Anti-aging specialist Nicholas Perricone M.D., says the effects of sugar on skin is up there with smoking and the sun as a leading cause of wrinkles. Many other anti-aging doctors including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Howard Murad, Dr. Jessica Wu and Dr. Adrienne Denese advise us to avoid sugar.

Sugar causes inflammation and reduces the power of collagen to rebuild the skin’s structure and increase the rate at which collagen breaks down naturally.

When our blood sugar spikes quickly and repeatedly, the sugar attaches to the proteins (collagen and elastin) in our skin, rendering them stiff and inflexible.

This process is called “glycation.” These harmful sugar molecules accumulate and damage adjacent proteins, which leads to sagging skin, and wrinkles.

Glycation also robs the skin of its natural moisturizer – hyaluronic acid – resulting in greater dryness and sagging.

Natural sugars are a little better for us, because they raise it less, or more slowly, and they do contain some nutrients (white sugar has none), but, all sugars raise blood sugar level. Fruit juice has a lot of sugar, without the fiber too much of it can raise the blood glucose level as fast as regular sugar.

The work of a hormone specialist, Dr. Robert Lustig, called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” (on Youtube) concludes that diabetes and obesity levels have risen since the “low fat” craze began. Processed “fat free” foods generally contain more sugar or High Fructose Corn Syrup, which helps make them taste better after all the delicious fat has been removed.

Omitting sugar from our diets entirely is probably never going to happen, because even fruits, vegetables and whole grains turn to glucose (the type of sugar that fuels glycation) when digested. It’s a good idea to keep it to minimum if we care about our health and youth. Sugars (ALL sugars, even natural sweeteners like agave, honey, and maple syrup) raise our blood glucose level.

Here are some recommendations to consider:

• Read labels. If sugar is in the first five ingredients on a label, you would be wise to avoid the product.
• High-temperature cooking breaks down collagen and exacerbates glycation, go for slow cooking methods like soups and stews and eat as many uncooked foods like salads and dips as possible.
• Consider omitting soda drinks and try carbonated water with a splash of lemon or lime, tea, or coconut water.
• Stop adding sugar to food and beverages. Replace it with honey or maple syrup, but use the least amount your taste buds will allow.
• Drink less fruit juice (which is all sugar, no fiber) and eat the whole fruit instead. Or make smoothies from low sugar fruits, like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
• Eat fewer high glycemic carbohydrates like white flour, white rice and pasta. Instead, eat whole grains, like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa or whole wheat pasta. 
• Keep added sugar to no more than 10% of total calories, this varies according to age so if you’re a 45-year-old woman, that’s approx 160 calories of added sugar.

If you want a helping hand to reduce sugar cravings and especially if you want to lose a few inches, in a healthy way  or:-

• balance your blood sugar
• discover renewed energy
• tame your sugar cravings
• decrease your risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer
• manage mood swings
• look and feel more vibrant throughout the entire day

Please join me on a 2 week on-line retreat where you’ll learn how to reduce inflammation, detox from sugar, fuel your body with good nutrition and allow your body to release excess weight. For more go HERE

READY FOR A REBOOT? Revolutionise your body in 14-days

Whether it’s extra inches (especially) around the middle, ongoing fatigue, skin issues, trouble sleeping, PMS, PCOS, fibroids or fertility issues you may have a hormone imbalance.

Hormones can effect your size and shape and may be the reason you’ve struggled with losing weight and keeping those extra inches off. Too much fat below the belly button, hips and buttocks may indicate you have a hormone imbalance, in particular oestrogen dominance.

As oestrogen levels rise, controlling your weight becomes really difficult, because fat cells also produce oestrogen. So the more fat cells, the more oestrogen is released into your body, and the more your fat cells grow.

What can cause oestrogen excess?
Oestrogen is a vital hormone for many functions in your body, but if it’s not in it’s natural form or at the right level for you then it will interfere with your hormonal activity.

According to the work of Dr. John Lee, the balance of your body’s natural hormones are disrupted because we are living in a ‘sea of oestrogens’ as a result of:-

• Eating non-organic animal foods with high levels of hormones i.e meat, diary, chicken.

• Increased synthetic oestrogens found in things like plastics (BPA), medications, synthetic hormones (the pill and HRT) and chemicals from beauty products and chemicals in your environment.
• Pesticides that mimic oestrogen in your body and send messages to the hypothalamus that it needs to keep producing more and more oestrogens.

There are some simple changes you can make to your diet and lifestyle that may be just what the Doctor ordered.

5 Steps To Reduce Oestrogen Dominance & Balance Your Hormones

1. A hormone balancing diet with:
   Plenty of complex carbohydrates and fibre from beans, lentils, wholegrains, vegetables and fruit. Fibre helps your body eliminate excess oestrogens. That’s why the saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’, is still so relevant to you today.Eat moderate amounts of protein – legumes, fish, eggs & chicken. Good fats such as nuts, seeds, oily fish and cold pressed vegetable oils.Eating enough fats and protein are key to ensuring the correct hormone levels in our body.
2. Help your body detoxify daily by supporting your liver. 
   Eat ‘a cup a day’ of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts and kale ) to help your liver produce enzymes and provide sulphur needed for the livers detoxification processes. These cruciferous vegetables contain a chemical called indol-3-carbinol, which is what helps you liver remove the bad oestrogens and keep the good ones.Milk thistle is also an excellent herb for the liver as it not only supports detoxification but it also repairs liver cells.
3. Do some exercise
   Moderate to high intensity exercise helps your body maintain normal levels of oestrogen – according to research.Do a mixture of exercise, including aerobic and try increasing your muscle mass by doing strength building exercise.
4. Avoid the following
   Alcohol – it impairs the optimum functioning of your liver by making it difficult to metabolise and remove excess oestrogen.Pesticides – Wash if You Can or Go Organic. There are a variety of chemicals and pesticides found in your food or drink that exert oestrogen like activity when absorbed into the body. These are found on non-organic fruits and vegetables as well as animal products.Plastics – these are also similar in structure to oestrogen and confuse the body’s hormone balance because they mimic the body’s own oestrogen. Use BPA-free plastic, glass or metal containers for water.
5. Reduce the following
   Body fat because it stores chemicals, if you carry excess fat around the middle you will tend to have higher oestrogen levels.Chronic stress – any form of stress (nutritional, physical, chemical, mental, environmental) can increase your cortisol levels and disrupt hormonal balance. Cortisol becomes the predominant hormone and starts to reduce other hormones like progesterone and thereby increasing oestrogen levels.

The great news is that you CAN shift your hormones back into balance by following these steps, and reduce not only the inches but also the detrimental effect of excess oestrogen.

Something else to consider: Is your body trying to tell you something, because Toxins are unavoidable, maybe your body needs a cleanse. So every once in a while it’s a good idea remove them with the structure and support of a fresh food detox!

Want to receive more information like this and be the first to know about any programs that you may be interested be sure to sign up to my newsletter, you’ll also receive a free guide to help you on your journey to great health – SIGN UP HERE

Staying active is a challenge for many of us as we spend much of the day sitting behind computuers, it’s a daily challenge I face myself trying to stay active.

Why is Exercise Absolutely Essential?
Aside from the obvious benefit of controlling your weight (a reason many people exercise) exercise also plays a key role in:

• increasing your energy levels because strangely enough the more energy you use, the more energy you have
• helping you have better quality sleep
• helps prevent chronic disease it improves your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and helps prevent mental illness i.e. Dementia and Alzheimers
• it boost feel good hormones and improves your mood
• exercise is anti-ageing and can help improve your IQ

What Kind Of Exercise?

Sadly after 30, you will lose up to a 1-3kg muscle mass every 10 years if you don’t have any form of strength or resistance training in your routine.

Aerobic exercise can add many years to your life and the WHO (World Health Organisation) recommends adults aged 18–64 should do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity in a week or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity in a week. So this could be 30 minutes walking five times a week.

Aerobic exercise is only one piece of the puzzle and so when it comes to healthy ageing, strength training becomes very important and an essential part of your exercise routine.

 There are differences between strength training and aerobic exercise.

– They both types burn calories and build muscle mass but at different rates.

– Aerobic exercise raises your heart rate for an extended period, burns fat and glucose during exercise.

– Strength (or weight) training will use up fat and glucose for hours (and sometimes days) after exercising, so your metabolism stays slightly elevated for a longer period of time following a strength training session than after an aerobic workout.

So why is strength training and having strong muscles so important to you?
Fewer muscles means your metabolism will slow down and you’ll gain fat instead. The beauty of muscle tissue is that even when your not working out it can burn calories which fat cells don’t do.

Much more importantly than that strength training is essential to keeping you fit, active, self-reliant because every move you make relies on your muscles, it will also maintain bone mass, preventing osteoporosis and gives you strength as you age to prevent injuries.

You’ll be leaner, toned and more importantly your muscles and bones will be stronger, improving your mobility, agility.

Essential Work Out Advice

• Be sure to stretch before and after your workout
• You don’t have to go to a gym or use weights, you can use body weight – these are all options.
• Don’t forget about strengthening your core as part of your work outs
• Keep exercise sessions fun and part of your daily routine so your more likely to do it
• Choose exercises to fit your schedule that match your fitness level and goals
• Be sure to get some good advice or guidance if your new to this type of exercise to avoid injury

Some Simple Strength Exercise To Consider As Part Of Your Training

• 20 body weight squats
• 10 push ups
• 20 walking lunges
• 15 second plank
• 30 Jumping Jacks

Happy Exercising!

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