stores.
• Sweeten your homemade soda or sparkling water with liquid stevia.
• Opt for homemade lemonade made with either fresh lemons, lemon concentrate and some liquid stevia.
• Iced herbal tea or hot herbal tea, there are many varieties you can try like acai berry, lemon zinger, cranberry zest etc. sweetened with a little raw honey or liquid stevia.
• Fresh squeezed fruit juice, bottled juice has added sugars on top of the natural sugars already in fruit.  One cup of fresh squeezed juice with some pulp is ok.
• Green tea is a better overall option, it has natural caffeine, and many health benefits. It activates a higher rate of fat oxidation helping to break down fats to be used as energy.
• Fruit smoothies and green juices are packed with vitamins and minerals.

　
You may not be able to give up your favorite drink right away, but instead try cutting back each day the amount you consume, then cut back to a couple days a week until you have eliminated your bad drinking habits that have kept you from losing weight.   They say it takes roughly 21 days for you to make something a habit.  Once you stop drinking sugary drinks you will notice the positive effects through weight loss, baggier clothes, more energy and even feeling less bloated.   So, don’t think of this as something you will be giving up, but instead, think of it as "trading up" to a better, healthier you.


　

Assignment
For the next couple of days, keep track of how many cups of coffee, iced coffee(frappuccino, cappuccino, Mochaccino, mochalatta, etc), soda pop, shakes, bottled fruit juices etc… that you consume.   Then determine where you can fit in a healthy trade up option in place of that sugary drink.   You can not succeed in losing weight if you are consuming excess sugary liquids with empty calories.   If you think that one drink for lunch, one on your break and one for dinner do not add up, then you are in denial, you are addicted.   Just look at the calorie and sugar count in one 21 ounce bottle of Pepsi or Lipton Iced tea, which is usually 2 servings and ask yourself do I really need it or do I just want it.  The answer to both questions should be "NO".  If you are drinking your required intake of water, then you don't need the soda and you definately don't need the calories.


Weekly Checklist
Drink 8 glasses of water every day
Eat a Hearty Healthy breakfast
Get movin’ by walking or aerobics
Eat an Apple or Pear everyday
Say no to your poison, ditch the junk food
Go a little nuts by eating a handful of nuts
Toss Up a Big Bowl of Salad
Take Your Vitamins
Pump It Up!!!
Trade Up Your Drinks


Disclaimer: This article is meant only to provide information. It should not be substituted for expert medical advice.

　

References
“The Lean - A Revolutionary and Simple 30 Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss” by Kathy Freston
“The Dangers of Sugar Intake” by Judie C. McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living, Copyright 2006-12
http://www.unhinderedliving.com/sugardanger.html
“This Addictive Commonly Used Food Feeds Cancer Cells, Triggers Weight Gain, and Promotes Premature Aging” article by Dr. Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/20/sugar-dangers.aspx
“Eating Mindfully: Improve your relationship with food” by Alexis Conason, Psy.D.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/eating-mindfully/201204/sugar-addiction
“Break a sugar addiction within a week using three easy steps” by Brad Chase
http://www.naturalnews.com/037337_sugar_addiction_habits_raw_honey.html

　

Picture Sources
Sugar Addiction
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Frappuccino
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRrZxkDPdh7ZKsA1TM_gCfZ9jTUTY29ag05KYvXbxDGRuBOPsvo-ObJPA
Caffeinated drinks
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