Monthly Archives: January 2015

What?! It’s true. Sugar not only makes your pants tight-- it causes lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin. Sugar and processed carbohydrates that turn to sugar in the body (bread, pasta, cereal, etc.) are quickly converted to glucose in your bloodstream. The overload of glucose can cause a reaction called glycation, where excess sugar molecules attach themselves to collagen fibers and form harmful new molecules called advanced glycation end products (or AGEs for short).

Collagen and elastin fibers are what keep the skin firm and elastic and when they’re damaged the skin looks less radiant, becomes less elastic, and is more vulnerable to lines, sagging, and sun damage. And…the more sugar you consume, the more AGEs you develop.

Come on you guys I’m telling you…sugar just isn’t a good thing! But that doesn’t mean you have to give up everything sweet. There are some simple (and painless) changes you can make.  The amount of sugar you eat adds up during the day so making better choices will make a big difference.

I was doing a grocery shopping tour with one of my clients at Vitamin Cottage last week and we were looking at yogurt. I like Greek yogurt best because it’s much higher in protein than regular yogurt--but all Greek yogurt is not created equal.

First we looked at Wallaby Organic Plain Greek Yogurt. It contained 23 grams of protein and 6 grams of sugar per serving. There was no added sugar; the sugar came from the lactose in the milk. Right next to it was Wallaby Organic Vanilla Greek Yogurt. Get this…it contained 15 grams of protein and 21 grams of sugar—just from the switch from plain to vanilla!

Now you may be saying…”but the vanilla tastes better.” I agree, but how about if you create your own? Take the plain yogurt and add stevia and vanilla extract. Now you have vanilla yogurt with more protein and much less sugar! Add some nuts and/or berries and you will have a delicious light breakfast or snack.

Taking sugar out of your diet wherever you can will make a big difference in your health, in the way you look, and the way you feel!

A good way to start the New Year is to completely cut out—or cut way back on SUGAR. We all know sugar isn’t good for us and can cause weight gain. But eating excess sugar can also lead to a lowered immune system, premature aging, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Sugar is inflammatory, and inflammation is now believed to be at the heart of every degenerative disease we know of.

We expect to find sugar in cookies, ice cream, and donuts—but it sneaks into far more foods than you would ever imagine…foods like yogurt, marinara, salad dressings, ketchup, barbeque sauce, deli meats, pretzels, crackers, cereal, and the list goes on.

If you want to avoid sugar, you have to read labels. Some packaged foods have three or more different sources of sugar sprinkled throughout the ingredient list! Believe me, it’s worth the time you’ll spend doing it and in no time you’ll become a savvy (and healthier) consumer!

It’s important to look at the label where it says total sugars and divide the number by four, because there are four grams of sugar per teaspoon. The number you come up with is the number of teaspoons of sugar you’re ingesting—and that’s just per serving! Check and see how many servings are in the container.

Here is a partial list of different names for sugar:

• Agave
• Barley malt
• Beet sugar
• Brown sugar
• Cane juice crystals
• Cane sugar
• Caramel
• Corn syrup
• Carob syrup
• Castor sugar
• Date sugar
• Demerara
• Dextran
• Dextrose
• Diastatic malt
• Diatase
• Ethyl maltol
• Fructose
• Fruit juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Galactose
• Glucose
• Grape sugar
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Honey
• Lactose
• Maltodextrin
• Maltose
• Malt syrup
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Panocha
• Raw sugar
• Rice syrup
• Sorbitol
• Sorghum syrup
• Sucrose
• Treacle

More on sugar next week!

Do you ever wake up craving something sweet? Some of you are saying “Yeah, duh--every day!” I know, me too. How about Apple Coconut Waffles?

So, of course as most of you know, eating sugar in the morning or even carbohydrates that turn to sugar (cereal, bagels, toast) will set you up for blood sugar highs and lows and sugar cravings all darn day (not to mention lulls in energy, fat storage, and all the other problems it can cause).

Because I often feel like something sweet in the morning I like to drink a chocolate protein shake like Medipro Vegan. I make it with unsweetened almond milk and add coconut oil, flax meal, frozen berries, and vegetables. Yep, vegetables. It’s so yummy you don’t even taste them! Medipro isn’t sold in stores but I always have it on hand if you ever want to try it.

But it’s COLD outside and a cold protein shake is not appealing to me at all right now. I love eggs, turkey bacon, and vegetables some mornings, but when I want something sweet I start digging through recipes. This morning I tried Apple Coconut Waffles. I don’t have a waffle iron so I made them as pancakes. It only calls for one tablespoon of maple syrup but I substituted Nature’s Hollow Sugar-free Maple Syrup because I cut out sugar wherever I can. You could also use a little stevia (I like NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia) or Swerve sweetener. I also kept the peel on the apple. I’m such a rebel, aren’t I?  🙂

They were good! I cooked them in coconut oil and also melted more on the top along with a little unsweetened shredded coconut. There are only two eggs in the whole batch so although you’re getting a little protein from the blanched almond flour it’s not enough protein to start off the morning so I’d suggest eating a pancake or waffle with an egg or two or some turkey bacon or sausage. You can eat the leftovers for another breakfast or snack and maybe even spread a little almond butter or natural peanut butter on them. Let me know what you think!

I’m going to be talking about sugar all this month and how you can actually be happy without it so stay tuned!

Also, don't forget to sign up for my free teleconference call: STRESS CAN MAKE ME FAT?! this coming Tuesday, January 6th at 6:30pm MST. Click here to sign up and get an access number and code. I look forward to having you on the call with me!

Happy New Year!

Debbie Lunnon

Your Mindful Wellness Coach