The Doctor's Diet: Dr. Travis Stork's STAT Program to Help You Lose Weight & Restore Your Health (27 page)

You may be thinking, “But Dr. Travis, I’ve already made the decision to stop eating sugar—in fact, I’ve made it about a million times!” That’s OK. I know it’s hard. But I’m talking about really making a choice here, committing to it and telling yourself you’re really going to follow through. You might even want to write yourself a letter or make a contract with yourself—doing something formal like that can move the decision from something you kind of want to do to something you absolutely are deciding to do.

There are two ways to cut excess sugar from your diet: gradually and cold turkey. Opinions differ on which is the better way to go, but here’s where I stand: do whatever works for you. And it’s OK if you don’t know which path to take—you can try both approaches and see how you fare. The goal is to get all that extra sugar out of your diet, and as long as you
reach that goal, I don’t really care how you do it.

Some people feel great waking up one day and saying, “That’s it, no more extra sugar!” and they’re all ready to jump on the bandwagon for good. If this is how you want to approach it, go for it.

But an all-at-once approach isn’t for everyone. If you’re consuming a large amount of sugar—say you’re drinking multiple cans of soda or sweetened iced tea every day—going cold turkey may not work for you, especially if you’re also taking in a lot of caffeine. Doing so could lead to headaches, irritability, and other symptoms. For heavy-duty sugar users, cutting back on sugar over a series of days (or even weeks) may work better for you.

Go with your gut, and use whatever method will bring you the most success.

Once you uncover the added sugar in your diet, choose naturally low-sugar foods that contain little or no added sugar. For example, if your breakfast cereal has lots of sugar, choose a different type, but not one with artificial sweetener (which I will discuss more next). If your favorite tomato sauce is high in sugar, pick a different brand—or better yet, make your own out of fresh or canned tomatoes. Same with your salad dressing—instead of something with high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners, just splash your salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixed with chopped fresh herbs.

If you usually drink soda, sweetened iced tea, or other sugary beverages, switch to plain water, unsweetened tea, or unsweetened seltzer with a dash of fruit juice or real fruit.

Look, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t
ever
have sugar. But I do think you should cut as much added sugar out of your diet as possible. Our bodies are simply not designed to process all the sugar in the typical American diet. When you look at the rising rates of most chronic diseases, they correspond with a similar increase of sugar intake among Americans.

Do your best to cut added sugars out of your diet. If you do need a little bit of sweetness in your coffee or oatmeal, choose honey, molasses or maple syrup, which contain antioxidants. That way, at least you’ll get a little something good, too.

Notice I’m not suggesting you replace sugars with artificial sweeteners. I have real concerns about artificial sweeteners—the fat-free craze of the 1990s coincided with a massive uptick in their use, and studies suggest an association between artificial sweeteners and obesity and type 2 diabetes. Artificial sweeteners are just another part of our fascination with overly sweet foods.

You’d think that since they have few or no calories, artificial sweeteners would help with weight loss. But some studies suggest that’s simply not the case. For example, guzzling diet soda is actually associated with an elevated risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. This is the conclusion of a number of studies, including an analytic review of research published in July 2013 in the journal
Trends in Endocrinology
. Researchers think artificial sweeteners trick your body into thinking it is consuming real sugar, which causes your body to release insulin and store belly fat. On top of that, artificial sweeteners may also contribute to carbohydrate cravings.

Do I think it’s going to kill you if you consume artificial sweeteners occasionally? No—but I firmly believe they play a part in setting your taste buds up to expect highly sweetened foods all the time and to crave sweets and simple carbohydrates.

I also believe that giving up artificial sweeteners helps reset your palate so it’s back to normal, able to appreciate the natural tastes of whole foods rather than always demanding hyper-sweet, sugar-laden foods.

I’ve seen this happen myself: anytime I’ve had diet soda and then fruit, I’ve noticed that the fruit tastes unusually bland. Even after just one diet soda, I can feel my taste buds getting reset in the
wrong
direction. This is why now and going forward, I personally avoid all artificial sweeteners.

One of my goals in The Doctor’s Diet is to help you reset your palate so you can go back to enjoying the natural, more subtle sweetness of whole foods such as fruits. It’s something I had to learn, and I know you can too.

Once you stop eating sweets, you’ll start having cravings. That’s OK—it’s normal and it’s part of the process. The cravings may be strong at first, but believe me, they’ll start to weaken after the first couple of days, and before you know it, they’ll disappear. Once your body recognizes that you’re not going to give in to sugar cravings, they begin to lose their power over you.

In the meantime, make a list of activities you can do to distract yourself when cravings hit. If you truly are hungry, eat a healthy, high-protein snack. If you’re thirsty, drink a big glass of water. If you’re simply bored or just craving something sweet, take your mind off it. Call a friend, go for a walk, play with your dog, jump on your bicycle, take a bubble bath, put on some music and dance around the living room, read a trashy novel—do whatever it takes to occupy your mind until the craving passes, because it will pass. And when it does, you’ll feel great about yourself for getting through it without giving in.

If you make mistakes, forgive yourself and move on. Don’t berate yourself or wallow in self-blame. Just stop yourself, put down the cookie, recommit to your goal, and start fresh.

It really is amazing how quickly you start to lose your cravings and your taste for sugar. The truth is that the more sugar you eat, the more you want—but the opposite is true as well, and the
less
sugar you eat, the
less
you want! Before you know it, the foods you used to love because of their sweetness will taste overly sweet. Your taste buds adjust, your brain adjusts, and you move on to a new kind of sweetness as you savor a healthier life and a leaner body.

Sugar is a type of carbohydrate that your body uses for energy. When it’s found naturally in foods such as fruits, dairy foods, grains, and some vegetables, it’s referred to as “natural sugar.” When it’s added to foods, it’s referred to as “added sugar.” Makes sense, right?

Some people think that natural sugar and added sugar are equally bad for you. But I don’t agree. The sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and other foods is not what worries me. America doesn’t have an obesity
epidemic because people are eating too many apples and oranges. It’s because they’re drinking too much soda, eating too many sweets, and consuming vast amounts of sugar in processed foods.

Go ahead and enjoy fruit, but be very careful when it comes to processed foods with a lot of added sugar. Here’s why:

Added sugar contributes to weight gain.
People who eat added sugar are more likely to become overweight or obese. The more sugar they eat, the more they gain.

Added sugar increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Eating too much sugar can interfere with your body’s ability to process insulin. This can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Added sugar prevents your brain from hearing the “I’m full” signal.
Large sugar intake leads to the production of excess insulin, which can prevent leptin, the appetite-control hormone, from signaling to our brains that we should stop eating.

Added sugar calories are empty calories.
There’s no nutritional value in them whatsoever, and they paradoxically can make you feel less full.