Introducing a new segment of this blog: HEALTH PRESENCE
When I was a little kid, the sugary soda pop was a rare and special treat. Time passed. Then came the days when soda was the beverage of choice to wash down the meal. Ahhh. A nice cool soda on ice. Then, something strange happened as a teenager … acne. I remember the feeling of toxins releasing from my skin. I can’t say that anything cured the acne, but acne moved me to healthier habits. At the very least, I felt healthier. Friends and family looked at me as if I was crazy. It was a strange time of drinking water while everyone else had soda. These were the days before bottles of water were everywhere. Water was something that came out of the tap.
Today, when I start any discussion on diet, I ask about sugary drinks. Do you drink soda? fruit juices? Are you drinking your calories? I have watched some patients shed pounds by making just one change — replace the sugary drinks with water.
The sweetened beverages are everywhere. From the classic soda to the coffee latte with flavored syrups, from the fruit juice with antioxidants to the empty calories in beer, from the energy drinks loaded with sugar and caffeine to the flavored milk shake, these drinks tempt us on every menu. They all target our insatiable sweet tooth. Sugar causes a release of dopamine, the “reward hormone,” in the brain. We essentially become addicted to the sugar high. The brain says, “Give me another hit!”
While the sugar tastes good, studies show that drinking our sugar does not satiate the appetite as well as solid food. The result? We over-consume calories and gain weight. Sugar is also linked to diseases like diabetes mellitus and heart disease. Sugary drinks cause spikes in the blood sugar with the classic sugar rush of energy. The body responds quickly, usually overcompensating, leading to the sugar low. If you keep chasing those lows with more sugar, you end up oscillating between high and low, rarely staying balanced.
Healthy mind and healthy presence, requires attention to physical health. Stay tuned for more blog updates on “Health Presence” for Living the Present Moment.
In the meantime, don’t drink your sugar. Keep your blood sugar stable and your brain will feel more stable too. Yes, you might go through the “sugar withdrawals.” Stick with it. If you can make it through 2 weeks avoiding all sugary drinks, sugary desserts, and all processed sugars, you will reset your “sweet tooth.” Everything will start to taste “too sweet,” and you will find new motivation to shift to a healthy lifestyle without the sugar addiction.