Whole 9 Nugget-
SUGAR
(This post is pretty loaded, but settle in with some hot coffee, kick back, and take it all in. You don't want to miss this information!)
Such karma, once again! A linked piece just on the day I needed it! The full article from Detail can be found here: Are Carbs More Addictive Than Cocaine?
But please carefully read this excerpt that gets at the root of the issue with sugar and other refined carbs:
The answer is that fast-burning carbohydrates—just like cocaine—give you a rush. As with blow, this rush can lead to cravings in your brain and intrusive thoughts when you go too long without a fix. But unlike cocaine, this stuff does more than rewire your neurological system. It will short-circuit your body. Your metabolism normally stockpiles energy so you can use it as fuel later. A diet flush with carbohydrates will reprogram your metabolism, locking your food away as unburnable fat. When you get hungry again you won't crave anything but more of the same food that started you down the path to dependency. Think of this stuff as more than a drug—it's like a metabolic parasite, taking over your body and feeding itself.
You aren't supposed to talk this way about carbohydrates. According to USDA dietary recommendations, they are not only healthy but are supposed to make up the majority of the food we eat—45 to 65 percent of all calories. Carbs, which are classified as starches and sugars, make up the essence of bread, cereal, corn, potatoes, cookies, pasta, fruit, juice, candy, beer, and sweetened drinks—basically anything that isn't protein or fat. Our government's recommendations were established in the 1970s and have since been accompanied by an explosion of obesity and diabetes. The advice came about as early nutrition scientists rallied around a misguided maxim that remains embedded in the fabric of our attitudes toward food to this day: Eating too much fat makes you fat. But science never bore out this pre-Galilean view of nutrition. What is now clear is this: At the center of the obesity universe lie carbohydrates, not fat.
And this part of the article, concisely explains the hormonal response to sugar/carbs. This will be a topic for the website later this week, but if you'd like to read more on your hormonal response to food, check out "A Week in the Zone" by Barry Sears. Super short, super easy read. "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain is also a great one- not too scientific and packed with clear info.
How You Get Hooked (Over Time)1. When you take in carbs, like Gatorade or whole-wheat bread, you secrete the hormone insulin. Even thinking about carbs causes this to happen.
2. Refined carbs spike blood sugar, and this is a big problem. The first result is that your body immediately stops burning its existing fat stores.
3. Too much blood sugar is a dangerous situation, and in response, insulin, a hormone, rips it from your blood and tells the body to store the energy as fat (in men this first happens around the waist).
4. Normally your liver controls blood sugar, but because you eat so many carbs you have a constant supply of insulin circulating. This turns out to be bad—very bad. This causes you to become resistant to insulin.
5. Insulin resistance means your body pumps out more insulin to make up for the deficit. Now you're getting fat, but what's worse is that your body desires even more carbs as fodder for the excess insulin.
6. You get fatter and fatter and your body craves more carbs to feed your increasing girth. This destructive cycle is why Americans are so overweight (the process doesn't happen overnight).
Meg's Commentary:
Let's face it.
When we're talking Paleo and "clean eating," sugar and grains are by far the most challenging for most to kick out of their diets.
THEY ARE ADDICTIVE!
They taste good, they're comforting, they have emotional "attachments."
I get it.
For Rich- it's his grandma's red velvet cake, and a scone on Saturday mornings, and his mom's sky-high apple pie.
For me, it WAS Cravings carrot cake (no better dessert in all the land) and buttery, crunchy toast.
I know it's really, really hard, but I also know that the less you eat of them, the EASIER it is long term.
I've never had much of a sweet tooth (besides carrot cake), but I was a CARB GIRL through and through- give me the fruit, grainy toast, oatmeal, mac & cheese, bagels, cereal. That's what I LIVED on (in addition to some vegetables and the occasional egg) for a couple decades.
REMEMBER, ALL CARBS GET BROKEN DOWN INTO SUGARS ONCE DIGESTED!
I was not healthy.
I worked out...A LOT, but I wasn't lean.
I was tired all the time.
I was hungry ALL the time.
I felt puffy.
I was NOT healthy.
When I met the husband, I slowly started eating more cheese and eggs and less refined carbs.
Then when we started Zoning, I ate even less grain and no sugar (unless it was a birthday... carrot cake, you know).
Then Paleo came along, and I sadly gave up my Ezekiel toast and oatmeal, too.
I didn't believe it at the time. I thought I'd give it 6 weeks and then go back to my beloved buttered toast, but I didn't.
For about 8 months, I still had my Saturday toast and Indian paratha bread on our free Saturdays, but weirdly, I stopped doing even that.
It would sit in my stomach like a rock, and I craved it less and less the longer I ate strict Paleo.
The last time I had carrot cake a year ago on my birthday, I literally got sick. An hour later. Completely fine. My body rejected all that sugar.
Once you kick the habit, your body will talk to you.
I promise.
You just have to fight through the first month or so, and after that, limit yourself to a treat here and there when you it's really important to you.
Remember:
Meats and Vegetables
Nuts and Seeds (and other healthy fats)
Some Fruit
Little Starch (as in sweet potatoes- not grains)
NO SUGAR
(Last point- our kids don't need it any more than we do! Yes, the occasional treat should fit into the spectrum of a healthy diet, but think about all the sugars they possibly consume in packaged foods as well as cookies, juices, and snacks.)
More information on SUGAR:
Mark's Daily Apple
Whole 9 Life
Sugar=Sugar=Sugar
In addition, don't fool yourself with agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, etc.
They're all forms of sugar.
Another point that Melissa made at the workshop that must be shared is that
YOU NEED NOT PALEO-FY A POOR FOOD CHOICE.
Fudge babies, Paleo pancakes, Paleo muffins, Paleo brownies, Paleo pizza-
Don't trick yourself into thinking that these are healthy because they don't technically have any grains in them.
YOU ARE NOT LEARNING TO CHANGE YOUR HABITS AND MAKE BETTER CHOICES BY CONSUMING THESE!
Moving right along! Our dots are up!
Thanks to Grammy for eyeballing it and placing our wall ball stickers up so that we can focus more on accuracy!
You're amped up now, aren't ya?
Want to get your hands on a med ball and give it a go! :)
Hubba Hubba!
An all-male class at 9:30 on Saturday!
We took one of the team WOD's from the competition, "Here's the Catch" and expanded it a bit.
While one partner was completing max reps in one minute, the other partner had to hold a bumper (45/25) overhead. If the bumper was lowered, the reps didn't count.
Fun one!
Clips from the day!
By the way, I learned two things on Saturday-
#1- Karen Bruns has got some moves!
#2- Marketti is president of Bean's fan club.
OUR NEXT TIME FOR DINNER ORDER
IS DUE THIS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9th!
If you'd like to place an order, please mention that you're with CFKW as we can earn gift certificates for our members- very cool!
Here's the menu again:
Download Time for Dinner Paleo Menu
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