How to Sweeten During the Detox…
Yes, all real sugar and their substitutes are out during detox phase #2. The reason - science has shown that both sugar and the substitutes spike your insulin and ultimately cause the body to store excess fat. When this process goes on for too long you become insulin resistant which can lead to pre-diabetes and diabetes.
The ones you need to eliminate are: white table sugar, brown sugar, sucralose (Splenda), maple syrup, and molasses. Stay away from hidden sugars in ketchup, salad dressings, sauces, and packaged cereals. If sugar is one of the first six ingredients, avoid it. You also must stay off the liquid sugar, including soda, diet soda, juice, lemonade, and alcohol (which we already gave up by this point). AND YES, this also includes the “healthy” sugars like coconut sugar, palm sugar, agave, organic cane sugar and honey. While these are healthier than the traditional processed sugar or highly processed artificial sweeteners, they STILL raise you blood sugar level and ultimately affect your insulin levels. For the duration of the detox they are not allowed, but can be added back in post detox if they don’t lead to increased inflammation.
As mentioned in the beginning of this post – getting your insulin in balance is the #1 thing you can do to lose fat, gain lean muscle mass and reduce inflammation.
So why do we allow stevia and monk fruit? Simple answer - because for some they absolutely cannot go without having a little sweetness in their daily diet, and quite frankly, they will cheat on this very important step of the detox if we don’t offer an alternative. If you can skip them all together – YES, please do!
Stevia is derived from the leaves of the stevia plant and has been used for over 1,500 years in Brazil and Paraguay. Nicknamed the “sweet herb” stevia is 200x sweeter than sugar, has no known effect on blood sugar or insulin and in some countries has been used for medicinal purposes. Warning – when using Stevia during the detox ensure what you are using is 100% stevia without additives or further processing like Truvia.
Monk fruit sweetener is made from an extract derived from dried fruit. The extract, like Stevia is much sweeter than sugar, some studies show 150-250x more. It has zero calories and zero carbohydrates, and does not raise blood glucose levels of effect insulin. Warning, like Stevia many monk fruit sweeteners are processed with additional ingredients, which you do not want.
For more questions about our 21 Day Detox program, please reach out or email us at info@strengthandgracefitness.com
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