Isabelle McKenzie

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How to Protect Your Body From Sugar This Fall

#SugarBalancedLiving

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Autumn is a time for fun, cozy sweaters, and pumpkin spiced treats, but the new season also marks the beginning of an increased propensity for illnesses and physical discomforts like allergies, flu, travel sickness, as well as comfort eating, weight gain, and we find ourselves also eating a LOT of sugar (those apple ciders donuts are just too good to resist)! Learn how you can prepare your body to beat the flu and balance your sugar intake WITHOUT giving up the fun activities and food that come along with fall!

The gorgeous, golden, cozy, earthy, windy, crisp, pumpkin flavored Autumn season is now here… and I couldn’t be more excited to enjoy these next few months wrapped up in a cozy sweater, ready to hit harvest festivals. 🍂

Although it also brings the wonders, festive holidays and earth toned beauty we all love, fall also brings with it the months where we’re more sensitive to allergies, fatigue, comfort eating, weight gain, flu, colds, tiredness, lethargy, headaches, and travel sickness, all of which can put a big damper on our fun.

So what can we do about it? Let’s start by getting ahead of fall health…

This means that it's also time to start thinking ahead and preparing your body for tackling the ailments that could soon be heading your way, and actually, there is one particular culprit that pretty much all Autumn health issues have in common: SUGAR.

That’s right. Sugar.

A big part of fall fun is the often sweet and festive spiced foods and drinks, but if you better protect yourself from that sugar, you can better guarantee yourself a more enjoyable autumn.

I’m pretty sure we all know that sugar can cause seasonal holiday weight gain which can be frustrating, disheartening, and can lead us to feel bad and uncomfortable about ourselves during what are supposed to be fun holidays. 😳

But sugar can reap more havoc than extra love handles and confidence issues, as unpleasant as they are.

Sugar can also trigger chronic and acute seasonal allergies, fatigue, travel sickness, cozy comfort food cravings (yep - that’s a thing!)  and make you more susceptible to tiredness, lethargy, headaches and EVEN FLU!

How exactly is sugar causing fall health trouble?

🤒 Sugar’s Connection To Your Immunity:

When you want to avoid getting sick, the first thing we all think of doing is to make sure that we wash our hands frequently and stay warm, but perhaps the best way to prevent illness is to avoid eating excess sugar as sugar weakens the immune system.

After you eat or drink ‘too much’ sugar, like by eating a cookie or drinking soda, the sugar will curb the effectiveness of your immune system cells that would normally attack bacteria. 🧫 This effect will last for at least several hours before returning to normal, and your body won’t fully recover for 24 hours.

This means you’re going to be super susceptible during those several hours to picking up some sort bacteria that leads to sickness, ruining those pumpkin picking plans!

The large majority of your immune system actually lies within your digestive tract, so your body needs you to keep a proper balance of good bacteria versus bad bacteria. Seems simple to do right? BUT, when you go eating that excess sugar, your body is overrun by unwanted party crashers (bad bacteria). 🦠 These bad bacteria then proliferate, resulting in sickness.

Sugar’s role in insulin resistance, weight gain, and mood swings:

Consuming excess amounts of sugar (especially refined sugar) means your body will need to keep constantly pumping insulin to move the sugar into the cells, which can eventually result in insulin resistance, a condition that can lead to diabetes.

Sugar can also negatively impact psychological health, because the insulin sometimes overcompensates and pulls your blood sugar down too low, which causes mood swings, fatigue, and mental fog. This then makes your day extra stressful, and that stress leads you to gravitate towards pleasurable sugary foods as a comfort, exacerbating the issue.

Making matters worse, this psychological stress weakens the immune system.

Broken down immunity caused by sugar can also play a role in chronic and acute seasonal allergies, fatigue, travel sickness, tiredness, and lethargy, as I mentioned earlier. 🤢

Sugar can also bring on systemic inflammation, which can manifest in the body as joint pain, headaches, illness, tiredness and even organ distress and diabetes.

Curbing sugar consumption doesn't necessarily guarantee mean you will never get a cold or flu, but your odds at prevention are much higher and if you do get sick you’re pretty much guaranteed to bounce back quicker.

So… how do you keep protected from sugar this autumn!? 🤔

In order to get the most out of your autumn fun and still have a healthy vibrant body this season, you don’t want your wellness goals to go into hibernation.

This mean that we need to do two things: navigate and moderate. Don’t worry, it’s nothing scary, nothing complicated, and NO… you don’t have to quit sugar altogether -  I'm going to get you informed of everything you need to know!

First, let’s start by checking out some sneaky places where tons of sugar hides out this time of year. 🤫

A big problem for most people is that they end up eating way too much sugar without realizing it, because they would never think that a particular food or drink would be laden in sugar - especially during this time of year. After that I’ll explain exactly what to do about eating sugar (and whether you need to quit it completely) and how you can naturally moderate food consumption.

How To Protect Your Body From Sugar This Fall: Autumn Food and Drinks That Can Contain A Ton Of Sugar!

Fall foods with lots of hidden sugar - let’s get busting!

1. Soups – In Particular Tomato Soups 🥣

Most soups are fantastic for your well being; they’re packed with veggies and herbs with nutrient boosting properties. The problem is, some soups have sneakily hidden added sugar in the broth or in the cooked down veggies.

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In particular, a popular soup that tends to have a lot of added sugar is tomato soup.

Tomato soups tend to have added sugar to help quickly cook down the tomatoes. However, the addition of sugar here is hardly necessary. Bringing out some of the tomatoes natural flavors and sweetness, and cooking it all down a certain way can solve this issue.

For example, Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup 10.75 oz Can’s second ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup - yucky?!

What to do?: If you’re at a restaurant, make sure ask your waiter which soups have added sugar, and if over at a friends don’t be shy to ask either. Even better, make it at home, so you know exactly what you’re eating.

2. Festive Coffee Drinks

Everyone loves a good festive drink, especially in the autumn. Gingerbread latte y’all! But many of us don’t normally think about just how much sugar and calories we’re drinking in just one cup. It’s just coffee and spice right? Nah…

For example, a 2% milk Pumpkin Spice Crème Grande topped whipped cream has 400 calories, with a whopping 52g SUGAR. Crazy, right?!

What to do?: I’ve always loved cooking, so with a combination of my experience with flavor profiles and deep dive into web research I’ve figured out how you can drink smart and knock-off a ton of empty calories and sugar with our festive drink tradition and still keep them tasting delightful - head on over to my blog post: Easy Tips for Ordering Low-Calorie and Low-Sugar Holiday Drinks.

Or if you’d like to whip up your own super healthy fall drink, I have a really tasty Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe with vegan options.

3. Sweet Potato Pie 🥧

Pumpkin pie is a seasonal favorite, and some people who want to eat a little healthier will sometimes opt for sweet potato pie slice instead of the typical apple, pumpkin, or pecan pie, thinking its lower in sugar. Plus, it contains more nutrients because it’s made with sweet potatoes, right? This is simply not true!

Sweet potato pie is still packed with sugar, ruining any health benefits you may have originally received from the sweet potato.

What to do?: Enjoy pie as a treat and opt for a smaller slice, or you can make your own healthier version of the pie. Since both pumpkins and sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, it is pretty easy to make it into something low sugar/refined sugar-free or no sugar added and still keep it seasonally yummy!

4. Seasonal Breads 🍞

Bread… we all love a good old slice of bread! Especially in the autumn, who doesn’t love to bake up a tray or buy a pumpkin spice or cinnamon swirl bread, it’s just so festive!

Problem is, these breads can contain a ton of sugar, and the sugar content of some of these breads is like drinking a can of soda!

What to do?: You can easily bake your own loaf of healthy pumpkin spiced bread or be very careful to read the label when shopping. Another option for eating out: let’s say you’re in a coffee shop, buy a plain bread loaf slice and top it with sliced apple and cinnamon - it’s quite scrummy actually and has those awesome autumn flavours.

5. Cider Drinks 🍎

Apples are the name of the game this season… you can’t survive the fall without having had something apple-y, and what says apple and autumn more than apple cider drinks?

Apple cider is healthy in-and-of itself, and then when you add spices to that it’s pure health boosting. The problem hits when we add maple syrup, brown sugar and sometimes wine (which is high in sugar).

Now you may be wondering why I mention maple syrup, isn’t it healthy? Although maple does contain nutrients, and sugar ranks higher than maple on the glycemic index, maple syrup it still really high on the index. It’s messes with your immunity and the nutrients in it are a poor source when compared to other foods.

What to do?: Well, there are a ton of recipes out there that use no sugar, and when out just be sure to ask and make sure they didn't add sugar, if they did, be sure to moderate how much you drink.

6. Glazed Veggies and Meats 🥩

Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan or a carnivore, I'm sure you’ve used or eaten marinated roast veggies or meat before in your seasonal roasts.

Salt and oil are the two basic ingredients of any marinade, but many people add sugar, especially brown sugar, during this time of year as a festive flavour booster.

What to do?: Opt for a plainer cooked meat or veggie option, and if you can’t find anything, be sure to moderate. If you like to cook, why not offer to bring the marinade and make sure to use no sugar?

7. Sorry Oktoberfest… Be Wary of Seasonal Beers 🍻

Oktoberfest beers are really popular at the moment. From pumpkin spice, caramel crème, to cinnamon beer, there are so many to choose from.

Bad news is that these beers tend to contain sweetened molasses, caramel, and sweetened vanilla.

What to do?: Opt for a lighter cider beer and be sure to moderate.

8. Acorn Roasted Squash 🌰

Squash is perfect in season but is an even bigger hit during the fall and winter, and everyone's fave way to serve it is in the form of an acorn roasted squash.

Unfortunately these roasted seasonal yummies tend to be rubbed in maple syrup and brown sugar.

What to do?: Opt for a plainer cooked veggie option, if you can’t find anything just be sure to moderate, or roast your own sugar free squash full with herbs and flavor.

10. Gingered Pears and Parsnips 👨‍🦰

I love ginger! I wait all year long for the ginger season to come by and one thing I love to enjoy during the fall is gingered pears and parsnips.

Sadly, they tend to be smothered in brown sugar.

What to do?: Either eat it in moderation, make your own sugar free versions, or if you’re at party powder some ginger on the plain roasted parsnips.

11. Seasonal Oatmeal and Porridge 🥣

Everyone loves a good’ old bowl of warming cozy autumnal oatmeal or porridge for a wonderful fall morning breakfast! It’s super healthy thanks to the oats which are a balanced health option containing good carbs, protein, fat and plenty of fiber which helps to lower your cholesterol, and keeps you full for longer.

Bad news is that many flavoured oatmeals like cinnamon apple, pumpkin spice, and spiced pear oats contain tons of maple syrup and brown sugar.

What to do?: When ordering be specific about having no sugar added. If you like it sweet then ask for only a bit of pure raw honey or eat your sweet oats in moderation. You could make your own with liquid Stevia as the sweetener. I have a delicious, more-ish Pumpkin Spice Overnight oats recipe here or if chocolate’s your thing you can check out my chocolate chunk oats recipe here.

If you’re wondering why pure raw honey is okay… honey is very high in natural sugar, but I find it a good moderated sugar substitute during the colder months as it helps with flu prevention.

12. Harvest Bowls 🥗

Harvest bowls are a delicious combo of veggies, whole grains, and either a pure meat or a vegan option like tofu. What can be so bad about this powerful mix?

Nothing really… it should be SUPER HEALTHY… it’s just the grilled veggies and/or meat will tend to be covered in a topping or glazed in a marinade that contains maple and brown sugar like I mention earlier.

What to do?: Opt for a plain cooked meat and/or veggie option, and choose a sugar free topping. If you can’t find anything plain/sugar free, moderate, or even better you can cook your own up at home with no sugar and bring it to work.

Now we’ve gone through the list of sneaky sugar packed autumn foods, you should be better able to understand what you’re eating on a daily basis, which will help you make better food choices.

Now let’s talk about what to do about eating sugar, and cover some tips for helping instinctively moderating foods and drinks this season.

How To Moderate And Keep Your Immunity Boosted When You Eat Or Dink Sugar 💪

I know you’re probably worrying about all the food you won’t be able to eat, but I want to reassure you that fall treats are still here to be enjoyed, you only need to balance your diet and moderate how much you eat.

Protecting your body from sugar: tips ‘n tricks for better eating

Firstly, make sure to schedule in when you want to enjoy a treat, don’t binge eat; moderate. If you want to eat it often make sure to try a smaller piece of pumpkin pie, or splitting an apple pie doughnut with a friend.

The day you have a treat, especially a big treat, work what you eat that day around it.

You’ll need boost your natural immunity through foods to help pick up the loss of immunity boosting bacteria caused by the sugar. This gives your body the best chance at defending itself against some of those pesky seasonal bugs floating around and the dreaded cold and flu season.

Secondly, start your day with healthy breakfast, 🍳

…full of good healthy omega packed fats and protein, like coconut oil, eggs, and lean white meats like chicken. Starting your day off right will help your body intuitively reduce the amount of sugary treats you eat on your treat day.

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Thirdly, eat local and reflect the seasons colors in what you eat for an immunity and wellness boost.

Add foods that are naturally orange, red, yellow, and dark green like pumpkin, squash, carrots. Great boosters high in allicin, which reduce blood sugar and have super strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties are root vegetables, pears, radishes, onions, garlic, white beans, winter melons, tofu, and cauliflower. Packing yourself with fiber also helps you stay full longer, which helps with food moderation.

Other foods you should embrace are citrus fruits, bananas, pineapples and avocados - they contain Vitamin C which you’ll really need in the dark winter. On the days you eat sugary foods, try to seriously limit your fruit, as fruit is high in natural sugar.

Try to utilize household chores, 🧹

on the days you eat a lot of unhealthy foods, to actively burn some of those calories and also help distract you from after-eating sugar cravings. Gardening, raking leaves, cleaning out wardrobes, organizing, hoovering, dusting and packing are all fab ideas.

Lastly, take your recommended amount of organic probiotic supplements,

since probiotics have been shown to reduce blood sugar levels. Also published studies show that these good bacteria significantly reduce the risk of getting colds and flus. AND, those who do get sick may have a reduced severity and duration of the illness. Awesome right?!

How To Protect Your Body From Sugar This Fall: Wrapping it All Up (in cozy sweaters of course) 🐱‍👓 🍂

Warmer months help our bodies naturally crave light, healthy foods, leading us to maintain a healthier diet more easily, but when the hot weather starts to turn cold, our body’s instinct is to store fat by indulging in delicious cozy sugary goodies like pumpkin spice lattes, apple pies and warm roasts.

That’s why we need to be clever and outsmart our body’s natural instinct by giving it what it needs and not depriving ourselves, but also by incorporating balance. This’ll help you stay less stressed, less tired, happier and less prone to colds and flus.

If you use the quick guide above, I'm positive that this year you will get more fun out of this autumn season than ever before, while staying healthier than ever and still indulging in favorite fall treats.

Up for more of a challenge?

If you want even better help and guidance on creating a vibrant inner well being, rejuvenating health, and being able to reduce sugar in your diet with ease, naturally and instinctively this autumn, then I've got your back!

Check out my 5-Day Autumn Sugar Balance + Wellness Challenge, which I’m totally thrilled share with you!

5 Days to boost your energy, reduce your sugar cravings and dependency, strengthen your immune system to have you recharged and ready to rock this Autumn season feeling your best self.

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In this FREE, 5-day challenge, we’re going to take 3 self-care focused steps each day, based around the pillars: lifestyle, diet (in a non-diet way #NoDeprivationNeeded) and mindfulness-- to have you glowing, feeling great inside and out, as well as you having learnt some new healthy and awesome habits this Autumn.

WHEN YOU JOIN YOU’LL GET:

The 5-Day Autumn Sugar Balance + Wellness Challenge Kit containing:

  • Sugar Balance + Wellness Challenge Tracker + Accountability Worksheet’ with extra guidance and daily worksheets.

  • A daily journaling prompt with my free ‘Simple Guide To Journaling’. 

  • Super Easy Seasonal Flu Fighting Sugar Craving Busting Recipes, plus shopping list

  • Immediate access to my support group, and Facebook Lives where I’ll guide you through each day’s simple action item with extra tips.

  • Plus, a surprise Bonus Day that you can do whenever you want, and will give you a powerful boost to your mind, body and spirit!

I can’t wait to meet you ‘in person’!


It’s your turn!

What’re your fave fall health tricks and fall flavoured treats?

Let me know in the comments!

That’s it from me, 👋

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