So we all know that sugar is bad for us, but
how bad is it really? Hey, there. Lacey here with A Sweet Pea Chef, and today
we're going to talk about sugar. So we know that we get that sugar rush when
we eat a lot of sugar, and we'll talk in a little bit about why that's a really big issue
for our bodies. But research has actually shown that sugar
is highly associated with Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, cancer, depression,
Alzheimer's, and many other illnesses. But let's get one thing straight. Sugar is actually by itself not the biggest
issue. In this video today, I want to show you how
to start looking at sugar differently. I want to talk about how sugar, like carbs
and calories, have been really demonized, and it's actually not entirely deserving. Real sugar, the kind that exists in natural
foods, like whole fruits and vegetables, is something that actually provides a nutritional
and functional need in our body, and that's to provide us energy, and energy is good. What's not good is that over time we, as humans,
have really developed this really, really sweet tooth that wants things sweeter and
sweeter to make our taste buds happy. So manufacturers have started producing things
with more sugar in them. In order to do that they actually have overproduced
real sugars into highly processed sugars that we know today, like high fructose corn syrup,
granulated sugar, and brown sugar. So those types of sugars are highly refined,
and they're no longer coming from a whole food, like a fruit, a vegetable, or a bean. You don't get that time to slowly digest the
foods like you would with naturally occurring sugars. Instead, you get it just a straight shot of
that pure energy into your body, and over time that can cause a lot of stress on your
organs. So the real issue here isn't about sugar by
itself. It's about processed sugar and how bad that
is for our bodies. So how do we go about quitting processed sugar? Well, let me share with you the seven steps
I took to quit processed sugar and how you can too. Step number one, read your nutrition labels. This is probably the most important thing
you can do in order to take control of everything you're putting into your body. You're going to want to pay attention to the
nutrition labels on everything you buy that's prepackaged at the grocery store. So your sodas, your cereals, your energy bars,
everything that has a nutrition label, you want to pay attention to it because it's going
to tell you exactly what you're putting into your body. Look out for the obvious sugar ingredients,
like high fructose corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar, and ones that you know are sugar. But there's a lot of hidden sugars you might
not know about yet, and those include malt sugar, organic cane syrup, dehydrated cane
syrup, dextrose, maltose, and many other words that end in "ose." Those will all indicate that there's high
amounts of sugar in your food. Step number two, beware of artificial sweeteners. No, they don't contain any calories, but they
also contain absolutely no nutritional value. Instead, they trick your body and your taste
buds into thinking that you're getting something sweet. But you're not getting the energy along with
that sweetness. Your body gets confused and wants more and
more things to be sweeter and sweeter. Over time, you basically develop this sweet
tooth even if you're not having actual sugar. For all you Stevia lovers out there, unfortunately
Stevia falls into that same basket of artificial sweeteners. Yes, the Stevia plant is a naturally occurring
sweet and calorie-free plant. But to get it from that state into the grocery
store as a powdered sugar for you to add into your drink with no calories, it has to be
highly processed. That's not to mention that having that sweetener
is always going to keep you wanting more and more sweet things, which is going to lead
you to having more and more issues with quitting sugar. Step number three, choose healthier, more
real sources of sugar. Like I mentioned earlier, sugar exists in
real foods. It exists in beans and vegetables and fruits. There's even sugar in celery and broccoli. The idea is you want to have all of your sugar
coming from those types of foods, instead of the artificial or added sugar. But if you do have to add in some added sweetener
into your foods, there are several healthier alternatives that are more naturally occurring
than what we might be using today. Those are coconut palm sugar, pure maple syrup,
and raw honey. All three of those actually provide you with
some nutrients as well. So one real quick caveat about adding sweeteners
to your food, if you happen to be a diabetic, this is the only time I recommend using artificial
sweeteners. With any sweeteners, make sure that you're
using as little as possible. Step number four, identify the main culprit. We all probably have one food or drink that
is the main culprit behind our continued dependency on sugar, and it's the one thing you don't
want to give up whenever you consider giving up sugar. Maybe you're a sweet coffee drinker, like
I was, or you love Dr. Pepper, or that Snickers bar at 2:30 in the afternoon to get you through
the rest of the day at work. Whatever it is, identify it and start looking
at it as the sugar that it is that's hurting your body and keeping you from reaching your
health-related goals, not the sweet treat that you think it is. Step number five, begin to eliminate all processed
sugar from your home. This is going to be a step where you have
to dig deep. You've got to look into the pantry and your
fridge, and you've got to pay attention to those nutrition labels. Look for the things that have sugar in them
and start to remove them from your home. This is going to be tricky. There's going to be ketchup and barbecue sauce,
and cereals that you're going to have to get rid of. But if you don't have it, you won't eat it. Step number six, make it a transition. Change can be very scary and difficult, especially
if you consider all of the years you've probably been addicted to processed sugar. So start small. Take baby steps. Start moving towards that goal of eliminating
all processed sugar from your diet. Are you going to do it in one day? Probably not. So you want to take some steps to getting
towards that goal, removing the foods from your house, paying attention to those nutrition
labels. Every single step you take is going to take
you one step closer to removing processed sugar and quitting sugar for good. Step number seven, just start. One of the biggest worries I hear from people
who are trying to quit sugar is that they're scared of all the things they'll lose. They're afraid they're never going to get
a cookie again or drink a soda, or have anything sweet, or ice cream, for the rest of their
lives, and that idea terrifies them. But instead of thinking about all of the things
you're going to lose by quitting sugar, instead let's reframe it and think about all of the
things that you'll gain. You'll start to gain an appreciation for how
amazingly sweet natural foods are, like bananas and carrots and apples. You'll start to actually taste more foods
for what they are, rather than having your taste buds completely skewed because of sugar. You'll gain a pride and a confidence in yourself
and your body, that you're doing this because you're worth it and you're no longer willing
to put all of that junk into your body. You'll learn new and exciting ways of still
enjoying sweets, but using whole, real foods and naturally occurring sugars, like making
ice cream out of frozen bananas, or using applesauce to sweeten your baked goods. Plus, you'll have significantly reduced your
risk for obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Most importantly, you will have finally quit
sugar. Just like with any positive change, your mind
and your body will probably try to trick you into wanting to go back to that old way of
living. Just keep moving forward, keep taking those
baby steps, and instead of thinking that you have this battle with your food, instead start
enjoying your new healthy lifestyle. To get more information on how to finally
quit sugar, click the link to get my free download on how to quit sugar. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss
my new weekly videos. Thanks. We'll see you next time.
