0 (1s):
Hello, and welcome to the get lean and eat clean podcast. My name is Brian grin. I'm a certified health coach, trainer and author. This podcast is for middle-aged men and women looking to optimize their health and get their bodies back to what it once was 10 to 15 years ago. I will give you simple, actionable items to get long-term sustainable results. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.
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All right. Welcome to the get lean eat clean podcast. My name is Brian grin. I hope you're having a great day. I'm in my makeshift studio in Delray beach, Florida, which is about 80 degrees warmer than it was in Chicago. So I'm happy to be here. And today we are going to talk about an addictive substance called sugar, how we can overcome it. And I'm going to give you a little challenge at the end here. So, but first let me get into the sort of the science behind why it's so addictive because scientists took MRI images of the brain of people consuming sugar and highly addictive drugs like cocaine and the same pleasure centers in the brain started lighting up just like cocaine and other addictive drugs.
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Over time. Your brain requires more sugar in order to generate the same high. So your dopamine receptors become less sensitive to the presence of sugar and your addiction grows stronger and stronger. So it goes without saying sugar is truly addictive. That means that it will alter your brain chemistry. And over time you start to crave more and more sugar. The urge for your next sweet fix comes more frequently and you need to consume it in larger quantities, just like any other drug. And it comes with some pretty scary side effects. Yeah, there'll be weight gain, but you also can increase your risk of developing type two diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and an increased rate risk of stroke.
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That's that the added stress that, that, that, that added weight puts on your joints and tenants and how much harder it is to get enough oxygen pumping through your body. So the bottom line is our food supply is broken and there's a far too much sugar. That's hidden in most of the foods that we eat everyday. We don't even know it. This excess sugar consumption is directly and or indirectly to be blamed for our obesity epidemic, developmental issues in children and even many psychological and behavioral issues. Many of which we tend to treat with prescription drugs. So it's a vicious cycle. You know, the multi-billion dollar food industry has a compelling reason to want our sugar addictions to remain strong.
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Their sales depend on it. That's why they sneak sugar into our foods. Labeling those foods as low fat or free from artificial flavors. And those statements may be true, but they are simply masking sugar leg Laden products with a false claim of somehow being healthy. So just an example, like yogurt often marked as a healthy snack and contain up to 30 grams of sugar per serving. Yeah, that's right. Sugar yogurt that yogurt you're eating and feeding your family may contain more sugar than like a chocolate bar. In fact, the average adult eats about 152 pounds of sugar every single year.
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So as with any highly addictive drug, there's also going to be unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. As you start to wean your body off sugar. And we're going to talk about that as I give you this little challenge, but first here are my four steps to help cut sugar out of your life. Well, one, this might seem really simple and basic, and it is, but I've talked about this before, remove all of it from your house, all sugar and processed foods from your house. You know, it's, if you don't buy it, you won't eat it. And this is something that really has helped me with my health. So you can drastically increase your ability to resist temptation temptations by removing all foods from your house that contain sugar, as well as those that are processed.
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So it looks through your kitchen, your cupboard, your pantry, and for all sugary drinks, cereals, snack bars, yogurts, baked goods, breads, and anything else that contains sugar, throw all of it out and then commit to not bringing these foods back into your home until you are confident that you've, you've gotten this addiction down and that it's permanently broken. Number two, lowering stress levels. So if you're living on our chronic stress, your sugar cravings are going to be tough to beat, you know, that high that, that people get that you get from eating sugar so much more appealing when it can be used to temporarily reduce anxiety and feelings of stress.
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I mean, people, people do, you know, stress eating, for example, boredom, eating. Okay. And just as an aside, you know, if you do feel like you're sort of eating out of boredom, you know, try to find another activity that you can do. Instead of that, for example, after I eat, I like to go for a walk right away and it gets you out of the kitchen. You're not snacking on some junk right after you just had a nice meal. So that's another sort of add a tip. So you're wanting to lower those stress levels. What can you do? What can you do? I've talked about this before for lowering stress. Obviously, you know, meditation, a yoga practice. There's some great apps out there. I use an app called downward dog, but these are great ways to lower your stress.
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Number three, staying hydrated. A lot of times people don't realize they are dehydrated. They think they're, they think they're hungry, but they're really not. So chronic dehydration can not only amplify your sugar cravings, but it also can slow your metabolism and cause your body to actually store fat. So if you think about it, the human body's made up of 60 to 70% water. So that's pretty crazy. That's more than half of you. So the fluids in your body aid in essential bodily processes, such as digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and even maintaining your body temperature.
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So recent research shows that up to 75% of people are actually chronically dehydrated. So the bottom line is people don't consume enough water to be healthy. And a good rule of thumb would say, you know, you hear eight glasses a day, but try to shoot for more than that, because that should be your bare minimum. I would say, when you wake up, first thing, have a nice large glass of water instead of running and guaranteeing that coffee right away. And number four, try to find a sugar replacement. So this could be tea hot or cold unsweetened, right? So typically people reach for sugar right away, like I mentioned, after meals or even between meals.
1 (7m 12s):
So it's a good idea. Find a sort of a replacement for that, that habit. And I find that tea, if you go with something like a peppermint tea, it sort of gives you that same, that same sort of sweet feeling, you know, without all the side effects of, you know, raising blood sugar and insulin levels and things like that and causing issues. So peppermint E at night, I would say common meals, a great tea. I love both of those. Those are probably my top two and Kayleigh meals great at night, just because of its calming effects. And it can be also used as a sleep aid. So those are my four tips, remove all sugar from the house, the basic, simple and basic lowering those stress levels.
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I'll add in a fifth tip is go for a walk after you eat. So it gets you out of the kitchen, stay hydrated and find a sugar replacement. And my recommendation would be hot or cold tea. I like peppermint or camomile. So now here's the challenge part. I gave you the tips to do it. I'm going to say cut out all added sugar for seven days. So this would be no more soda, no more sugar in your house, no more sugar in your coffee, no candy donuts cookies, et cetera. You also want to take out all those foods with added sugars like breads a lot of salad dressings and catch up.
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I know it sounds basic, but it can be done. So that's the challenge. And definitely shoot me a note. If you're going to do this just for added accountability, and I'd love to see how it goes. You just to give you a heads up. If you do have somewhat of a sugar addiction overcome over these cravings, you might experience for example, like a headache or even joining aches. And depending on how much you rely on sugar, you might experience a bit of nausea or even some mood swings. So just giving you a heads up that might happen if you really are addicted to sugar. Yeah. So the good news is you can do this. I'm here to help.
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If you have any questions. And I would say, take those four steps, go with those. And just commit to seven days. Once you get the seven days, maybe you can push it longer and longer, but once you do this, it's not about being perfect, but it's just about, you know, taking those small steps to help, you know, to help them optimize your health and slowly cut sugar out of your diet. So that's all I wanted to talk about today. Feel free to comment and reach out to me if you are doing this. And, and also I'd love to know how it's going. So please share this with anyone that you think would, would, would get some view side of it and might have a sugar addiction.
1 (9m 58s):
And if you love to get lean equally and podcasts, I'd love for you to subscribe. I, I, we have two podcasts a week and a love for you to rate it and give me a review on iTunes. That'd be great. So anyways, let's overcome those sugar cravings and addictions and take those steps and the challenge. And until next time I will talk to you later, have a great rest of the day.
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Thanks for listening to the get lean, eat clean podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine. And I appreciate that. Check out the show notes@briangrin.com for everything that was mentioned in this episode, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member. That's looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again, and have a great day.
