 The Final Week of Our Sugar Detox How do you feel? Right now, you should be experiencing the “magic” of reduced sugar consumption: steady energy throughout the day, better digestion, improved sleep and level moods. Keep up the good work! If you find yourself still craving sugar, try quenching your thirst with some no added-sugar options below. Sugar cravings can be a mask for dehydration. Staying hydrated is yet another interrelated resolution we will tackle mid-year. We enter Week 4 by removing sugar from dinner! The same principles apply to dinner as lunch. In Week 4, you hopefully gained confidence in your ability to read labels. But what happens when you cannot read a label? When you are in a restaurant or at a picnic, BBQ or affair or event? How do you choose wisely? You can ask the wait staff if there is added sugar, but you may not get an accurate answer. Here are a few tips to navigate dining outside the home: Where is the hidden sugar in a restaurant?
Want to enjoy a cocktail? Sure! Keep in mind, the plain alcohols with no added sugar are: tequila, vodka, and gin. If you level up to a flavored spirit, sugar has likely been added. But remember what you add to the spirit is typically where the downfall occurs. Almost ALL mixers and fruit juices have added sugar! Here are a few examples of mixers that are sugar bombs:
To keep it free of added sugar, keep it simple with vodka and club soda or tequila with fresh lime. Where do we go from here? Just because we are wrapping up the resolution doesn’t mean we need to go back to our “old ways.” As we discussed in week one, added sugar can negatively impact the brain in several ways, and the average American consumes sugar in excess. So, what are some potential strategies for reducing added sugar going forward? Some people are able to stay sugar-free all the time with exceptions for special occasions. Perhaps this could be you, too! It just takes time to learn what works for you in real life, and then allow your palate to make that final adjustment. If a no-sugar-added lifestyle doesn’t interest you, decide what your allowances will be:
We hope you enjoyed this month’s Sugar Detox! See you next week for a new resolution! TRACK YOUR PROGRESS YOUR MINI RESOLUTION: REDUCE YOUR SUGAR INTAKE Click or tap to view and download the log.
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 Lunch with a Side of Sugar Withdrawals Happy Monday and welcome to your third week of our Sugar Detox! At this point, with added sugar removed from your breakfast and snacks, you may start experiencing some sugar withdrawal symptoms like fatigue, headache, crankiness, brain fog and cravings. These symptoms are perfectly normal and temporary! Stay strong, power through it, try to get adequate sleep and remember your dietary friends are protein, greens, fiber and fluids. In Week 1, we mentioned the association between the microbiome and sugar consumption – both interrelated resolutions, to be revisited during our future resolution about the microbiome. Last week we advised of the connection between sleep and sugar consumption- again another example of those interrelated resolutions. Exercise is also an interrelated resolution because it helps the body “use up” excess sugar, minimizing its detrimental effects. Simple movements (exercise such as walks, yoga, etc.) helps take the edge off during a sugar detox, providing you with energy, lifting the brain fog and reducing headaches. We have a future resolution around exercise. This week, we continue to remove added sugar from breakfast and snacks, and also resolve to remove added sugar from home cooked lunches. No-Added-Sugar Lunch As discussed in Week One, breakfast is typically a sugar bomb, but the sugar is typically easy to identify. Lunch, however, can be trickier. Hidden sugars are in everything from processed meat to salad dressing, bread, prepared soups and sauces, as well as many beverages. Remember to read the labels of your ingredients before banging the pots and pans! PRO TIP: The amount of sugar in condiments, sauces and dressings is mind blowing. Keep them free of added sugar with the Primal Kitchen line. Easy make-ahead options
No time, in no time!
Between the bread Bread often has added sugar. Here are a few alternatives to try for your afternoon sandwich: What to drink with your meal or throughout the day?
Feel free to email your Motivated Mondays Coach Michele at [email protected] with your individual questions. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS YOUR MINI RESOLUTION: REDUCE YOUR SUGAR INTAKE Click or tap to view and download the log.  Cutting Added Sugar from Breakfast and Snacks Happy Monday! We hope you read labels with a fresh eye last week and tried some new breakfast recipes without added sugar! This week our mini resolution is to continue to keep sugar out of breakfast and to also remove added sugar from our snacks. In March, when we resolve to sleep better, we will discuss the connection between poor sleep and poor food decisions. People who under-sleep consume 500-800 more calories per day, mostly through snacks and typically in the form of fat and added sugar. Sleep and sugar consumption are another example of two resolutions with a strong inter-relationship. So, let’s say you didn’t sleep well last night. You had a no-added-sugar breakfast, but you are longing for some energy or just some crunch to get you between meals. What are your options? In general, no-added-sugar trail mix (much dried fruit has sugar added, so be sure to always read those labels!) travels well and can be kept in a purse or glove box for emergencies. Here are a few other snack ideas: On the sweet side options:
Savory options
PRO TIP: If you’re a dessert person, most of the sweet snack ideas above will satisfy dessert, too! And don’t forget protein, greens, fiber and fluids are your friends! If you have access to a blender, a half-scoop of protein powder or plain yogurt with a little fruit, dark greens, and ice will take the edge off! We will see you next week when we tackle lunch! Feel free to email your Motivated Mondays Coach Michele at [email protected] with your individual questions. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS YOUR MINI RESOLUTION: ELIMINATE ADDED SUGAR Click or tap to view and download the log.  Added Sugars and Neurodegeneration Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been called Diabetes Type 3 in the literature. While this is a misnomer because it fails to acknowledge all the other modifiable lifestyle factors and nonmodifiable environmental and genetic factors that influence the development and progression of AD, it does drive home the point about excessive added sugar consumption and the risk to neurological health. A 2023 U.S.-based study on adult men and women found those with the highest daily consumption of table sugar teaspoons (58 grams or 14 teaspoons) had nearly twice the risk of developing AD than those with the lowest intake (27 grams or 7 teaspoons). . Keep in mind, the recommended maximum consumption of daily teaspoons of sugar for women is 6, and for men, 9. (That is the ceiling, not the goal). The average American consumes 22 teaspoons! 
How does sugar impact the brain? A diet high in added sugar promotes inflammation. This includes neuroinflammation which, as discussed, this leads to neuronal injury, and even death of brain cells. Neuroinflammation is implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD), AD, dementia, schizophrenia, MS and ALS A diet high in added sugar negatively impacts the microbiome. What is the microbiome? The microbiome and sugar consumption are an example of the many inter-related resolutions we will discuss in 2025, we have a future Motivated Mondays on the microbiome’s connection to brain health later this year. A diet high in added sugar damages blood vessels, including those in the brain. The blood brain barrier is a filter, composed of capillaries (small blood vessels) designed to protect the brain and central nervous system from pathogens and toxins. A diet high in added sugar reduces the integrity of the blood brain barrier, increasing permeability. A diet high in added sugar promotes the development of amyloid in the brain. Amyloid prevents brain cells from communicating with one another. A diet high in added sugar can lead to Type 2 diabetes. The type of diabetes affected by modifiable lifestyle factors, has been said to almost double one’s risk of AD and other forms of dementia. Prediabetes also increases that risk. Thus, our first resolution is to remove added sugar from our diet. We aren’t going to ask you to go cold turkey out of the gate! Our plan is to look at a different meal each week and remove the added sugars. We begin with breakfast because it is the WORST offender in most folks’ diets. We hope this process will help you treat sugar as just that, a treat-and not an acceptable ingredient in every meal. To be clear, for our purposes this month, we are discussing added sugar. Sugars that occur naturally in food are generally OK for the average person (there are exceptions). Nature wraps it up in a package of fiber, vitamins and minerals that makes it a wholesome option. On the other hand, added sugar is where the trouble begins. Outside of what you add from your sugar bowl, or what’s obvious in a cake, sugar is hidden in many foods such as bacon, ketchup, cold cuts, salad dressing and nut butters to name a few that surprise most folks. As a result, we must learn to read labels. Keep in mind, manufacturers have a litany of names of added sugars/sweeteners you may not be familiar with so vigilant label reading is imperative! Here are those hidden names. Most food manufacturers are now required to list the added sugars on the nutrition label. However, they didn’t make it easy for consumers to understand because they made it as a percentage of your total daily intake. How many people do you think actually know how many calories they consume each day in order do that math? Here is an example of how the new labels appear. But who has the bandwidth to figure that out? Here is a simple formula to make it easy for you!
Here is a printable handout for your refrigerator:  A few folks will be tempted to look for sugar-free (SF) substitutes as an option; heed our warning: DON’T! Sugar substitutes are, in most cases, worse for you than sugar! Why is that? It is established that artificial sweeteners:
No-Sugar-Added Breakfast Options So now you know the ceiling (not the goal, but the cap) on how much added sugar to consume in a day: women = 6 teaspoons, men = 9 teaspoons, as well as how to find and calculate sugar on a label. Geared up with all this information, what will you eat for your no-added-sugar breakfast this week? There is always a veggie omelet; plain oatmeal with banana and unsweetened peanut butter; smoothie made with protein (unsweetened yogurt or protein powder), greens and frozen fruit. And here are a few additional recipes to consider: For those accustomed to cereal in the morning
Salad for breakfast! Yes, protein, greens and fiber served right up! No time? Make-ahead this veggie-packed breakfast frittata or purchase one of these Grab-n-Go breakfasts: waffles or freeze-dried meals. PRO TIP: A few things will tame sugar cravings, like protein; greens; fiber; and plenty of fluids (with no added sugar, of course). We will see you next week when we take added sugar out of snacks! Feel free to email your Motivated Mondays Coach Michele at [email protected] with your individual questions. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS YOUR MINI RESOLUTION: ELIMINATE ADDED SUGAR Click or tap to view and download the log. |
MICHELE MCCAMBRIDGE, MPH, MSMichele is the Senior VP of Membership Development at Concierge Choice Physicians. She is also a professional in the areas of nutrition, fitness and wellness. Archives
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