Summer is a time to let our hair down, or put it in a messy bun, and relax! We spend days on the beach, go camping, spend time with family and friends and might not be so careful about our food choices. I am an admitted sugar addict and, in the summer, sugar definitely creeps back in to my diet with so many sweet desserts readily available.
Sugar is such an interesting chemical. Besides being responsible for causing pre-diabetes and diabetes, high blood sugar has also been linked to high triglycerides, heart conditions, PCOS, kidney disease, problems with the eyes and more, it is also hard to eliminate from our diet because it actually reacts in our brains in a similar way as drugs which makes it addictive. And this is why, I, personally, prefer to eliminate it from my diet in a group setting. But I get ahead of myself.
Our bodies store excess sugar in the liver as triglycerides. If your body is not producing enough insulin to aid in bringing the sugar into the cells where it is used for energy, the body protects itself by storing the extra sugar found in the blood in the liver. A triglyceride is actually 3 glycose molecules linked together. If one of your blood tests shows high triglycerides, look to your diet. Perhaps you are eating too much sugar, starchy vegetables and not enough healthy fats to help transport that sugar into your cells. High triglycerides can be an early sign that your body is not properly processing sugar.
Again, if there is too much sugar in your diet and your body is not efficient at moving it out of your blood and into your cells, the sugar actually causes damage to your blood vessels. This is called oxidative stress and causes issues as your cells move in to help address the issue. Lowering the amount of sugar and carbohydrates in your diet, as Dr. Dean Ornish, a cardiologist who started treating his clients through diet and lifestyle teaches in the Ornish Diet.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS, results in cysts in the ovaries. It seems to me that every other woman that I talk to has this condition. PCOS is actually the result of an imbalance in our sex hormones. Hormones are messenger molecules throughout the body. We have sex hormones, stress hormones, metabolic hormones and, despite the names suggesting that they work independently of each other, they actually all work together. Consuming too much sugar directly effects the sex hormones and can cause something called estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance may be too much estrogen in the body or and imbalance between hormones that suggests there is too much estrogen. So, yes, high blood sugar may also result in PCOS.
As a health coach, I know all this. Yet, that nasty beast, sugar, continues to creep back in my diet. For this reason, I take a step back and detox, or cleanse my body, at least 3 times a year.
I have been running cleanses for over 5 years now. I do it in a group setting where everyone is encouraged to support each other through a secret FB group in between our meetings. The cleanses are 21 days in duration which is a good time to help people establish new routines. Diet is a big part of what we discuss and the cleanse includes recipes as well as guidelines for those who want to “free-style” it.
My next cleanse will be starting September 12th and we will be meeting live for 3 weeks at Just Breathe in Westborough.
As always, previous cleanse members who wish to participate in the meetings may join us for just $30 and I would encourage past members to do so since they still receive the support and also, as experienced participants, offer a lot of value to the group. For those who sign up prior to September 5th, the cost is $147. After September 5th, the cost is $199, so I encourage you to sing up early. Plus, you will get all the material ahead of time to review and have your questions in place to be answered at our first live meeting. If you have any further questions, please go to the website to learn more about the program or call me at Just Breathe, 508-366-8292.
