TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE E5
advised a sugar detox for me to
lose visceral fat — the internal
kind that accumulates around
the organs and drives hunger,
overeating, weight gain, muscle
loss and brain damage.
It can also cause fatty liver
disease, increase the cholesterol
that causes heart disease and
increase inflammation, which
Mark Hyman, the medical direc-
tor of the Cleveland Clinic’s Cen-
ter for Functional Medicine, said
“affects a whole range of diseases
from cancer to heart disease,
diabetes and Alzheimer’s.”
For instance, a recent study
found that consuming sugary
drinks, including soda and fruit
juice, may “significantly” in-
crease your risk of developing
cancer, especially of the breast.
Health coach Anna Seethaler
opened the detox seminar with
three questions: How much sugar
are you eating? When are you
eating it? And why are you eating
it?
My answers mirrored those of
my classmates: No clue. All day
long, especially in the evening (or
any time I felt lonely, angry or
deserving of a treat). And because
I like it. I learned that the average
American consumes nearly 152
pounds of sugar annually, or
nearly 44 teaspoons a day. The
typical kid in the United States
eats a horrifying 34 teaspoons
daily. (The American Heart Asso-
ciation recommends no more
than six teaspoons a day for
women and children, nine for
men.)
Sugar is everywhere: It’s in
cereal and skim milk, bread, sal-
ad dressings, wine, white pota-
toes, pasta and pizza — not to
mention desserts.
Seethaler sent us away with
homework: Seek out and record
the sugars in our diets. I had
thought I’d been eating pretty
healthfully, but my journal quick-
ly told me otherwise. This sur-
prise was what Seethaler intend-
ed.
Some products already show
an “added sugar” line item in the
Nutrition Facts Panel on their
label, and by 2021 all food makers
will be required to include it.
Until then, Jessica Levinson, a
New York City-based nutritionist
in private practice, tells her cli-
SUGAR DETOX FROM E1 ents to read food labels and
“know the various terms for sug-
ar, which include agave nectar,
brown rice syrup, and fruit juice
concentrate,” in addition to the
ubiquitous high-fructose corn
syrup.
Hyman, who has written “The
Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day De-
tox Diet,” says his intent is to
“completely obliterate the idea”
that all calories are the same, that
there’s no difference between 100
calories of Coca-Cola or cauli-
flower.
“Calories in, calories out,” he
says, “is a completely disproven
hypothesis.”
All this is to say that cauliflow-
er is better for you than Coke.
Sigh.
Hyman advocates a cold-tur-
key approach to his patients.
“You want people to experience
their hunger, their behavior, their
mood, their energy [and] their
chronic symptoms if they stop
[consuming] sugar and starch for
a week or two weeks or three
weeks,” he said by phone. (Starch,
which is found in potatoes, corn,
rice and many grains, converts to
sugar when consumed.) Our bio-
chemistry, he says, not will power,
drives our cravings and hunger
patterns. It’s not a “moral failingthat we can’t control our diet.”
As I started my detox, Hyman
advised me to add “a lot of fat,
because fat makes you feel full
[and] speeds your metabolism,”
which I didn’t know. Then came a
second revelation: “Fat actually
helps you burn fat,” he explained,
destroying many of the myths I’d
grown up with.
I’d been avoiding high-fat
foods like the plague because as
everyone “knew,” fat makes you
fat.
Not so, said Hyman. “Fat
doesn’t make you fat. Sugar
makes you fat.”
Fat, he says, “increases muscle
mass and decreases inflamma-
tion — if it’s the right fat” — by
that he includes coconut butter,
MCT oil (or medium-chain trig-
lycerides), extra-virgin cold-
pressed olive oil, and those found
in wild fatty fish such as salmon
and sardines, nuts and avocados.
(See his complete list at thechalk-
boardmag.com/dr-hyman-good-
fat-bad-fat.)
Hyman points to a recent study
in Nature that found that those
on an unrestricted high-fat (low
carb) diet lost more weight, had
better control of their blood sug-
ar, lower triglyercides and better
HDL (the good cholesterol).
For the first several days,
frankly, my detoxing was hell.
Making certain foods forbidden
made me want them more. Ice
cream. Pasta. Chocolate. Even
wine, which contains a fair
amount of sugar. My cravings
were intense and seemed never-
ending, and if I cheated I felt like
a loser. I was irritable and moody
— and, yes, as is often the case,
constipated.
But by day five the cravings
had subsided. I’d stopped eating
bread, because even whole wheat
bread, Hyman explained, con-
verts more quickly to glucose, or
blood sugar, than table sugar.
(The exception — whole grain
breads — such as those made
from wheat berry, whole barley
and whole grain oats.)
But here’s the part that blew
my mind: I started to lose weight.
Before the detox I weighed 166
pounds. Twelve weeks later, I hit a
new low adult weight: 155. I’ve
cinched in my belt a notch. My
bloodwork looks much better (my
triglycerides dropped by half in
six weeks). And as my belly fat hasreduced, I do feel better and more
energetic. Later this month I’ll
see what my HDL and LDL num-
bers look like. Fingers crossed.
Seethaler and Hyman both talk
about sugar as addictive, which is
why it’s so hard to kick. Sugar,
Hyman says, “actually causes us
to stimulate the same brain area
that causes addiction for heroin
and cocaine.” That’s why he advo-
cates a cold-turkey sugar detox.
Levinson, the nutritionist, pre-
fers starting with small changes.
She suggests clients “work onreducing sugars one meal at a
time and make sure to have
healthier alternatives that will
actually satisfy cravings.” Levin-
son advocates for moderation
and reminds me of the adage, “It’s
the dose that makes the poison.”
I’m now in my fourth month of
a modified detox — I don’t want
to live without wine or some
sweets (I eat three 1-inch squared
pieces of very dark chocolate a
day). I know I can’t avoid all
added sugars, no matter how
vigilant I may be.Sugar detoxing is not easy,
especially when visiting friends.
On a recent weekend, my hosts
made five delicious pizzas, each
with a white-flour crust that
when eaten quickly converts to
blood sugar. I decided to indulge
for that evening, remembering
that tomorrow was another day. I
wish I’d had a Grandma Teresa to
start me earlier, but I’m glad to be
on the detox bandwagon now.
The big question: How long
will I stay on it? Stay tuned.
[email protected]Ditching sugar made me feel better, but detoxing isn’t easy
ISTOCK“Fat doesn’t make
you fat. Sugar makes
you fat.”
Mark Hyman, medical director
of the Cleveland Clinic’s Center
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