Tips For Going Sugar-Free

Tips For Going Sugar-Free 
- Marie Hopkinson

Trying to kick Refined sugar in your life? 

1) Go cold turkey - it’s better just to quit sugar, throw away your sugary
treats and spend a few days letting your body and mind adjust. Pick a time when things aren't too stressful. After a week, the cravings will significantly subside and your body will thank you enormously.

2) Remove temptation - throw away or put the chocolates and lollies out of sight so your not visually tempted.

3) Plan your treats. Quitting sugar doesn't mean you can’t have any treats. There are tons of sugar-free recipes online. Refined sugar replacements like maple syrup, coconut sugar, dried fruits, agave syrup can be used in cooking or making raw sweet treats. I recommend getting away from the sweet flavour as much as possible but having access to some of these in the first week or 2 will make it easier.

4) Look after your Spleen. The more you nurture your Spleen Energy, the less your body will crave sugar and the better you will feel.

Why Should I quit sugar? 

Sweet is the flavour of the spleen energy in Chinese medicine. It’s a very important organ for digestive processes. A small amount of sweet helps the Spleen, but too much can overwhelm the Spleen Qi (pronounced “chee”). When we crave sweet especially after eating a meal, it indicates the Spleen Qi is weak. (You will usually get diarrhoea or loose bowel movements, and see toothmarks on the tongue as well). Since the Spleen makes energy for your body to function, when it can’t diegest well, it can be a cause of tiredness.

Refined cane sugar overwhelms the Spleen energy. In a biomedical sense, this corelates with rise and subsequent drop of blood sugar levels. This gives you an instant burst of energy or buzz, followed by a low...usually lower than you felt before you ate the chocolate or lollies.

Sweet-natured foods that can nurture the Spleen energy include root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin and unrefined, cooked grains like barley, rice and millet.

In a biomedical sense, theses foods have a low gylcemic index, which means they take longer to break down and don’t require the same biochemical reaction that refined sugary-sweet natured foods do. They won’t quickly spike and lower your blood sugar level.

The golden rule of Chinese diet therapy, and longevity practices in general is EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. Balance isn’t just a  token yin-yang symbol, but it’s a guiding key principal to achieve health and longevity in life.

FREE Sugar-Free RECIPES ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE

www.metrohealth.com.au 

Metro Health and Medicine

200 Whatley Crs 

Maylands, WA 6051

The yin and yang of what we eat

Yin and Yang are fundamental to Chinese medicine, and just as much part of diet as they are other areas of medicine and health.

I was teaching my classes this week, when I was reminded about yin and yang of foods being more than just the substance of the foods themselves as yin or yang, but as energies that can be applied to foods and how we consume yin or yang as part of this nature.

A piece of meat which is raw, cold and uncooked is in a YIN state.

Once heat has been applied by grilling, frying, roasting or any kind of  cooking, then YANG energy is activated, as it is applied to the yin food.

By eating fresh foods we can consume the maximim energy of foods. By eating foods which are freshly cooked, we get the benefit of this Yang Qi (energy).

In Chinese medicine, it is considered healthy to eat "mostly cooked foods, most of the time" however, when eating foods which have been cooked, then cooled or stored and then re-heated we call this "wrecked" foods. 
Yang energy is dynamic, moving, lifts upwards and is desirable for us to have more of this kind of natured foods in our diet.

On the contrary, yin foods are dense, cold and while they have their place in the diet, it's not optimal to consume foods at a cold and raw temperature.

Chinese medicine propogates humans should live 100 healthy years. This can only be achieved by healthy diet and lifestyle according to the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine. 

What is the yin and yang of your diet?