Rick Binder is San Diego’s leading Cellular Health Expert. His passion is health and wellness and his mission is helping others activate their bodies at the cellular level in order to eliminate pain, repair soft tissue injury and reduce oxidative stress – the root cause of hundreds of ailments and diseases. I hope you guys enjoy his time with us this month! Here is his first article!

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO ELIMINATING SUGAR

Health Services at Columbia University found that ingesting a mere 100 grams of sugar – roughly what you’d find in a 1 liter bottle of soda – makes white blood cells over 40% less effective at killing germs. It essentially destroys one’s immune system for as long as 5 hours after eating sugar. Now wrap your head around this little nugget – the average American consumes 2-3 pounds of sugar weekly! Looking closely at commonly consumed foods in the American diet we can see how easy this is to do. Highly refined sugars such as sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup and sauces, and let’s not forget our passion for the convenience of microwave meals.

With all that hidden sugar in our diets continuing to destroy our immune systems how can we return to a state of health and immunity? The answer is, as Nike so eloquently puts it, you “Just Do It.” I know that’s not much of an answer but it all boils down to making the actual decision to eliminate sugar from your diet. Until you get to that point it’s really just an empty wish. I know you WANT to do it – you wouldn’t be reading these articles if you didn’t. Now it’s time to decide. It’s “go time.” Are you in? If so then keep reading…

Congratulations! Making that decision was the hardest part. Now let’s begin, shall we? We will do this in steps so it’s not quite so monumental a task. It’s like that old adage “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer, of course, is “One bite at a time.”

Step 1 (Three weeks to completion) – Eliminate sugary beverages

That’s right, all of them. Drink water, unsweetened coffee or tea only. This means cutting out sodas, energy drinks, even fruit juice. If you want the juice then eat the fruit itself or juice it yourself with nothing added. Do it now and do it all at once. Sit down now and make a list of all the sugary beverages you consume regularly, get rid of those currently in your house (not by drinking them) and make a list of appropriate substitutes.

This step alone will make a big difference in how you feel. Even more important, after successfully eliminating these beverages from your diet just think how empowered you will be. You’re finally moving in the right direction. Well done!

Step 2 (Three weeks to completion) – Eliminate Junk Food

You knew this was coming, right? You know I’m right, don’t you? Right now – cold turkey – cut out the sweets. It’s more challenging than it appears, I’m sorry to say. Certainly cut out the sweets – cake, cookies, candy, ice cream… Cut out the salty foods – chips pretzels, popcorn… Even cut out the granola bars, fruit bars, energy bars, crackers and assorted “protein brownies and other garbage. You know what junk food is. If you are uncertain then assume it’s junk and don’t eat it. Just like the previous step, make a list and come up with healthy alternatives.

Step 3 (Three to four weeks to completion) – Reduce your carbohydrate consumption by 50%

Notice I didn’t say to eliminate all carbs. Reducing them by half is much more realistic than eliminating them completely. Our bodies need carbohydrates. I’m mostly referring to complex carbohydrates like bread, rice and pasta.

The trick here is coming up with alternatives that keep you satiated. Eggs, fruit, protein shakes and omelettes make good breakfast substitutions to toast, bagels and cereals. Salads with chicken slices and fresh veggies make a good substitution to sandwiches. A nutritionist friend of mine suggests her clients eat dinner for lunch. What she means is quite sensible. Instead of the typical lunch of a sandwich and chips, eat it like a dinner – meat, vegetables, salad, minimal carbs. Replacing starches can be a challenge as well, but there are some very tasty alternatives available that make it much less of a burden. There are too many to list here, but feel free to reach out and I’m happy to help.

Step 4 (Two weeks to completion) – Cut out hidden sugars

You’re almost there and I commend your efforts. By now you are looking and feeling much better, and I’m sure your energy levels are through the roof. That makes this part almost simple.

Here I’m referring to the little things that add flavor such as ketchup, mayonnaise and salad dressings. We can argue that very little is used, but over the course of a day they add up. Besides, at this point your taste buds are probably more sensitive to where you can truly taste the flavor of all those healthy foods you’ve been eating. You may not even need the added flavor.

Final Step – maintaining your lifestyle change

It takes work but it’s very achievable. Of course you will have the occasional setback or cheat day, but when you do you’ll just get right back to it. One occasional slip up isn’t terrible unless you fall back into the old familiar habits of unhealthy eating.

So again, congratulations! If you’ve made it to the end of this article you are now well into your resolute decision to cut out sugar once and for all. You may want to bookmark or print this out to remind yourself and to track your progress. You’re not alone. There are many others who support you. Please drop me a note and let me know how you’re coming along.

Rick Binder / rabinder2006@gmail.com / 858-707-5606