Step One: Replace ALL Refined Sugar with Natural Sweeteners
This step means exactly what it says. You must get rid of all the white sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in your home wherever it may lurk and replace it with natural, whole forms of sugar like raw honey, real maple syrup, coconut sugar and date sugar.
Don’t forget condiments.. they are a big source of high fructose corn syrup. Replace them with condiments from the health food section that taste just as good and don’t have some form of refined sugar as a main ingredient.
Not ready to get rid of soda entirely? Then buy soda only from the health food section where there are brands available that use unrefined cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. These sodas taste terrific. You won’t miss a thing taste and satisfaction-wise by drinking them, I can assure you.
Stir coconut sugar into your tea or coffee instead of white sugar. Or, better yet... wean yourself off of sugar from your coffee completely! It took me about one week to do this - I gradually reduced the amount of sugar I put in my coffee every single day.
Replace those candy bars with healthfood store versions that use whole cane sugar instead of refined white sugar as the sweetener.
Whatever you do, DON'T replace the refined sugars with artificial sweeteners. Studies have shown that folks who consume artificial sweeteners have more sweet cravings than folks who just eat the sugar in its natural form!
Be aware that you are going to have to start reading labels to complete this step. Refined sugar is everywhere in processed foods!
The goal in this step is not to reduce sugar consumption but simply to replace it with a more nutritious, unprocessed, whole form of sugar.
When you have accomplished this significant step forward, CONGRATULATIONS! You are now ready to proceed...
Step Two: Increase the Amount of Whole, Unprocessed Fats in Your Diet
The sugar cravings many of us experience are due to the lack of enough healthy, whole fats in our diet. Dietary fat stabilizes blood sugar... sweet cravings become overwhelming on dips in blood sugar.
I used to think that it was lack of willpower that was preventing me from succeeding in getting my sugar cravings under control. As it turned out, it wasn’t a lack of willpower at all. It was my low-fat diet that was the primary problem.
As part of this step, be sure to clear out of your pantry any item that features a “reduced fat” or “fat free” marketing line on the package.
Pssttt! Many fat-free or reduced-fat foods have a form of artificial sweetener in them.
Definitely avoid transfats, partially hydrogenated fats, and any other rancid, cheap vegetable oils that are used in processed foods. But welcome with open arms eggs (and their yolks), coconut oil, cold-pressed olive oils, and other forms of traditional, nourishing, whole fats.
As you increase the whole fats in your diet, most people find introduction of a therapeutic strength probiotic and homemade fermented foods to be of great benefit. Probiotics will help to rebalance gut bacteria to a favorable ratio and keep candida under control.
Step Three: Remove All Forms of Processed, Whole Sugars From Your Home
Once you have abandoned the low-fat lifestyle and embraced traditional wholesome fats in your home, you are ready for the next step: getting rid of all processed sugar foods in your home even if made with organic, whole natural sweeteners.
That’s right! Lose the natural sodas, organic cookies, pop tarts, organic chocolate and any other organic junk food that you started buying when you switched from refined sugar to natural sugars in step one above.
This may seem difficult, but wait… let me explain.
You can still eat foods with natural, whole sugars: raw honey, real maple syrup, molasses, coconut sugar, date sugar, sucanat.
The catch is that now you can’t buy them... you have to make them yourself.
So if you want chocolate chip cookies, have at it. You just must make them at home using whole, natural sugars. You can’t just walk to the pantry and pick up a bag of Newman’s Own Organic Chocolate Chip Cookies.
What this step introduces is the inconvenience factor.
When something is inconvenient, most of the time, you will just skip doing it, am I right?
For example, if I have a bag of organic chocolate chip cookies in the pantry and a very stressful event occurs suddenly out of the blue, the chances that I am going to walk to the pantry and eat some, or more likely, the entire box of cookies is rather high.
At least it is for me.
If, on the other hand, I don’t have any prepackaged, easy to munch organic cookies in my pantry at all, the chances that I will whip out the mixing bowl and make some chocolate chip cookies myself are much much lower.
In this step you are still allowed to drive to the store and buy some organic cookies if your craving is overwhelming. But, when you walk into your front door, whatever you haven’t eaten in the car goes in the trash. That’s right – they hit the circular file.
Only homemade sweets made with natural sugars are allowed in your home from this step forward. You can make homemade sweets as you like & consume them, but they must be made by hand.
This step is where the rubber meets the road. Can you do it? You absolutely can if you are eating lots of whole fats in your diet! Eating lots of whole, unprocessed fats is your ace in the hole because your cravings will never be overwhelming as your blood sugar will be stable the majority of the time.
Our culture is sugar saturated so sometimes we are simply going to indulge. Don’t worry about it or feel guilty about it for even one moment when it happens.
If you have slayed the sugar monster in your home by transitioning to only natural sugars, eating more whole fats, forbidding organic junk food from finding a regular home in your pantry, and eating homemade sweets only on an occasional basis, then you have absolutely accomplished your goal! You are now eating natural, whole sweets in moderation and enjoying them in a safe manner that will not threaten your long term health.
Article courtesy of: The Healthy Home Economist
And finally, before I reach for anything & put it in my mouth - I ask myself two simple questions:
Would Jesus eat this?
-and-
Will I glorify God by eating this?
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