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School of Ayurvedic Diet & Digestion | ||
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Before ice-cream and other heavy sweets were invented, sweet foods were a natural energy boost between meals. The pick-me-up was a necessary complement to your diet between meals. So, people craved sweets when they were feeling tired. In modern times, the body still responds to depression and fatigue with hunger. However, modern sweets are much more concentrated and overwhelming than their natural counterparts. These foods create an initial sugar high, only to leave you with a crash several moments later. Meanwhile, these sweets cause rapid weight gain, fungal infections, mucus congestion, and other problems.
The modern diet heaves 150 times the amount of sugar into your diet than your ancestors ate only 100 years ago. Your body can handle about a teaspoon of sugar a day, as much as you would find in a piece of fruit. A single 12oz can of Coke TM boasts 13 teaspoons of sugar.
How to Reduce Sugar Consumption
What happens to me when I eat too much sugar?
Have you ever noticed how refined sugar has an almost tingly, spicy feel on the tongue? This sharpness, an effect that increases one minute after consumption, is your proof that refined sugar has an intense effect on your body. The sharp, pungent feeling is an inflammatory reaction provoked by the sugar.Have you ever noticed you get bad breath after eating sweets? Refined sugar makes it very difficult for your body to fight off infection. Remember the old adage, "Starve a fever?" Bacteria live off the sugar in your blood. When you fast, you starve the bacteria in your body. When you eat sugar, you feed bacteria and yeast infections attacking your body. The bacteria produce foul odors that leave you reaching for a breath mint.
You might notice you have more mucus after eating sweets, and that your mucus is thicker, especially during allergy season. Sweets make your bodily fluids gooey, thick, and rich, including your blood, your saliva, and your mucus. The thick, sweet blood congests your circulatory and lymphatic system, causing high blood pressure and buildup of toxins.
Overconsumption of sweets leads to many other complications, like weight gain and diabetes, that we won't discuss here.
Which Sweeteners are Safe?
It it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it's a duck. Sweeteners are no exception. Exercise moderation with all sweeteners, especially if you are addicted. However, some sweeteners are better than others.Better Sweeteners | Bad Sweeteners | ||
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A whole food that improves metabolism, especially fat metabolism. Honey is the only sweetener recommend for Kapha. | ![]() |
White sugar is on the top ten list of foods to avoid for every dosha, but is especially damaging to Kapha. |
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Has a full bodied flavor and rich nutritional profile. Maple syrup has more complex carbohydrates that digest slowly, without as dramatic a spike in blood sugar levels. | ![]() |
Corn syrup seems ideal for Vata individuals trying to gain weight. However, corn syrup bypasses your appetite suppression mechanisms, which can lead to overconsumption. It is a highly processed food that confuses your body on many levels and is best avoided at all costs. |
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Like maple syrup, a richer nutritional profile. Like honey, it is hot and warms up your metabolism. | ![]() |
Studies have shown use of artificial sweeteners has no effect on weight loss, baffling scientists. Perhaps the brain does not like to be deceived, or that use of artificial sweeteners doesn't address the underlying addiction to sugars. |
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Better than refined sugar, but still cooling and congestive. Unrefined sugar cane, often sold as a pressed juice in tropical countries, contains a rich mineral profile and superior taste to refined sugar, albeit with a shorter shelf life. | ![]() |
Same manufacturing process as corn syrup. Processed in the liver just like corn syrup. |
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About the Author
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda. His approach to Ayurveda exudes a certain ease, which many find enjoyable and insightful. His online course Balance Your Ayurvedic Diet in a Week provides tools for gracefully healing with Ayurveda to thousands. John also directs Joyful Belly's School of Ayurveda , which specializes in digestive tract pathology & Ayurvedic nutrition. John and his wife Natalie recently published Explore Your Hunger: A Guide to Hunger, Appetite & Food.John's interest in Ayurveda and digestive tract pathology was inspired by a complex digestive disorder acquired from years of international travel, including his public service work in South Asia. John's commitment to the detailed study of digestive disorders reflects his zeal to get down to the roots of the problem. His hope and belief in the capacity of each & every client to improve their quality of life is nothing short of a personal passion. John's creativity in the kitchen and delight in cooking for others comes from his family oriented upbringing. In addition to his certification in Ayurveda, John holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John enjoys sharing Ayurveda within the context of his Catholic roots, and finds Ayurveda gives him an opportunity to participate in the healing mission of the Church. Jesus expressed God's love by feeding and healing the sick. That kindness is the fundamental ministry of Ayurveda as well.
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