Keeping Your Metabolism Syndrome Free

If you're a subscriber to Naturally Well Today, then you already know that I've talked about maintaining healthy blood sugar levels—including reducing excess body weight, boosting energy levels, and stabilizing mood swings. There was so much to say about these conditions that I ran out of space in my newsletter, so I wanted to take the opportunity to include additional information on my Web site.

Tips for Reducing Sugar Consumption

Obviously, an important element in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is to consume less sugar. But in our fast food world of processed foods and simple carbohydrates, it can become difficult to find a way that works for you. Here are some ideas that I want to share.

• Eat more protein to minimize your cravings for sweets. Cravings for sweets are often related to a deficiency of protein, minerals, and co-factor B-vitamins. Add a protein shake to your daily routine, with a protein bar for a snack—and keep taking your supplements with meals. Best bet: Make sure each meal and snack you eat has a combination of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. It's a metabolically smart way to eat, and it can cut cravings completely.
  
• Use herbs and spices rather than sweeteners to add taste to food. Herbs and spices add heavenly fragrances, a deeply satisfying flavor, or a stimulating zip to a favorite dish. Nothing can quite re-place the taste and aroma of fresh herbs, but dried herbs are the next best thing, and are easy to use.
  Seek out organic herbs and spices since they taste better and have more nutrients than commercial products. Of course, they also don't have the chemicals, pesticides, or poisons that have been sprayed on conventionally grown crops.
• Be sure to read the labels. Herbs are often irradiated and treated with ethylene oxide (ETO), which is used to kill microbes and molds. ETO is a known carcinogen and is illegal in Europe, but it's still widely used in the US. Most herbs and spices that come from Third World countries have been sprayed with toxic pesticides that are banned in the US.
• It's OK to allow yourself food that you crave—including sweets—but the key is too limit the amount. If you absolutely can't give something up, look for the healthiest alternative and then ration your servings. If you like chocolate, for example, choose a dark, real chocolate instead of a sugar-filled imitator. You'll get your fix and healthy flavonoids to boot!

Some Healthy Sugar Alternatives

Many of today's "sugar substitutes" are non-nutritive sweeteners—non-caloric chemical concoctions that have been associated with health problems in some animals. These artificial sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose. I recommend that you stay away from them. Instead, go for a natural sugar substitute that's healthier for you.

In addition to what I listed in my newsletter, here are a few more good sweeteners from Nature that you can look for:

• Xylitol (from birchwood)—used in chewing gums and toothpastes. Sweet as sucrose with no aftertaste.
  
• Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (NutraFlora)—a natural prebiotic fiber that stimulates gut bacteria. It is also used as a source of fermentable fiber in medical foods to help normalize bowel function.
  
• Inulin—a non-digestible probiotic fiber from a group of naturally occurring oligosaccharides (several simple sugars linked together) produced by many types of plants. Inulin increases calcium absorption and possibly magnesium absorption while promoting probiotic bacteria.
  
• Erythritol and trehalose—two examples of low-calorie natural sweeteners that are often used in baking. What's more, they're safe for people who have been told by their doctors to closely monitor their blood sugar levels.

Additional Weight-Loss Tips

Lose weight by sleeping more. A lack of sleep disrupts your hormone balance and can result in increased fat storage. For example, one study showed that women who slept seven hours per night lost more weight than those who slept only five hours.

Go slow. With our modern quick-fix mentality, most people want to lose weight fast. However, making a true dietary and lifestyle decision to lose weight and become deeply healthy is best approached as a slow and steady process rather than an immediate achievement.

Remember, a change in behavior must come well before you can see the result of that change. The payoff is real weight loss in which you shed fat rather than muscle. It's the transformation of health risk into fitness, energy, and immunity. Your patience and perseverance are worth the effort. I guarantee you will get there!

Did You Know…

• Chewing and even teething on sugar cane was once common in Polynesia because it helped support proper oral hygiene and strengthen teeth. At the same time, it also supported bone mineralization. That's exactly the opposite of what highly refined, "modern" sugar products do!
  
• Americans have the least healthy diets of any developed nation. About 64 percent of all US adults are overweight. In turn, the US has the lowest rate of life expectancy among the seven major developed countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States).