Trying to eat healthy and lose weight can seem a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.

With so many products screaming the buzzwords healthy, natural, low fat, low sugar, and even gluten-free these days, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Do you need a degree in food science or chemistry to take care of your body?

No, but begin with this thought: our bodies are designed to be in balance.

There is a complex mechanism of hormonal feedback created in the body to help us survive and thrive.

Clearly something is out of whack.

Something is blocking that perfect communication system.

Meet the hormone disruptors:

 

Diet Sodas, Artificial Sweeteners including Aspartame

When people claim they are addicted to sugar or to diet sodas, don’t roll your eyes!

The brain responds to sweetness by releasing a pleasure hormone, dopamine, giving you that happy, feel-good jolt.

The brain will signal when you’ve had enough to eat by releasing another hormone, leptin, producing a sense of satiety, fullness, or satisfaction.

This only happens when that sweet flavor contains calories.

Drinking or eating products that are sweetened artificially shuts down this communication, and you consume more.

Without the release of leptin, people overeat, never feeling satisfied.

In The Oregonian, Dr.s Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen warned Evidence from human studies shows that artificially sweetened drinks are associated with weight gain in adults and teens, and raise risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Take Away: Using low and no calorie drinks to lose weight is working against you.

 

MSG

Monosodium glutamate is an additive that’s sole purpose is to get us to eat more by exciting

the taste buds. MSG, often hiding under the harmless sounding moniker “natural flavor” is

what gives food that savory flavor.

You’ll find it in frozen dinners, salad dressing, chips, soups, and meat products to name just a few.

Like artificial sweeteners, MSG inhibits the release of leptin that tells you when to stop eating.

After following 10,000 adult Chinese males for an average of 5.5 years, research showed that those who ate the most MSG were 30% more likely to become overweight.

Take Away: Read the labels.  How much MSG are you really eating?

 

Hidden Sugars and High Fructose Corn Syrup

Yogurt, wine, crackers, bread, even my favorite corn bread mix!

Sugar gives quick energy, but what if you don’t need it? lt is stored as fat.

Yes, it is sugar that is making us fat, not fat!

Sugar and sweeteners are hiding everywhere.

Over the years, manufacturers have been adding more sugar and sweeteners in a calculated effort to increase profits.

Profit is perfect for business and for the stockholders, but are you letting their profit motive sabotage your health?

Do you trust that food giant to have your best interest at heart, even when they claim they do?

 

When sugar is too expensive manufacturers substitute high fructose corn syrup or add other

sugars in other forms.

Sugar hides as sucrose, fructose, dextrose, maltose, and the list goes on! The common denominator is the suffix —ose.

Take Away: Look in your pantry and find the all the products with sugars hiding under different names.

 

Wheat

“Whole-grained goodness” the package screams. Not so!

Carbohydrates break down rapidly to supply glycogen for quick energy, raising blood sugar levels.

That’s why athletes carbo-load before events. Trouble is, most of the time we don’t need all that energy. So where does it go?

Just like excess sugar, it makes a fast track into fat storage.

To counter soaring blood sugar from that baguette, bagel or crackers, the pancreas pumps

insulin, trying to stabilize blood sugar levels.

Then insulin pulls the sugar out, and stores it as fat.

This is an over simplification, of course, but when the communication in your body is so

disrupted by excessive eating, disordered eating and just plain lack of variety, the mechanism of balance stays off-kilter.

Buzz – crash – craving – buzz – crash – craving.

Do you get the idea that wheat could really be listed under Hidden Sugars above?

Take a look at how many wheat product you eat each day.

The food pyramid would have you eating 9-11 servings!

That’s way too much!

Substitute other grains like rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth.

Take Away: Experiment and see what new flavors you can discover. Better yet, substitute vegetables for the starch on your plate.

 

Soy

Soy – Sports drinks, diet drinks, protein bars, infant formula, soy protein powders, soy protein

isolate, soy milk —soy is even hidden in canned chili as a cheap protein booster.

Affecting estrogen levels in the body, soy contains phytoestrogens that have been implicated in

numerous health situations, including inhibiting protein digestion, stimulating tumors, and

creating calcium, zinc, vitamin D, and iron deficiencies.

Touted as an inexpensive plant-based protein source with a long history of use in Asia, the soy we consume is nothing like the fermented Asian soy products.

The fermenting process deactivates soy’s natural toxins.

Instead of fermented soy in the form of tofu and miso soup, Americans consume massive amounts of unfermented processed soy: soy protein isolates, soy isolfavones, soy milk, hidden soy added to boost protein content and soy hiding behind other names.

Added to the health concerns above, soy foods are being implicated in thyroid problems, Alzheimer’s, early menarche in our girls,and lowered testosterone in men.

To complicate matters, most soy in the US is genetically modified.

The icing on the cake is that soy processing is thought to increase carcinogens, along

with retaining the natural toxins.

 

Take Away: If they have to tell you it is healthy… is it?

The Solution?

Start small.

Gradually train your taste buds away from sweets and wheats.

Make sure you are eating enough calories and protein throughout the day to avoid blood sugar swings, and never, ever skip meals. That throws your body in to crisis, and shuts down your fat-burning hormones!

Use unsweetened yogurt, and add a small amount of honey or natural applesauce.

Try the same thing, substituting unsweetened oatmeal for the packaged products.

Look for Ezekiel flourless sprouted products, including bread, pasta, cereals and more at

www.FoodForLife.com.

Get the crunch you crave with GG Bran Crispbread.

Snack on 9-12 raw almonds to get a protein boost.

Eat fruit in the evening when the blood sugar spike-and-crash will be less noticeable.

Add some new vegetables to your repertoire.

Take Away: Take action to manage and dissolve the stress that leads to emotional eating. Exercise, take time out for you, and learn to use Emotional Freedom Technique/ Tapping or self-hypnosis to put your mind and your body in a healthier place!

 

Start with Small Changes

Begin buying fewer packaged foods that contain chemical additives.

Shop the perimeter of the grocery, buying food in the package that God made!

Take it one day at a time as you gently steer yourself to better and better relationship with food.

lt’s your health! Take charge!

Watch for more articles to support your healthy switch, including bite-sized exercise and

craving control. If you like this article and want to know more, watch for my upcoming webinar: How To Eat Anything You Want And Never Gain Another Pound.

Be sure to add Lili@LiliHudson.com to your address book, so you never miss a word!