Oh sugar...Why do we love you?

A bad relationship with sugar is one of the hardest. It calls you to the cupboard in the middle of the night and draws you in when times are hard. Sugar is a faithful companion when all else fails.  The problem is, sugar is now being linked to more and more long term health issues and it is hidden in so many of our foods.

Habit

Sugar overload is often habitual and giving ourselves a treat can be very reassuring. Sweet treats are a reward for good behaviour when we are children and I think this is what sets us up for treating ourselves. So with this in mind, changing your relationship with sugar and your eating habits in general is often very useful.

Replacing your refined sugary snack with natural sugar can help at first, fruit instead of chocolate or making your own healthy sweet treats. Eventually you can get rid of the cravings all together.

People will often come to me saying they prefer salty snacks like crisps, but if you look at the list of ingredients on a packet of crisps, sugar is up there at the top. It gets hidden in everything and often what we consider a savoury snack is actually laden with sugar. Always look at the labels on your food, it is important to look at every product you buy with suspicion, even if it is from a health food shop!

It is also worth noting that carbohydrates convert to glucose in the body, and the white refined sources of carbs like white bread or rice have the same effect. So, go for wholegrain options to give you a slower release of energy and combine them with protein and fat.

Sugar has been linked to:

-Overgrowth of Candida yeast organism

-Chronic fatigue

-Binge eating

-Worsens PMS symptoms

-Increase in hyperactivity in children

-Increase in tooth decay

-Increase in anxiety and irritability

-Increases chances of hypertension

-Main cause of diabetes

-An increase or intensify of anxiety and panic

-Extreme highs and lows; a physical yo-yo

-Difficulty losing weight because of constantly high insulin levels, causing the body to store excess carbs as fat.

So with this is mind, what sugar should we be consuming and when?

Shameless Sugar?

When seeking sweet treats head for the natural options, choose products which are as close to their original source as possible and as sparingly as possible.  These are still sources of glucose and need balancing with protein and fat.

Some natural sweetness for snacks or cooking:

-Honey (raw if possible)

-Bee Pollen

-Stevia leaves

-Raw cacao beans

If you can add these products to your teas, cakes, cereals and desserts rather than refined sugar you will be doing your body a favour and eventually you will find you enjoy things which are less sweet. Each of these choices has a benefit to the body and still retains its natural healing properties and vitamins.

But, let's not get carried away with natural options here. Too much of any sugar will give our body extreme highs and lows and leave us depleted of energy.

My Sweet Treat Recipe - Just-like-Chocolate-Bar

-Raw Honey - 2 tsps
-Soaked Almonds - 1/4 cup
-Raw Cacao Beans - 1 cup
-Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp

Blend all these ingredients together until you have a gloopy paste, pop it in the fridge or freezer and cut into blocks. This is a healthy way to make your own yummy chocolate.

None of us are perfect, occasionally we should be allowed to eat something we consider naughty, just try not to make it a habit which creates a craving.

I hope this helps.

Josie

How Much Water Should I drink?

We are made up of about 60-70% water and our brains, amazingly, are about 80% water. It makes sense to keep our bodies topped up so that they function effectively. 

Water is necessary to transport nutrients around the body; if you are dehydrated your body cannot function effectively and extract what it needs from your food. Water also lubricates your joints and reduces toxic build up and tension in your muscles, think of it like oil in a car. It allows your digestive system to pass things through neatly and efficiently.  It is also responsible for protecting our bodies against illness by keeping all our bodily functions on form.

So, it makes sense that a lack of water can do the opposite. For a start, your immune system may be lacking. You may be prone to depression because lets face it, when you are tired and droopy things don't seem very manageable. The soft tissues in your body may be functioning poorly and may be prone to injury and its likely you will not be absorbing the nutrients from your food effectively.

Ideally quality filtered water is what you want to be drinking, but something is better than nothing and you do have options.

1. Herbal tea (I can hear you groan) is hydrating for the body. Some of them, honestly, taste really good.

2. You can add water to fruit juice to make it more hydrating, 5:1 is the ideal ratio (1 is the juice not the water!) Be aware that 100% fruit juice is not a very hydrating drink as you need a lot of the water content to process the sugar and carbohydrate. 

Sports drinks and 'sugar free' drinks often contain aspartame and other additives so I recommend making your own sports drinks by adding one part natural fruit juice, a small pinch of organic sea salt and four parts filtered water. Salt helps you suck up water into the body's cells and therefore increases fluid absorption. If you want more carbohydrate as you are doing a lot of exercise, just add more juice! It doesn't have to be complicated.


Josie.








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How can I feel more positive?

There is nothing more irritating than someone who tells you to be positive all the time.  

Life is a rollercoaster that is meant to come with highs and lows.  If you don't have the lows, you cannot recognise the highs and appreciate them in all their greatness.  So, you cannot stop the low points, but you can take control of how you view them, you can embrace the lows and appreciate them in all their greatness too!  After all, it is in times of sorrow and despair that we learn about ourselves and practice picking ourselves back up.  It is also in these darker times that we take time to reflect and move forward and get rid of things that are not serving us anymore.

There are a million theories about how to feel good and how to learn acceptance.  Some of them work for one person and some work for another.  Some can work for a month and some stick with you for a lifetime.  There is never any harm in reading around the subject of self advancement; it gives you a nice little wardrobe of reassurance in times of change.  I will not recommend one mode of thinking over another, it will depend greatly on your spiritual beliefs and your personality as to which approach will suit you.  

We are in charge of the way we feel about any event in our lives.  This does not mean we have to remain positive all the time, but it should mean that we take responsibility for our own moments of depression.  We cannot choose other's actions, but we can choose how we feel about them, and we can gain tools and methods to control how we react to them and other external events that occur in our lives.  We can make the choice about how we react to things that happen in our days. 

 The best trick is to focus on what is good in your life, not the things that make you feel dreadful.  Focus on the good that can happen, and not the bad that has.We only get one and it would be a great shame to waste it feeling angry or sad about something we cannot change.  Our feelings can change and we should focus instead, on that.

What does this have to do with nutrition?  Everything.  If you want to eat well and look after yourself, you first have to look at your body and your health with a smile.  Do not focus on your lumpy middle, but on your lovely legs.  Forget the chocolate cake you ate for dinner (why did I eat that, I am such a failure?!) think about the green smoothie you will have for breakfast.  Tomorrow is always another day and your body will be patient as your mind trains itself into good habits.

The wrong foods can also affect our moods massively, making shifting our thoughts to more positive ones harder.  Having low energy levels due to blood sugar slumps can also lead to irritability and mood swings.

The body has a tremendous capacity to heal and change, so be kind to yourself mentally and your body will smile in reply.

Josie

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