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Break Free from Addictive Junk Food

The AHA! Team — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 06:28:21 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – In a breakthrough study, researchers at Yale and the University of Cologne reveal that your brain has been trained to crave and consume processed foods. I’m sure you know how hard it can be to resist certain insulin-spiking foods that score high on the glycemic index – like French fries, potato chips, pasta, and bagels. But why? The answer has nothing to do with weak willpower and it certainly has nothing to do with the latest nonsense from mainstream medicine about having a genetic mutation that makes you crave sweet foods. The real reason your brain craves junk food is far more disturbing… In a breakthrough study, researchers at Yale and the University of Cologne reveal that your brain has been trained to crave and consume processed foods. If you don’t do something about it, you won’t just gain weight; you’ll leave yourself vulnerable to all kinds of chronic conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer. The researchers found that eating these modern carb-loaded concoctions physically rewires your brain, so you subconsciously prefer them over natural, healthy foods.1 The study found that super-processed snacks and desserts activate the parts of your brain responsible for pleasure and reward and also release the feel-good hormone dopamine. Like it or not, you’ve been turned into an addict by America’s food companies. The researchers found that the more carb-heavy and processed-sugary products you eat, the more your brain craves them – and the effect lasts for months after you’ve stopped eating them. You see, the brain’s heightened response to these foods among study participants was even greater after eight weeks, the full length of the study – but the researchers added that their addictive effects were likely to keep increasing long into the future. That’s bad news because the typical American diet is loaded with carb-heavy, processed foods containing unnaturally high amounts of grains, cheap and unhealthy vegetable oils, dangerous preservatives, and refined sugar. But the problem is not just the harm these foods cause. They also leave your body starving for the vitamins, minerals, live enzymes, and micronutrients you need to ward off disease. And now we know why it’s so hard to quit eating them – because they’re also addictive. The good news is you can retrain your brain by switching to the right foods and the right kind of exercise – just as your primal ancestors did. You see, your body didn’t evolve to eat fake food. Your primal ancestors evolved to survive and thrive on protein, healthy fats, wild fruits, and vegetables. Today, Big Agra and greedy corporations have turned everything on its head – and they’ve made us addicts in the process. 6 Simple Steps That Will Help You Break Free From Big Food’s Addictive Junk So here are a few easy tips I give to my patients to help them break the habits that are lining the pockets of Big Food and destroying your health. Severely restrict ultra-processed foods. You can start by reducing processed carbohydrates. That means avoiding products that contain refined sugars and processed grains. Keep grains like wheat, rice, and corn, as well as breakfast cereals, cereal bars, and low-fiber or sweetened foods to a minimum. Instead, eat plenty of above-ground and green, leafy vegetables, onions and garlic, berries, and other fresh fruits, nuts, and seeds. Carbs should never make up any more than 5% or 10% of your total calorie intake. Avoid high-fructose corn syrup. This is one of the most processed and concentrated forms of sugar on the planet. One more reason to stay away from processed foods or anything packed in a box, can, or plastic container (even if it’s labeled organic). Once you cut this out, your brain’s sugar and carb addiction will be easier to break. Eat quality calories. Conventional doctors will tell you the key to fat loss is cutting back on calories. But it’s not about the quantity of calories. It’s all about the quality of calories. Eat meals based on protein…as many different kinds of protein as you can get. Protein signals your body to stop eating. Getting enough protein retrains your brain from “store fat” to “burn fat” and rids your brain of its refined sugar addiction Eat the right fats. Don’t cut back on fat. Instead, eat the right fats like omega-3s. Your body needs them to absorb vitamins and nutrients, and they are non-addictive. Practice short-duration, high-intensity, progressively challenging workouts. Exercise is one of the best ways to retrain your body and brain to eat the right foods. It also helps your body shed fat and resets your insulin response which goes haywire with an excess of carbs and refined sugar.2 Eat low glycemic index foods. High glycemic index foods, which are usually processed ones, are loaded with sugars, starches, and grains that cause hormonal hunger and trigger addictive brain patterns. But low glycemic index foods – those that don’t raise your blood sugar and are also the most nutrient-dense – curb your appetite. These include seeds, nuts, wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, free-range poultry, eggs, berries and fruits, and vegetables. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1. E Sharmili, et al. “Habitual daily intake of a sweet and fatty snack modulates reward processing in Humans.” Cell Metabolism. 22. March 2023 2. Reseland, Janne E. “Effect of long-term changes in diet and exercise on plasma leptin concentrations,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2001;73(2): 240-245 To read the original article click here.

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Are Fortified Children’s Breakfast Cereals Just Candy?

The AHA! Team — Mon, 13 May 2024 08:02:54 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The industry responds to the charge that breakfast cereals are too sugary. In 1941, the American Medical Association’s Council on Foods and Nutrition was presented with a new product, Vi-Chocolin, a vitamin-fortified chocolate bar, “offered ostensibly as a specialty product of high nutritive value and of some use in medicine, but in reality, intended for promotion to the public as a general-purpose confection, a vitaminized candy.” Surely, something like that couldn’t happen today, right? Unfortunately, that’s the sugary cereal industry’s business model. As I discuss in my video Are Fortified Kids’ Breakfast Cereals Healthy or Just Candy?, nutrients are added to breakfast cereals “as a marketing gimmick to “create an aura of healthfulness…If those nutrients were added to soft drinks or candy, would we encourage kids to consume them more often?” Would we feed our kids Coke and Snickers for breakfast? We might as well spray cotton candy with vitamins, too. As one medical journal editorial read, “Adding vitamins and minerals to sugary cereals…is worse than useless. The subtle message accompanying such products is that it is safe to eat more.” General Mills’ “Grow up strong with Big G kids’ cereals” ad campaign featured products like Lucky Charms, Trix, and Cocoa Puffs. That’s like the dairy industry promoting ice cream as a way to get your calcium. Kids who eat presweetened breakfast cereals may get more than 20 percent of their daily calories from added sugar, as you can see below and at 1:28 in my video. Most sugar in the American diet comes from beverages like soda, but breakfast cereals represent the third largest food source of added sugars in the diets of children and adolescents, wedged between candy and ice cream. On a per-serving basis, there is more added sugar in a cereal like Frosted Flakes than there is in frosted chocolate cake, a brownie, or even a frosted donut, as you can see below and at 1:48 in my video. Kellogg’s and General Mills argue that breakfast cereals only contribute a “relatively small amount” of sugar to the diets of children, less than soda, for example. “This is a perfect example of the social psychology phenomenon of ‘diffusion of responsibility.’ This behavior is analogous to each restaurant in the country arguing that it should not be required to ban smoking because it alone contributes only a tiny fraction to Americans’ exposure to secondhand smoke.” In fact, “each source of added sugar…should be reduced.” The industry argues that most of their cereals have less than 10 grams of sugar per serving, but when Consumer Reports measured how much cereal youngsters actually poured for themselves, they were found to serve themselves about 50 percent more than the suggested serving size for most of the tested cereals. The average portion of Frosted Flakes they poured for themselves contained 18 grams of sugar, which is 4½ teaspoons or 6 sugar packets’ worth. It’s been estimated that a “child eating one serving per day of a children’s cereal containing the average amount of sugar would consume nearly 1,000 teaspoons of sugar in a year.” Breakfast cereals rank as the third-largest food source of added sugars in the diets of kids General Mills offers the “Mary Poppins defense,” arguing that those spoonsful of sugar can “help the medicine go down” and explaining that “if sugar is removed from bran cereal, it would have the consistency of sawdust.” As you can see below and at 3:17 in my video, a General Mills representative wrote that the company is presented “with an untenable choice between making our healthful foods unpalatable or refraining from advertising them.” If it can’t add sugar to its cereals, they would be unpalatable? If one has to add sugar to a product to make it edible, that should tell us something. That’s a characteristic of so-called ultra-processed foods, where you have to pack them full of things like sugar, salt, and flavorings “to give flavor to foods that have had their [natural] intrinsic flavors processed out of them and to mask any unpleasant flavors in the final product.” The president of the Cereal Institute argued that without sugary cereals, kids might not eat breakfast at all. (This is similar to dairy industry arguments that removing chocolate milk from school cafeterias may lead to students “no longer purchasing school lunch.”) He also stressed we must consider the alternatives. As Kellogg’s director of nutrition once put it: “I would suggest that Fruit [sic] Loops as a snack are much better than potato chips or a sweet roll.” You know there’s a problem when the only way to make your product look good is to compare it to Pringles and Cinnabon. Want a healthier option? Check out my video Which Is a Better Breakfast: Cereal or Oatmeal?. For more on the effects of sugar on the body and if you like these more politically charged videos see the related posts below. Finally, for some additional videos on cereal, see Kids’ Breakfast Cereals as Nutritional Façade and Ochratoxin in Breakfast Cereals. Key Takeaways Vi-Chocolin, a vitamin-fortified chocolate bar, was purportedly offered as a product with high nutritive value but was really just vitaminized candy. The sugary cereal industry follows a similar business model. The sugary cereal industry has been criticized for adding nutrients to cereals “as a marketing gimmick,” creating an illusion of health benefits. Children who consume pre-sweetened breakfast cereals may derive more than 20 percent of their daily calories from added sugar. Breakfast cereals rank as the third-largest food source of added sugars in the diets of kids and adolescents, listed between candy and ice cream. On a per-serving basis, a cereal like Frosted Flakes has more added sugar than a frosted chocolate cake, a brownie, or a frosted donut. Kellogg’s and General Mills’ contention that breakfast cereals contribute only a “relatively small amount” of sugar to children’s diets is likened to the social psychology phenomenon of “diffusion of responsibility.” Consumer Reports’ findings reveal that children often pour themselves 50 percent more cereal than the suggested serving size. A child eating a single daily serving of kids’ cereal with the average amount of sugar would consume almost a thousand teaspoons of sugar in one year. The industry argues it has to add sugar to its cereals to make them palatable, which is a characteristic of ultra-processed foods. To read the original article click here.

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Researchers Discover New Link Between Diet, Intestinal Stem Cells and Disease

AHA Publisher — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 08:00:56 +0000

Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health via News-Medical – The intestine is essential for maintaining our energy balance and is a master at reacting quickly to changes in nutrition and nutrient balance. It manages to do this with the help of intestinal cells that among other things are specialized in the absorption of food components or the secretion of hormones. In adult humans, the intestinal cells regenerate every five to seven days. The ability to constantly renew and develop all types of intestinal cells from intestinal stem cells is crucial for the natural adaptability of the digestive system. However, a long-term diet high in sugar and fat disrupts this adaptation and can contribute to the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and gastrointestinal cancer. The molecular mechanisms behind this maladaptation are part of the research field of Heiko Lickert and his group at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich. The scientists assume that intestinal stem cells play a special role in maladaptation. Using a mouse model, the researchers investigated the effects of a high-sugar and high-fat diet and compared it with a control group. From High-Calorie Diet to Increased Risk of Gastrointestinal Cancer “The first thing we noticed was that the small intestine increases greatly in size on the high-calorie diet. Together with Fabian Theis’ team of computational biologists at Helmholtz Munich, we then profiled 27,000 intestinal cells from control diet and high fat/high sugar diet-fed mice. Using new machine learning techniques, we thus found that intestinal stem cells divide and differentiate significantly faster in the mice on an unhealthy diet.” Anika Böttcher, Study Leader The researchers hypothesize that this is due to an upregulation of the relevant signaling pathways, which is associated with an acceleration of tumor growth in many cancers. “This could be an important link: Diet influences metabolic signaling, which leads to excessive growth of intestinal stem cells and ultimately to an increased risk of gastrointestinal cancer,” says Böttcher. With the help of this high-resolution technique, the researchers have also been able to study rare cell types in the intestine, for example, hormone-secreting cells. Among their findings, they were able to show that an unhealthy diet leads to a reduction in serotonin-producing cells in the intestine. This can result in intestinal inertia (typical of diabetes mellitus) or increased appetite. Furthermore, the study showed that the absorbing cells adapt to the high-fat diet, and their functionality increases, thus directly promoting weight gain. Important Basic Research for Non-Invasive Therapies These and other findings from the study lead to a new understanding of disease mechanisms associated with a high-calorie diet. “What we have found out is of crucial importance for developing alternative non-invasive therapies,” says study leader Heiko Lickert, in summarizing the results. To date, there is no pharmacological approach to prevent, stop or reverse obesity and diabetes. Only bariatric surgery causes permanent weight loss and can even lead to remission of diabetes. However, these surgeries are invasive, non-reversible and costly to the healthcare system. Novel non-invasive therapies could happen, for example, at the hormonal level through targeted regulation of serotonin levels. The research group will examine this and other approaches in subsequent studies. About the People Heiko Lickert and Anika Böttcher conduct research at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center of Helmholtz Munich. They specialize in the development of regenerative treatment approaches for numerous widespread diseases associated with impaired gut function. Lickert heads the Institute for Diabetes and Regeneration Research and is a professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Both are scientists at the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD). The current study has been published as a cover story in Nature Metabolism. To read the original article click here.

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Homemade Ketchup Recipe (and Sugar-Free!)

AHA Publisher — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 07:00:22 +0000

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN – Our most popular condiment, ketchup seems like an innocent addition to our burger or to accompany our sweet potato fries, right? Well, it’s pretty full of sugar and sodium. Per tablespoon, ketchup contains 4 grams of sugar and 190 milligrams of sodium. Four grams of sugar may not seem like much, but all of it comes from added sugar rather than the natural sugar found in tomatoes. Instead, make your own! It’s surprisingly easy, tasty and nutrition-packed with this homemade ketchup recipe. Healthy Ingredients Sun-dried tomatoes: like tomatoes, they’re full of the powerful antioxidant lycopene Apple cider vinegar: can keep blood sugar in check and even amp up weight loss Raisins: when not overconsumed, raisins are a concentrated source of energy, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals Sea salt: rich in trace minerals (it’s difficult these days to get enough trace minerals from the foods we eat due to the lack of nutrient-rich soil) How to Make Homemade Ketchup You’ll be shocked to find out how easy it is to make your own ketchup. First, soak the sun-dried tomatoes for at least two hours in order to soften them up. Drain them after time’s up. Next, simply add the drained tomatoes, vinegar, raisins, onion powder and salt to a power blender or food processor. Blend on high, adding a little bit of water to help blending and increase the creaminess of the texture. Serve immediately or refrigerate. It will keep for at least a week. Homemade Ketchup Recipe DESCRIPTION Our most popular condiment, ketchup contains far too much added sugar to be considered healthy. Instead, make your own! It’s surprisingly easy, tasty and nutrition-packed with this homemade ketchup recipe. INGREDIENTS 1 cup soaked sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 2 hrs ¼ cup apple cider vinegar ¼ cup raisins ¼ teaspoon onion powder 1½ teaspoon sea salt water, as needed to facilitate blending INSTRUCTIONS Soak the sun-dried tomatoes for at least two hours, then drain. In a blender, add tomatoes, vinegar, raisins, onion powder and sea salt. Blend on high, adding water as needed to facilitate blending and increase creaminess. Serve immediately or refrigerate. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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Switching to a Balanced Diet Restores Gut Health and Suppresses Skin Inflammation

AHA Publisher — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 07:00:28 +0000

University of California – Davis Health via News-Medical – The secret to healthier skin and joints may reside in gut microorganisms. A study led by UC Davis Health researchers has found that a diet rich in sugar and fat leads to an imbalance in the gut’s microbial culture and may contribute to inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis. The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, suggests that switching to a more balanced diet restores the gut’s health and suppresses skin inflammation. “Earlier studies have shown that Western diet, characterized by its high sugar and fat content, can lead to significant skin inflammation and psoriasis flares. Despite having powerful anti-inflammatory drugs for the skin condition, our study indicates that simple changes in diet may also have significant effects on psoriasis.” Sam T. Hwang, professor and chair of dermatology at UC Davis Health and senior author on the study What Is Psoriasis? Psoriasis is a stubborn skin condition linked to the body’s immune system. When immune cells mistakenly attack healthy skin cells, they cause skin inflammation and the formation of scales and itchy red patches. Up to 30% of patients with psoriasis also have psoriatic arthritis with symptoms such as morning stiffness and fatigue, swollen fingers and toes, pain in joints and changes to nails. Diet Affects the Microbial Balance in the Intestines and Skin Inflammation Food is one of the major modifiable factors regulating the gut microbiota, the community of microorganisms living in the intestines. Eating a Western diet can cause rapid change to the gut’s microbial community and its functions. This disruption in microbial balance – known as dysbiosis- contributes to gut inflammation. Since bacteria in the gut may play key roles in shaping inflammation, the researchers wanted to test whether intestinal dysbiosis affects skin and joint inflammation. They used a mouse model to study the effect of diet on psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. They injected mice with Interleukin-23 (IL-23) minicircle DNA to induce a response mimicking psoriasis-like skin and joint diseases. IL-23 is a protein generated by the immune cells responsible for many inflammatory autoimmune reactions, including psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Hwang and his colleagues found that a short-term Western diet appears sufficient to cause microbial imbalance and to enhance susceptibility to IL-23?mediated psoriasis-like skin inflammation. “There is a clear link between skin inflammation and changes in the gut microbiome due to food intake,” Hwang said. “The bacterial balance in the gut disrupted shortly after starting a Western diet, and worsened psoriatic skin and joint inflammation.” One critical finding of their work was identifying the intestinal microbiota as a pathogenic link between diet and the displays of psoriatic inflammation. The study also found that antibiotics block the effects of the Western diet, reducing skin and joint inflammation. Is the Damage Caused by an Unhealthy Diet Reversible? The researchers wanted to test if switching to a balanced diet can restore the gut microbiota, despite the presence of IL-23 inflammatory proteins. They fed mice a Western diet for six weeks before giving them an IL-23-inducing agent to trigger psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis features. Then, they randomly divided the mice into two groups: a group that continued the Western diet for another four weeks and a group that switched to a balanced diet for the same duration. Their study showed that eating a diet high in sugar and fat for 10 weeks predisposed mice to skin and joint inflammation. Mice that were switched to a balanced diet had less scaling of the skin and reduced ear thickness than mice on a Western diet. The improvement in skin inflammation for mice taken off the Western diet indicates a short-term impact of the Western diet on skin inflammation. This suggests that changes in diet could partially reverse the proinflammatory effects and alteration of gut microbiota caused by the Western diet. “It was quite surprising that a simple diet modification of less sugar and fat may have significant effects on psoriasis,” said Zhenrui Shi, visiting assistant researcher in the UC Davis Department of Dermatology and lead author on the study. “These findings reveal that patients with psoriatic skin and joint disease should consider changing to a healthier dietary pattern.” “This work reflects a successful collaboration among researchers, especially with Professor Satya Dandekar and her team at the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Professor Yu-Jui Yvonne Wan at the Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,” Hwang said. To read the original article click here.

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Daily Intake of Two or More Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Associated with Higher Bowel Cancer Risk

AHA Publisher — Tue, 11 May 2021 07:00:55 +0000

BMJ via News-Medical – Drinking two or more daily sugar-sweetened beverages in adulthood is linked to a doubling in the risk of bowel cancer before the age of 50–at least in women, finds research published online in the journal Gut. And each daily serving is associated with a 16% higher risk, rising to 32% per daily serving during the teenage years, the findings indicate. Cases of bowel cancer diagnosed before the age of 50, formally known as early onset colorectal cancer, have been increasing in many high income countries over the past two decades. But it’s not clear why. In the US, adults born around 1990 run twice the risk of colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer of adults born around 1950. Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, fruit flavored drinks, sports and energy drinks, make up the leading (39%) source of added sugar in US diets, and 12% of the population drinks more than three servings (8 fl oz each) every day. Heavy consumption has been linked to a heightened risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although these drinks have steadily risen in popularity, particularly among teens and young adults, it’s not known if this intake might also be associated with a heightened risk of bowel cancer in mid-life. To explore this further, the researchers drew on information provided by 95,464 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II, an ongoing monitoring study of 116,429 US female registered nurses aged between 25 and 42 at enrolment in 1989. The women reported what they ate and drank, using validated food frequency questionnaires every 4 years, starting in 1991. And 41,272 of them reported on what, and how much, they drank during their teenage years (13–18) in 1998. Information was also supplied on potentially influential factors, including family history of bowel cancer, lifestyle, regular use of aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and vitamin supplements. In 1989, participants were additionally asked to recall their health status, weight (BMI) and lifestyle in their teenage years. During 24 years of monitoring, 109 women developed bowel cancer before the age of 50. Higher intake of sugar-sweetened drinks in adulthood was associated with a higher risk of the disease after accounting for potentially influential risk factors. Compared with those who drank less than one serving a week, women who drank 2 or more every day were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with bowel cancer, with each daily serving associated with a 16% higher risk. Among the 41,272 who reported on their teen patterns of consumption, each daily serving was associated with a 32% higher risk of subsequently developing the disease before the age of 50. Substituting sugar-sweetened drinks with artificially sweetened beverages, coffee, or semi-skimmed or whole milk was associated with a 17% to 36% lower risk of a bowel cancer diagnosis before the age of 50. This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish cause, only correlation. And given that most participants were white women, the findings may not be applicable to men or other racial/ethnic groups, acknowledge the researchers. Nevertheless, they point out that there are some biologically plausible explanations for their findings: sugar-sweetened drinks suppress feelings of satiety, so risking excess energy intake and associated weight gain. These drinks also prompt a rapid rise in blood glucose and insulin secretion, which, over the long term, can induce insulin resistance, inflammation, obesity and type 2 diabetes, they add. Emerging evidence also suggests that fructose can impair gut barrier function and increase gut permeability, which could promote the development of cancer, suggest the researchers. “[Sugar-sweetened beverage] consumption may contribute to the rising incidence of [early onset bowel cancer],” they suggest. “Reducing intake and/or [substitution] with other healthier beverages among adolescents and young adults may serve as a potential actionable strategy to alleviate the growing burden of bowel cancer before the age of 50],” they conclude. To read the original article click here.

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Stress Hormones: How Diet Affects Hormonal Balance

AHA Publisher — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 07:52:37 +0000

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DMN, CNS – Stress is a major issue literally everyone deals with in way or another, and chronic stress is a problem like never before. That’s why it’s so vital to keep your stress hormones in check. In a podcast episode with Dr. Anna Cabeca, DO, FACOG, I talked with the board-certified gynecologist and obstetrician, hormonal health expert, and best-selling author of books like “The Hormone Fix” and “Keto Green 16” about some of the major stress hormones and how to eat to beat stress. What Are Stress Hormones? When we talk about stress hormones, cortisol typical tops the list, and for good reason. It is called the primary stress hormone, after all. It’s released when we’re under pressure and triggers the fight or flight survival response. However, cortisol isn’t the only stress hormone, and truthfully, it may not even be the most important of the stress hormones. That title could just as easily be reserved for insulin. While most people think of diabetes when discussing this hormone, insulin is related to weight gain, PCOS, low testosterone and, of course, blood sugar levels. In addition, insulin can affect almost every hormone in the body and certainly has a major impact on stress. “I always say oxytocin is the master hormone,” Dr. Cabeca says. “If you would consider oxytocin the dean of the university, the professors would be insulin and cortisol, and the student body is the rest of the hormones.” Other stress hormones besides cortisol and insulin include: Adrenaline Norepinephrine Catecholamines Vasopressin Corticotropin-releasing hormone ACTH Gonadotropins Thyroid Hormones Growth Hormone Prolactin How Diet Affects Hormones What are the biggest things in terms of diet that are really throwing our hormones out of whack today? “Definitely it’s sugar,” Dr. Cabeca says. “The brain fog, the memory loss, the … increased risk of dementia — all of that coming into a diet that is too high in sugar and creates insulin resistance so we have a harder time using the glucose that we do have. “The second thing is actually a practice that’s so hormonally disruptive to women and men, and that is snacking throughout the day. Three meals, three snacks — how did that ever come about?” The snacking habit can wreak havoc on stress because of the way it affects stress hormones. When we snack, it bumps up insulin, which affects the rest of our hormones, and insulin goes up every time we eat. Thus, the more we snack, the more insulin goes up, helping create insulin resistance. It also creates a roller coaster for hormonal balance, with large fluctuations affecting everything from our moods to gut health and, yes, stress levels. How to Eat to Beat Stress What’s the No. 1 thing you can do to get your hormones in balance and keep stress hormones in check? “I consider breaking up with sugar one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself,” Dr. Cabeca says. Here are some other tips she shares: Practice Intermittent Fasting There are many benefits of intermittent fasting, and that includes helping manage stress. Going without food for an extended period of time puts the body in ketosis, switching from using glucose to fuel the brain to ketones as brain fuel. “Always try to keep at least four hours between meals because you need to get your body sensitized to glucose again and to insulin again and shift to using ketones for fuel,” says Dr. Cabeca. Follow a Green Keto Diet “There are many ways to do keto. What’s going to create the best metabolic stability, the best hormone balance? Through my own experience with keto that’s where I discovered how important the green aspect is,” Dr. Cabeca says. Monitor Urine pH Levels According to Dr. Cabeca, urine pH levels can show how well we’re managing stress. “It’s as important as our blood pressure, as important as our heart rate, as important as our weight,” she says. “… The more cortisol we secrete, the more acidic our urine pH is. Even vegan, plant-based eaters can be acidic if they’re stressed, if they’re worried, if they are inflamed, if they have too much carbs in their system.” Pinpoint Outside Stressors “It’s not just about what you eat. Maybe it’s about who you’re eating with — are they stressing you out? If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter how amazing your food is,” Dr. Cabeca shares. Avoid Toxins “We are what we eat ate,” Dr. Cabeca says. “It’s important to consider not just what they ate, but how they lived and how they died. That comes into play with additional stress hormones getting into our system and how that can really affect our physiology.” You want to avoid foods sprayed with herbicides or pesticides, along with animals that have eaten foods that contain harmful toxins. Why? They can act as endocrine disruptors that throw hormones out of balance. Don’t Eat Too Late “We know if we eat after 7 p.m., our body’s going to increase more of that insulin hormone as much as 30% to 70% compared to the same meal we ate before 7 p.m. That’s huge,” Dr. Cabeca says. Stress-Busting Foods/Supplements Here are some of the top foods Dr. Cabeca recommends to manage stress hormones: Dark leafy greens/cruciferous vegetables — kale, beet greens, Swiss chard, collard greens Healthy fats — olive oil, avocado, MCT oil, coconut oil, wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, bison Omega-3 fish oil — make sure it’s high-quality and contains EPA, DHA and DHEA Adaptogens — maca root, ashwagandha, rhodiola, ginseng, astragalus, turmeric Melatonin Magnesium Vitamin D What does a typical day of eating look like for Dr. Cabeca? She shared an example of her daily eating routine: Wakeup time: Hydrate with alkaline water and a shot of maca. “The body has been detoxing and rejuvenating all night. We want to hydrate well in the morning and support our body’s natural detoxification process.” Breakfast: Fried egg served over spinach and arugula with a side of tomatoes and some organ meat on the side. “Our plates are 75% green or combined with additional alkalinizers, sprinkled with olive oil, lemon juice, some herbs and spices.” Lunch: Usually skip lunch as part of intermittent fasting. “We work to get a 16-hour fast.” Dinner: Salmon cakes, poaching salmon, add additional alkalinizers right there into protein and fats. Add in great mayo, eggs or additional fats and protein, instead of a binder such as bread crumbs or flour, use a little chickpea flour. It adds a nice spice and stays low-carb. You could use a nut flour just as easily. Add some celery, cilantro, onions, dill, Himalayan sea salt. Serve with aioli side and some asparagus. After dinner: Cup of tea before bed. Final Thoughts Dr. Cabeca signed off with a vital message to keep stress hormones in balance: “If our body’s not having to constantly produce insulin and cortisol to fight inflammation often caused by glucose as well as stress, if our body’s not fighting those hormones and we have more of our own natural progesterone and DHEA, these are hormones that build us back up, that give us healthy breasts, a healthy mind and strong bones as well as an empowered immune system. “When our body’s not constantly putting out fires with insulin and cortisol, then we can really build our body back up and create a really strong, resilient body. “It stars with an early morning ritual based on appreciation, gratitude and meditation, and then an evening ritual that sets us up to get a fabulous night’s sleep.” To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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