I don't know about you, but I am so glad that Valentine's Day is behind me! My wedding anniversary is on the 13th so I am no hater. I am just always so glad when the present sugary holiday is behind me. I managed to buy exactly ZERO Valentine's Day candy and I am so proud! No one in this house needs more candy, least of all ME. If we allowed ourselves the luxury, we would have a continual flow of candy around here from October to March. It's crazy how many American holidays revolve around CANDY. And we wonder why America is so sick!
I had a huge sugar addiction 2 years ago. No matter how hard I tried, I could not stop drinking Dr. Pepper, eating candy, cake, and cookies. It was an addiction as strong as any other addiction people face. You think you can stop on your own. But you can't. At least not for any length of time that will make a difference. I could stop drinking Dr. Pepper Monday through Friday, but what good did that do me if I was filling my body with junk food during that same time?! Then there were the weekends where I would reward myself with Dr. Pepper because I had been "good" during the week. It never stopped with the weekend though. I would have some left on Monday and it was the gateway to a week filled with Dr. Pepper. And cake. And cookies. And candy. It was a vicious never-ending cycle with me.
After recent study, I discovered that researchers now claim sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine. Let that sink in for a minute. I was floored at that information and yet, it answered so many questions for me. An additive to approximately 75% of our food supply is more addictive than cocaine. Is it any wonder that we can't stop eating it? It's in almost everything and it has so many different names that it makes it very hard for us, the consumers, to keep up with it all. How do we tackle this addiction?
The easy answer may be to just stop buying it, but how do you stop buying something when the craving is so strong? The short answer is that you can't. We need help and that help is surely not coming from the food industry. In all of my research I also came across something that was new to me. Have you heard the term "gut health" before? I had not until I started researching all of the symptoms I had that made me feel so sick all.of.the.time. I knew that my digestive system did not work as it should but no one had ever told me the huge role it played in my overall health. Once I knew, I made changes and started eating whole foods. I made my own bread, bought local raw honey instead of sugar, used raw milk, bought farm fresh eggs, and organic meat. And you know what? It still wasn't enough! Now, don't get me wrong, all of that is great. I still have most of those same foods in my diet today. But I needed more. Once your system runs poorly for so long it takes a lot to get it back on track.
70-80% of our immune system is in our guts. What does that mean for you? It means you gotta take care of your guts! A healthy gut = a healthy body. So much of the way our body works is tied to our digestive system because it is where the immune system lives. Our bodies are full of healthy bacteria that help our immune system fight off infection and disease. We can develop an unhealthy balance of bad fungus that gets things all out of kilter. Diets full of refined sugar, antibiotic use, artificial hormone use, and steroids all play a part in wreaking havoc on our digestive systems. Once that imbalance takes place it is hard to get it in check.
You've probably heard that you need to eat yogurt for good digestive health. The problem with yogurt is that it is often times filled with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. The milk used to make yogurt is pasteurized, which will destroy many of the naturally occurring probiotics it contains. I drank a lot of kefir and ate plenty of Greek yogurt but still suffered with awful digestive health.
I do have good news though! My research led me to the fact that I needed a good probiotic in my life. I tried a lot of different things in my desperation to feel well again. Adding a good probiotic is what finally turned the tide for me. It's important to note that not all probiotics are created equal. You need one with plenty of good bacteria and one that is shelf stable, meaning that it does not need to be refrigerated. Probiotics that must be refrigerated need the cool temperature to keep the good bacteria they contain from dying off in warmer temperatures. What do you think happens though as soon as that probiotic pill enters your mouth where the normal body temp is 98.6 degrees? How much of that probiotic is really going to make it to the lower part of your digestive tract where it is needed most? Definitely not the full amount you started with!
Something important to note is that while you need probiotics for good digestive health you also need a way to get rid of the bad fungus overgrowth that has caused the problem. There are anti-fungal foods that will help kill off the bad bacteria. I highly recommend eating as many of them as you can. For some people though, there may be foods on the list that cause digestive problems or that you just don't like. This is why I am happy to have found a probiotic that has plenty of good bacteria along with an anti-fungal and enzymes to help with digestion. It has made just a huge difference for me and my family. I get super grouchy and territorial if I think I will run out of my probiotic before more arrives in the mail.
Anti-fungal Foods:
Coconut Oil
Garlic
Apple Cider vinegar
Cruciferous Vegetables
broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, radishes, and arugula
Celery
Ginger
Olive Oil
Cloves
Cinnamon
Wild Salmon
Lemon Juice
Me addicted to sugar. Me healthy.
There were so many symptoms I had before I overcame my addiction to sugar. I was constipated most of the time, bloated, tired, and sick, with constant sinus infections and migraines. I had no clue that it was not normal to be bloated after every meal. I would be so hungry when I would sit down to eat and then only a few bites in I felt so full that I couldn't eat anymore. I was miserable everyday. I tried so hard to clean up my diet and eat healthy. Even when I managed it for a few weeks at a time something would inevitably happen that would send me right back to the sugar and the cycle would continue again. It was like a merry go round that I couldn't escape. It seemed fun in the beginning, but always led to me being sick from going round and round and round. It never stopped.
To find out what probiotic I used to help me get healthy again on the inside, click to follow me on Social Media. You can find my link and the information there. I would love to connect with you and help you find the health that you are searching for!
Sandi
