Sometimes I like to dream. I’m not just talking about casual daydreams that revolve around your future house or dream vacation, I’m talking about the big-time. The life changing dreams like quitting gluten, sugar, and alcohol. It seems impossible, but humans are more than capable of surviving without it, and the outcome is filled with nothing but rewards.
Sugar, Alcohol, and Gluten.
The problem with these substances is that gluten, sugar, and alcohol don’t have immediate tangible effects on your body. The real dangers sit in the medium to long term effects.
Not only do they negatively affect your health and bodily functions, but they also contribute to the deterioration of your mind.
It’s obviously much easier to abandon habits that are conclusively “bad” for you. For example, eating something that you know makes you nauseous or ties up your digestive system. Imagine a lactose-intolerant person eating a pint of ice cream. It tastes good, but it makes a negative effect on the body.
The Harm:
It can be harder to give up substances like gluten, sugar, and alcohol because of their indirect effects. However, don’t be fooled, these products will harm you slowly.
Gluten, although controversial, has adverse effects on your digestive system and your brain.
Sugar raises your cholesterol, it’s bad for your teeth and puts you at risk of diabetes. And regular drinking can turn into high blood pressure, liver disease, anxiety, and even cancer.
If you successfully quit these products then here’s what you’ll start noticing:
1.Stomach Pain Relief:
Basically, when you eliminate gluten and sugar you will stop upsetting your stomach. You may not know exactly which foods were causing the problem but this elimination will set you in the right direction. You’ll notice that you won’t be bloated when you wake up in the morning and you won’t have gas after every meal.
2. Energy:
Stop taking those artificial energy boosters by cleansing your diet.
This will take the poison out of the foods you’re eating and add a spring to your step.
Eating clean will boost your energy levels and have you feeling more active.
3. Sleep:
Surprisingly, you’ll actually need less sleep. Incredible, I know. Gluten, sugar, and alcohol mess with your sleep cycle pretty severely leading to lower quality sleep. Without them, you’ll actually find that you feel the same with an hour less sleep at night. That’s an hour extra of your day to spend doing something worthwhile.
4. No more sugar spikes:
You won’t have to deal with the daily fluctuations that come along on the sugar roller coaster. The cycle of sugar spikes, much like the cycle of drunkenness, offers moments of intense excitement and elation, followed by phases of intense regret and fatigue. Stop the buck by switching your diet.
5. Awareness:
You know exactly what’s going into your body when you start limiting your diet. You start becoming more aware of what’s in the stuff you eat. A lot of the food we buy is processed and full of random ingredients, but eating clean will force you to be informed and pay attention to the ingredient list.
Everything you eat starts to become a conscious decision, not just a momentary desire. Once you realize what’s in other products, you may even abandon them too…
6. No alcohol:
You don’t need alcohol to be social. This is the big one. Unfortunately, many people feel like they’re socially dependent on alcohol to have a good time, and more important, to not feel uncomfortable or awkward at social gatherings. It’s a myth, though.
Sure, the first time will be weird, the second time a little less weird, and so on. Until one day you realize that you feel perfectly comfortable and social without alcohol. Your method of social interaction simply adapts and reforms itself. In fact, you may actually improve your social skills, making genuine conversation instead of rambling in a numbingly drunken state.
The health of your soul, mind, and body are all interconnected, and making small adjustments can bring you back to a balanced whole. When you put more care into your food, your life will ultimately be the better for it.
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