You’ve probably heard the rumors about sugar being bad for your health. In the past, you’ve made a half-hearted effort to avoid it, but the time has come to step things up a notch. Opting for sugar-free coffee and using alternative sweeteners in your home baking isn’t enough to keep your health in ship shape.
And making the move towards a sugar-free diet would be a very significant move indeed. As researchers continue to delve into the ways in which our bodies process sugar, the findings show that the negative effects of sugar consumption are more severe than we ever imagined.
The many reasons why you should be avoiding sugar
The scary fact is, sugar is everywhere. While steering clear of table sugar is a good start, most of the food you’re probably eating is already loaded with sugar… whether you sprinkle sugar on it or not. Breads, pastas, fruit drinks, even peanut butter; they’re all positively pumped with sugar.
And all that excess sugar is doing you some serious damage. In addition to elevating inflammation in almost every part of your body, sugar promotes insulin resistance, increases risk of diabetes and dramatically impairs brain function. The direct links between sugar and candida, a highly prevalent yeast infection, have long been established, as has the association between sugar and dental caries.
So if you want to look good, feel good and live a longer life, it’s definitely in your best interests to cut back on the sugar. One of the best ways to do this is by targeting your hitherto-unknown sugar addiction, via an effective sugar detox diet. In the next section, I’ll outline a seven-day sugar detox meal plan that will help to kick your deep-seated sugar addiction and cleanse your body of excess sugar. It’s not going to be easy, but it’ll be well worth the effort!
Seven-day sugar detox meal plan
Unlike other meal plans, this seven-day sugar detox doesn’t seek to completely remove sugar from every meal you eat. To do so would send you spirals of misery, with the resultant Herxheimer’s reaction causing headaches, fever, chills, body aches and a whole lot of unenjoyment. What’s more, completely starving your body of sugar generally isn’t a good idea for those people suffering from candida (hint: you’re probably one of these people!), as the candida tends to retaliate and make matters a whole lot worse.
Feel free to mix and match the meals each day, but ensure you stay well away from grains, more than one serving of fruit and anything processes. All of these foods contain high levels of glucose and fructose, which can completely ruin your efforts.
Day 1
Breakfast: Sautéed spinach in olive oil, two to three free-range eggs fried in grass-fed butter, optional half-serving of sweet potato fried in coconut oil, green tea.
Lunch: Green salad with pumpkin seeds, feta cheese and roast chicken.
Snack: Celery dipped in grass-fed, preservative-free sour cream.
Dinner: Roast lamb leg with herbs, garlic, half-serving of onion, optional butternut squash and broccoli.
Dessert: Half a serving of raspberries with either full-fat yogurt or coconut yogurt.
Day 2
Breakfast: Protein smoothie with full-fat milk, grass-fed whey or pea protein, full-fat dairy or coconut yogurt, blackberries or black currants and cinnamon.
Lunch: Leftover roast lamb and roast veggie salad with fresh mint and finely chopped lettuce.
Snack: Apple with 1/4 cup of raw almonds.
Dinner: Wild-caught salmon sautéed in grass-fed butter with steamed cauliflower and lightly sautéed kale.
Dessert: Dark chocolate (at least 75 percent) dipped in coconut oil.
Day 3
Breakfast: Leftover salmon or turkey breast on a bed of leafy greens with balsamic vinegar, green tea.
Lunch: Roasted vegetable frittata made with free-range eggs and grass-fed cheese.
Snack: Apple slices with sugar-free peanut butter dip.
Dinner: Roast chicken with roasted parsnip, garlic and red onion, sautéed kale or collard greens.
Dessert: A half serving of raspberries with either full-fat yogurt or coconut yogurt.
Day 4
Breakfast: Sautéed spinach in olive oil, two to three free-range eggs fried in grass-fed butter, optional half-serving of sweet potato fried in coconut oil, green tea.
Lunch: Green salad with pumpkin seeds, feta cheese and roast chicken.
Snack: Celery dipped in grass-fed, preservative-free sour cream.
Dinner: Roast lamb leg with herbs, garlic, half-serving of onion, optional butternut squash and broccoli.
Dessert: A half serving of raspberries with either full-fat yogurt or coconut yogurt.
Day 5
Breakfast: Protein smoothie with full-fat milk, grass-fed whey or pea protein, full-fat dairy or coconut yogurt, blackberries or blackcurrants, and cinnamon.
Lunch: Leftover roast lamb and roast veggie salad with fresh mint and finely chopped lettuce.
Snack: Apple with 1/4 cup of raw almonds.
Dinner: Wild-caught salmon sautéed in grass-fed butter with steamed cauliflower and lightly sautéed kale.
Dessert: Dark chocolate (at least 75 percent) dipped in coconut oil.
Day 6
Breakfast: Leftover salmon or turkey breast on a bed of leafy greens with balsamic vinegar, green tea.
Lunch: Roasted vegetable frittata made with free-range eggs and grass-fed cheese.
Snack: Apple slices with sugar-free peanut butter dip.
Dinner: Roast chicken with roasted parsnip, garlic and red onion, sautéed kale or collard greens.
Dessert: A half serving of raspberries with either full-fat yogurt or coconut yogurt.
Day 7
Breakfast: Scrambled free-range eggs with grass-fed cheese, sautéed kale, green tea.
Lunch: Salad with pastured ham, cucumber, lettuce, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, cold sweet potato and home-made raw honey-mustard dressing (go light on the honey!).
Snack: 1/4 cup raw almonds or cashews with dark chocolate.
Dinner: Roasted wild salmon with fresh dill, cream cheese, roasted sweet potato and steamed broccoli.
Dessert: Blueberries or blackberries with full-fat yogurt and cinnamon.
While you can mix and match the meals depending on your ingredients, be sure to keep starchy vegetables like sweet potato to a minimum. If you’re thinking about eating fruit, low-sugar options like apples, pears, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are always the best option. If you’re sick of sweet potato, you can substitute in butternut squash, acorn squash or green plantains for a tasty low-carb starchy side.
— Liivi Hess
