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SUGAR, FAT & ALCOHOL

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AT RISK HEALTH CONDITIONS

  • Heart Disease
  • Cancer
  • Type II Diabetes
  • Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Chronic Systemic Inflammation, Arthritis, Gout, Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Attachment, Addiction (Alcohol)

WHAT COUNTS AS SUGAR?!

  • Sugar, Cane Sugar, Raw Sugar
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • Brown Rice Syrup, Corn Syrup
  • Ingredients ending in -ose
  • Minimally Processed: Honey, 100% Maple Syrup, Molasses

KNOW YOUR HISTORY

TRAITS, GENETIC FACTORS, HX

  • Family history of addiction
  • Impulsive > perfectionist tendencies
  • Lacking personal boundaries
  • Yo-Yo dieting and weight fluctuations
  • Personal history of trauma
  • PTSD
  • Enhanced food cue bias
  • Lower dopamine receptors (D2) in the brain
  • Eating disorders (family hx or personal)

YOUR BRAIN IN TRAINING

  • DOPAMINE - a neurotransmitter that is released in the brain. This neurotransmitter is associated with reward, pleasure, motivation, learning and seeking.
  • STRESS & ANXIETY - the emotional processing part of the brain is the amygdala which then sends messages to the pre-frontal cortex to make decisions (e.g., eat, not eat, etc.). The brain can be trained.

COMPULSIVE FEEDBACK LOOP

(DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT )

  The Trigger ⇨   Action ⇨   Reward ⇨   Commitment ⇨

COPE DIFFERENTLY / SELF-CARE

Food can easily become a false fix to what is really going on. It is essential to engage in something “different” versus relying on food to soothe, comfort and distract from uncomfortable emotions or stress. The average craving lasts 20-25 minutes. Explore various activities that can be executed for 20-25 minutes that still give you joy and a rewarding feeling. Examples: walk the dog, meditate, call a friend, write in a journal, reading, coloring book, knitting or crafting, take a hot bath, etc.

FOOD PAIRING

  • Pair a hyper-palatable food with a nutrient dense food to minimize fast digestion and overconsumption.
  • Examples: apple with peanut butter, pizza with salad, sweet potato fries with pan seared chicken and roasted vegetables, tortilla chips with guacamole

FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS (SUGAR & FAT)

  • Substitute something that is traditionally “bingeable”, hard to control or loaded with unsupportive ingredients with something more nutrient dense yet still satisfying.
  • Examples: dark chocolate and nuts (vs. the candy bar), oatmeal with sliced bananas (vs. sugar sweetened cereal), avocado (vs. heavy amounts of bacon and cheese), salmon twice per week (vs. red meat four times per week), etc.

ALCOHOL

HOW MUCH ARE YOU REALLY DRINKING?

WHAT COUNTS AS A SERVING?!

  • WINE = 5 OZ
  • BEER = 12 OZ.
  • LIQUOR = 1 ½ OZ.

FROM HEAD TO TOE - Alcohol impacts every system and organ in the body. Alcohol is considered a depressant as well as impairing one’s judgement. Once women go beyond one drink or men go beyond two drinks in one sitting, the body prioritizes breaking down the alcohol versus other substances coming into the body (i.e., food). Alcohol disrupts sleep (REM sleep), hinders recovery and may trigger inflammation in the body.

Side Note - Some cultures or individuals maintain a healthy relationship with alcohol in which beverages such as red wine may be consumed on a daily basis without necessarily harming their health. On the other hand, some people struggle with addiction in which drinking would not be recommended.

STRATEGIES

  • Maintain a boundary of drinking no more than 3-4 beverages per week.
  • Consider drinking earlier in the day (5:00 pm) versus later at night (10:00 pm).
  • Say No: RESOLVE DISSOLVES IN ALCOHOL.
  • HOW DO I WANT TO FEEL TOMORROW?!

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • The Hunger Fix by Dr. Pamela Peeke
  • Wired to Eat by Robb Wolf
  • In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan
  • National Eating Disorders Association
  • Harvard Health Publishing