Eating too much fruit gave me belly fat
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Even though I am enjoying the hot summer days and warm summer nights, I see the sun setting earlier (photo from my porch) and September is on the horizon. Fall reminds me of going back to school and starting a new year of learning. You probably feel the same way, even as you luxuriate in the last weeks of August.Since September is a good time to start something new, I am offering group tapping classes for the month of September. Tapping is a fantastic tool to transform your body. Think of it like this, if you are doing a home improvement project you need tools. If you are doing a body improvement project you also need tools. Tapping is one of the best tools I know for changing your eating habits. Your diet is the best way to create great health.
Tapping For Weight Loss and Vibrant Health
Time: Wednesday 3pm-4pm Eastern Time
Dates: September 9, 16, 23, 30
Cost: $59
Nobody is going to save you from your beliefs and thinking. You have to learn to self regulate and self soothe. Tapping is a tool that changes the chemistry in your body from stress mode to relaxation mode. When you tap your heart rate decreases, digestion increases, and levels of serotonin and other calming brain chemicals increase. In addition, the levels of DHEA increase, which essentially puts your body in rebuilding and repair mode instead of breakdown mode.
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Eating Too Much Fruit Gave Me Belly Fat
As you know I eat a healthy diet. Recently I noticed my tummy was growing fatter. I was aghast, what’s with the belly fat? The only real difference in my diet was eating lots of peaches, watermelon and cherries since the summer began. According to what I have learned we should be able to digest more fruit in the summer. After all these are seasonal foods grown locally. I was confused, clearly my body was not handling the fruit well.My blood sugar level was too high…
I like real data so I began checking my blood sugar in the morning. My blood sugar was 115 instead of the ideal which is 85-90. I wasn’t surprised considering I was putting on belly fat.
I know it is hard to believe, but fruits can make you fat. Yes fruits contain antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that can be part of a balanced, whole foods diet. Unfortunately too much fruit can wreak havoc on blood sugar and make it difficult to maintain a healthy weight.
The type of sugar in fruit is fructose. Glucose and fructose are two types of sugars. Glucose is the form of sugar that is used for energy by the cells. Fructose, on the other hand, is metabolized completely differently, and is not nearly as efficient as glucose as a source of energy. The cells’ mitochondria, the brain, and the muscles all need glucose – not fructose – to function.
A Harvard study reported that throughout human history we ate about 15 grams of fructose from fruits and veggies a day, which amounts to about 3 ounces. In 2011, it was estimated that humans consumed about 55 grams of fructose per day – that’s almost 4 times more fructose.
The human body isn’t designed to process fructose at such high levels.
Michael Goran, the director of the Childhood Obesity Research Center at the University of Southern California, decided to measure fructose and how our body responds to it.
Goran said. “Unlike glucose, which serves as fuel for the body, fructose is processed almost entirely in the liver where it is converted to fat, which increases risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver disease.”
We are all different and our body is different now than it was 10 years ago. Like me, you may wind up with high blood sugar if you eat too much fruit even if you used to be able to handle it. (It has a lot to do with digestion).
If you have trouble losing weight or have belly fat you may want to check your blood sugar levels.
I recommend getting a blood sugar monitoring calculator which can be purchased for $20-$50 including test strips. You can get one online here.
The simplest test is called a Fasting Glucose Test. This is a blood sample taken when you first wake up in the morning. The result is a great screening number because the blood sugar tends to be higher in the morning, and this is one of the first indicators of rising blood sugar.You want your fasting blood glucose to be 85-90. Wash your hands first. Touching fruit and lotions can give you a false read.
Maintaining a balanced blood sugar is one of the keys to great health.
Let me explain why and how blood sugar rises, and how even “healthy” diets, can lead to high blood sugar:
As sugars, even “natural sugars” and simple carbohydrates are digested, they force the pancreas to produce insulin, which is needed to escort the sugars out of the bloodstream and into the cells. It is like a lock and key, the cells are locked and the insulin is the key needed to unlock the cells for the glucose to get in.
Over time, when the insulin levels are driven up again and again several times a day two things happen
- The pancreas becomes worn out
- The cells can become resistant to taking in any more sugar, this is known as insulin resistance
The reason high blood sugar causes belly fat is the excess sugar in the blood, unable to be absorbed by the cells, keeps the blood sugar unnaturally high. It lingers there until the insulin stores it as fat, often causing abdominal fat.
Excess blood sugar also attaches to proteins that may damage or thicken the arterial wall, directly increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, blood clots, inflammation, cancer, heart attack, stroke and more.
Most people who eat what is commonly considered a healthy diet may not realize they have high blood sugar. It is easy for it to go unnoticed but it can cause symptoms in almost every system in the body
This is what I did to get my blood sugar levels down…
Fortunately the Nourishing Foods Summer Cleanse was just around the corner. I did my week of cleansing without checking my blood sugar levels. I know cleansing causes many changes in the body and rather than make myself crazy I decided to wait until the end.
The last day of the cleanse my blood sugar levels had come down from 115 to 103, still not where I wanted it to be.
I know that changing my diet is the way to solve this. I had made an improvement in my digestion from the cleanse but I needed more.
One of the keys is protein. It is important to get protein at every meal. It is best to eat carbs with a protein source so they are not just unopposed sugars entering your bloodstream.
I added protein powder to my morning smoothie and made it with only ½ cup of berries ( a low glycemic fruit). I have been eating 2 oz of fish or chicken with my salad at lunch and 3-4 ounces of fish, chicken or meat at dinner along with a huge plate of vegetables. I have been leaving out potatoes (even sweet potatoes) and corn. This is more animal protein than I had been eating.
After 3 days I was relieved to see my blood sugar was down to 95.
I am still working on this but I feel I have it in hand. My belly fat is declining too.
My Best Tips for Maintaining Healthy Blood Sugar Levels
The key strategy to support healthy blood sugar levels is with a diet with limited sugars, carbs and sweeteners. Since we all have different digestive systems some people are fine eating seasonal fruits, sweet potatoes and other carbs while others like me need to limit that.
Sugar comes not only from sweets but from breads, pasta even grains. Once slice of WW bread has a glycemic index of 73 that’s more than table sugar which has a glycemic index of 59. Remember, simple carbohydrates in bread and other refined grains turn into sugars and behave the same way in the bloodstream.
Eating enough protein is key. If you find you have cravings you may need more protein. If you are vegetarian instead of getting most of your protein from grains and beans which are high in carbohydrates, look to sprouted seeds and nuts and perhaps eggs which doesn’t require killing animals.
Eat 3 meals a day. One of the main keys to having a balanced blood sugar is to eat three meals a day. Make those meals count. Make them balanced with lots of green veggies, and a protein source such as fish, eggs, tempeh, nuts, seeds or clean meats. Have some healthy fats and a small amount of sweet vegetables, low glycemic fruit or low glycemic grains (quinoa, millet, buckwheat) It’s all about eating whole foods and 3 balanced meals a day.
Eat 70% of your diet as vegetables. You want to have some type of vegetable at every meal, including breakfast. Vegetables give your body the nutrients it needs to perform its job well. Vegetables also balance your body’s pH.
Eat healthy fats. Fat is a slow non-emergency fuel. When you limit your sugars and eat enough healthy fats your body has steady energy without highs and lows. Your blood sugar remains stable. You need to eat healthy fats. The recent craze of low fat food in our culture has caused more obesity and diabetes than ever before. Eating an avocado can help reduce your cravings for sugar.
Never drink sugar beverages, not even fruit juice. Did you know in 8 ounces of orange juice there are 27 grams of carbohydrates, 24 of them are fructose. It’s almost all SUGAR! Astudy published online in June in the journal Nutrition shows that on average, fruit juice has a fructose concentration of about 45.5 grams per liter, only a bit less than the average of 50 grams per liter for sodas. The sweetest juice is 100 percent apple juice, with nearly 66 grams of fructose per liter. That’s more than the 62.5 grams per liter in Coca-Cola and the 61 grams per liter in Dr Pepper.
When making a green juice or smoothie, don’t use too many fruits, especially tropical fruits like bananas and pineapples which are very high in fructose.
Limit even “natural” sugars. It doesn’t matter if it is a refined sugar or an “all-natural” agave, honey or date sugar product-as far as the brain is concerned, it is all the same. While it is true that the natural sugars have more fiber and B vitamins to help the body cope with the sweet explosion, the brain makes quick use of it regardless of the source. The pancreas will send out insulin either way to quickly move that sugar surge out of the blood.
Check out the label on your favorite nutrition bar and you will find it loaded with sugars. Just because they are made with dates, honey, agave, dried mangos, raisins or fruit concentrates doesn’t mean they are good for you. They are still an mega blast to the pancreas and blood sugar
Stay hydrated. Not drinking enough water can raise your blood sugar, since the sugar in your circulation becomes more concentrated. Also high blood sugar can cause you to urinate more, resulting in dehydration. The amount of water to drink is half your ideal body weight in ounces of water each day. This means if you weigh 160 but your ideal weight is 140 you should drink 70 ounces of water.
Get enough sleep. A restless night’s sleep will hurt your energy and mood but also affect your blood sugar. Sleep is necessary for your body to detox and restore itself. Not getting enough sleep puts stress on your body, and any time you have added stress you’re going to have higher blood sugar levels. Getting between 7-8 hours of sleep each night increases your metabolism and balances your hormones, especially insulin and cortisol. Studies have shown you get your most restorative sleep between 11pm and 2 am so try and get to bed by 10pm.
Eat Dinner no later than 7:30pm earlier if possible. Pushing back eating allows your body more time to get into the rest and digeststate. There are certain times during the day where we naturally cleanse and one of those is when we sleep. No matter what diet you follow your body will take this time to remove toxins and restore itself . If you eat late, your body still has to digest and absorb before it can begin the process of restoration.
Move your body. When you exercise your muscles become more sensitive to insulin and absorb more glucose from the blood. Even going out for a walk will make a difference. The best type of exercise is the one you do. I likeinterval training because it gives you the best results in the least amount of time.
Manage your stress. Stress causes your body to go into “fight or flight”. It raises your blood sugar levels to prepare you for action. Chronic stress keeps your blood sugar levels unnaturally high. The result is your cells become insulin resistant and the sugar builds up in your blood ultimately getting stored as fat. Tapping, breathing processes like alternate nostril breathing or before eating breathing process and meditation help you manage stress.
I know what I eat makes a difference in my blood sugar. Knowing this makes it easier for me to eat the foods that support my health. I have control over my blood sugar with the choices I make. I love my body and want to treat it with loving care.
I am not saying you shouldn’t eat fruit, especially the luscious seasonal fruit available this time of year.
It all depends on your body. If your blood sugar is above 90, limiting fruit is necessary. Use the least sweet fruits like berries and apples and avoid sweet fruits like grapes, bananas, pineapple, mangoes and cherries completely until your sugars stabilize.
You can take control by monitoring your blood sugar levels at home. By self testing you will know what is going on in your body and begin to make the adjustments in your diet, lifestyle, sleep schedule and stress levels to find what works for you and your blood sugar levels.
I highly recommend this for anyone who is carrying extra weight, especially belly fat, under stress, craves sweets, has brain fog, fatigued, blood pressure concerns and those at risk for cardiovascular issues. If you need help with this, email me to set up a FREE 30 minute consultation to see if working with me is right for you.
Bonus Tip: Eat melons alone so you give the your body ample time to convert the fructose into energy.
What are your thoughts about eating fruit? Please leave a comment below