Monday, July 22, 2013

Last Challenge for July....


We started big for July with eliminating high fructose corn syrup, so why not go out with a bang as well? This challenge is going to be difficult, remember, I did worn you.
Are you ready.......
I challenge you, for the next 2 weeks to eliminate grains.

You might be wondering, July's challenge was to eliminate processed sugars, why grain. For many reasons, so lets break it down quickly. If you would like to read more of my thoughts on grains, go here, here and here

  1.  In our first challenge, did you read the labels on grain products and realize that almost every single grain product, like bread, rolls, bagels, anything in this isle, has high fructose corn syrup in it? It is true. Most grain products have HFCS plus other types of processed sugars in them.
  2. There are some very scary chemicals that are put into grains, from the bleaching processes, to chemicals added to decrease baking time.
  3. Grains today are devoid of their natural nutrition. They take out the most nutritious portions of the grain seed, leave the part that has very little to no nutritional value and then add in synthetic vitamins that our bodies do not recognize or know what to do with them.
  4. Wheat is not what it used to be. It has been genetically modified, stripped of nutrients and had dangerous "ingredients" added.
  5. Our bodies recognize grains as sugar in our bodies. By eating a lot of sugar, this puts the body in peaks and troughs of blood sugar which causes insulin issues which leads to diabetes. As well as heart disease, cancer, weight gain, mood swings and disorders, to name a few.


The list could go on, but I think these 5 items are a really good reason to try going grain free. It is one of those things, you can fight with me, hum and haw, think about it, and on and on, but until you try it, you will not know how your body is going to respond. It is something you need to try for a period as well. A week, even two weeks, is really not enough time to discover how your body would do eliminating grains. Maybe try this for six to eight weeks.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's abundant blessings,
Jenn

Monday, July 15, 2013

July's Challenge, Agave



How have the last 2 weeks been with eliminating high fructose corn syrup? Has it been harder than you thought? What was the most difficult thing to give up? What was the craziest thing you found HFCS in?

Lets role on with this month's challenge.
This week's challenge is to eliminate man-made, processed, refined sugars. Things like:
Aspartame,
Splenda,
Sweet and Low,
Saccharine,
Malts,
Ingredients ending in "ose" such as surcose, maltose, galactose, these are simple sugars and refined, mostly
Treacle
Agave
Just about any food you find on a shelf is going to have some type of refined processed sugar in it. This is why we avoid the aisles and purchase single ingredient items. When purchasing foods with more than one ingredient, make sure everything in it is whole food and you know what it is.

Reasons:
If you watched the videos from my previous post, you will remember how bad processed sugars are for us, the weight gain, mood swings, heart issues, and on and on. If you have problems with energy levels, check to see what you are eating. If it is a lot of processed foods with refined sugars in them, this is the reason. Our bodies burn through the sugar quickly, then our blood sugar crashes and our brains send signals that it needs to be nourished and fast. You are hungry again two hours after eating. These peaks and troughs in blood sugar lead to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, weight gain, mood swings. low energy levels and the list goes on.
Man-made sugars, like aspartame, are even worse. They have all these symptoms plus even more, such as tumors, nerve damage, insomnia, head aches, rashes and list goes on. That "diet soda" is NOT good for you.
Agave might surprise you being on my list of sugars to avoid. It has been touted as so healthy for you and switch all of your sugars to this instead. Not so fast. Remember from the video talking about HFCS and what it does to your body? Well, agave has even more fructose in it. HFCS is about 50% fructose, agave is 70% or higher! It is also processed, not natural. Here is a good post about agave.

In the end, this month's challenge is really just about eating whole, real food!
Happy eating!
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Monday, July 1, 2013

July's Challenge Is....?


Welcome to July! I always love July, long days, cooling in the evenings to be out playing, local fruits and veggies come into season, some of these are my favorites, the 4th of July, I love my country and celebrating the many wonderful freedoms we have here in the Great U.S.A. and mostly because it is the month of my wedding anniversary, awwww.

With all that fun stuff, I have an exciting challenged planned for you this month, eliminating sugar! It
will be a lot of fun, I promise.

The sugar I am challenging you to eliminate is not natural sugars, like fruit, veggies, good honey. No, I want you to eliminate processed sugars, man-made sugars. Those sugars that cause major problems in our bodies, like inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, heart problems and many others. We have five weeks to eliminate different types of sugars, with some you might not realize I am going to ask you to give up, for at least a week. Take note of how you feel, your energy levels, you rmood, sleeping patterns, today, write them down. Then, at the end of the month go back and see what has changed.

This week, we will start big, night as well, go big or go home is one of my motto's! To start us off, lets eliminate high fructose corn syrup. In the link provided, I have two videos talking about how bad this stuff really is for us. The first is apparently no longer available, sorry. The second one is jam packed with great information. Watch it! You might need to watch it several times to understand, that is just fine. To keep it all in my head, I have watched it multiple times along with the one from Dr. Lustig he mentions. I will link it again at the bottom.
I am sure most of us know HFCS is bad for us. But, did you know:

  • It is linked to obesity.
  • Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Syndrome, people have to have liver transplants due to this, who have never drank!
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart Disease 
  • Gout
  • Diabetes 
  • Resistance to many hormones 
  • And the list goes on the more we learn

This stuff is in everything! I mean everything, sport drinks, soda, bread, cereal, just about anything you buy on the shelf. This is going to require you to read every label. I know it is going to be difficult, but I promise you it is worth it. Your liver will thank you.

Your steps for this week are:

  1. Write down how you are feeling, mood, sleep, fatigue, high blood pressure, anything you notice
  2. Watch the video as many times as you need.
  3. Read every label when you are shopping
  4. Eliminate this toxin

Good luck! This will be one of the best decisions you have made for your health.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn