Your email responses from yesterday have made me so emotional.
There are so many instances where I can see myself exactly in your shoes. The pain and struggle that some of you are going through with your cravings is heartbreaking because I know there's a better way and I want to help you get there. I am still making my way through all of your sugar stories… but you better believe it - I am reading every single one of them.
Here's one story that caught my attention because it is directly related to what I want to share with you here today.
"I struggle every day as a mom! I have cut sugar 80% of what I used to eat. My daughter is my problem, she is a sugar addict. She's trying so hard. I try but it is impossible. She is 10 years old. And I don't know what to do." - Marcela
When I read Marcela's story yesterday - I immediately thought of this study that shows what happens to your health when you stop eating sugar for just 10 days - and it doesn't matter if you are young or old.
You wouldn't think that 10 days would really make a difference would you? That is what I found so shocking about this study.
Dr. Robert Lustig out of the University of California San Francisco led the study with a group of obese children who were already suffering from metabolic disorders. During the study the children didn't exercise, cut calories or eat particularly healthy food, yet something remarkable happened. Dr. Lustig provided each child with all of their meals and snacks with the same amount of calories, carbs, fat, and protein that they normally ate. The only difference to their diet was that he took out the refined sugar and replaced it with other carbs like whole fruit. For example, instead of chicken teriyaki (which is high in sugar), the children ate turkey burgers and instead of pastries, the children ate baked potato chips with no sugar.
The improvements to their health were DRAMATIC - in just 10 days!
- Triglyceride levels dropped 33 points (average)
- Bad (LDL) cholesterol levels dropped 5-10 points (average)
- Diastolic blood pressure dropped 5 points (average)
- Normalized insulin and fasting blood sugar levels
Just by ditching sugar, all of these children significantly cut their risk for developing type 2 diabetes (a disease that never used to affect children) and heart disease. Isn't that amazing?
According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "while the study was done in children, there's no reason to believe the benefits wouldn't extend to adults, as well."
This just goes to show that all calories are not created equal and what is really important is where those calories come from - and sugar shouldn't be on the regular menu!
You might be thinking, "Well, I don't eat very much sugar" and that what I'm saying doesn't apply to you. Almost all of us have fallen for this trap - including myself!
Also - you might be thinking - but, I only eat "organic sugar or honey, or maple syrup, etc"… Organic sugar of course is better to buy because it's non-GMO (not doused with probable carcinogens) and hasn't been grown with synthetic pesticides - but organic sugar can still make you age faster than you should, gain weight and increase your risk for related diseases. Just because it is organic sugar doesn't mean you can throw caution to the wind!
And I must confess - this is actually what I struggle with personally. But, thankfully, I've found a way to curb the cravings and you'll hear about it all next week.
In the meantime, I want to challenge you to try something…
Keep a list of all of the sources of sugar you eat and count the grams for the next couple of days and add it all up. That's it. Don't change your diet or think too hard about it, just write down how much sugar you're eating at each meal and snack. Then send it to me by replying to this email, or message me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Were you surprised? I want to know!
I hope this motivates you to take a closer look at how much sugar is in your diet and that you start to think about ways that you can rid it from your life.
I can't wait to hear from you.
Xo,
Vani
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