The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet: Activate Your Body's Natural Ability to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast (12 page)

These include corn, soybean, canola, and sunflower oil, and more. All contain inflammatory omega-6 fats and currently make up 10 percent of our calories. During the 10-Day Detox, you’ll stick to extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin coconut butter (also known as coconut oil). Extra virgin olive oil contains polyphenols, which are powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Olive oil has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease as much as or more than statins. Coconut butter or oil is a powerful cellular fuel and also contains anti-inflammatory fats such as lauric acid, the same fat found in breast milk. For high-heat cooking, grape seed oil is also safe.

Alcohol is just sugar in a different form. Plus, it impairs your impulse control, so you’re more likely to eat more—and to do so mindlessly. It also has more calories per gram than sugar (7 calories compared to 4 calories), provokes a leaky gut, and inflames your liver. While it is not all about the calories, if you have one glass of wine a day at 110 calories each, over the course of a year, that can add up to eleven pounds of weight gain. Starting during the Prep Phase, you’ll taper off alcohol and cut it out of your diet for the full ten days.

Some say caffeine speeds up metabolism or the rate of calorie burning, called
thermogenesis.
But so do spicy jalapeños or cayenne pepper. Caffeine is hidden in many soft drinks and energy drinks because it is addictive, so you consume more of the sugary drinks. Caffeine also increases hunger.

The research is a bit mixed on coffee because in some population studies, coffee seems to be associated with a decreased risk of diabetes. But in experimental studies, caffeine and coffee have been shown to impair insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals as well as obese individuals and type 2 diabetics.

In one study conducted at the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Canada, ten healthy participants consumed coffee containing 5 milligrams per kilogram body weight of caffeine with a high-sugar meal. They had a 147 percent bigger spike in blood sugar and 29 percent greater insulin surge than those who drank decaffeinated coffee followed by the same meal.

The study showed that coffee consumption followed by a low-sugar, low-glycemic meal was worse. Those people had a 216 percent greater blood sugar spike and 44 percent greater insulin release than those who drank decaffeinated coffee. Researchers concluded that caffeine significantly impairs blood sugar management and insulin resistance.

Getting off caffeine can release you from cravings and normalize your brain chemistry. The problem with caffeine is that you get a surge in dopamine, the reward chemical, but then it wears off. Even if you don’t crave more coffee, you will almost certainly crave more sugar. There is a reason there is something called coffee cake. The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet is designed to completely free your brain from addictive substances. Because decaf still contains some caffeine, it, too, is off-limits for the full ten days.

I want you to have your body back and see what it feels like. From there, you can decide for yourself what you do or don’t want to consume. But give yourself a chance to notice what it feels like to detox fully.

In the Prep Phase, I’ll take you through the steps to begin weaning yourself off coffee with a minimum of discomfort, so that by the time you begin the program, you’re already reaping the benefits of getting this drug out of your system.