Around the time I started my cleansing journey in the late 1980’s I read somewhere “sugar is sugar is sugar.” I believe that article was referring to honey having roughly the same metabolic effect on the body as white sugar. While not a big consumer of sugar, I did have a passion for dark chocolate and most things chocolate, as well as dried fruits. I don’t remember that article mentioning the sugars in fruits but I certainly thought fruit sugars were a natural part of a healthy human diet. Over the past few years, I have come to question that long held assumption.
Feeling the enormous benefits of my first Cleanse, I drastically cut back on any sort of desert and took my mostly already organic diet to a new level. Despite being the processor of almost everything I have eaten over the past 3 decades; I began observing a few things were off, such as being a bit stiff in the knees, having to get up in the night to pee and my skin becoming rough. Humm….. okay, I am getting on the years but still this didn’t seem right. Then I broke out in an itchy rash over most of my torso. *
Around that same time, I stumbled upon a YouTube video, which talked about carbohydrates and how the body converts them to sugar. This led me to watch numerous videos and to do some research. The long and short of it is that I learned there is no such thing as a deficiency in carbohydrates and that the body’s best fuel is healthy fat. Again, humm. The real kicker was that the inflammatory effects of sugar come from all types of sugars, including those which have been converted from carbohydrates sourced from fruit, grains and starchy vegetables. Ugh.
Thinking I had the perfect diet, I pondered all this for quite some time. I have come to a point in life where I have had to unlearn so many things that I question everything. Yet, there I was with an itchy rash, feeling wimpy, and wondering what to do. First, I did a Cleanse. While I felt a lot better after the Cleanse, it wasn’t enough. So, I decided to try a low carb, high fat diet coupled with intermittent fasting for 30 days.
Actually, the low carb part was fairly easy. I had to tweak potatoes, dried fruit and most fresh fruits out of my diet. Fortunately, many berries are okay. Winter Squashes took the place of potatoes. The high fat part meant adding more avocado, nuts, cheese, and butter. If you eat meat or salmon the high fat part is easy. Yes, many of these foods are not cleansing foods, however, a Cleanse is a short-term endeavor.
Are you wondering about my results? They were so impressive that I never stopped. At 30 days the rash was gone and after a few more weeks my skin was silky smooth again. I don’t remember how long it took before I stopped waking up in the middle of the night to pee, maybe 3 weeks. It took longer for the occasional stiffness in my knees to go away. I have been on this diet for a year and a half and don’t plan to change. I did the Cleanse last fall and that gave me another boost in energy and clarity.
Yes, I missed dried figs and apricots at first, however, the benefits are so remarkable that I can only compare it to the changes I felt when I first started cleansing. If I had truly understood how most carbohydrates become detrimental to the body causing slow deterioration through oxidation, inflammation and stress I would have eliminated them a long time ago. There is a lot to this and I encourage you to do your own research. Here is the link to an excellent article which gives a comprehensive overview: https://www.doctorkiltz.com/dangers-of-sugar/ While I do not advocate the author’s carnivore diet by any stretch of the imagination, the article is well documented and easy to read.
* I finally figured out that the rash was probably caused by Roundup being sprayed on nearby fields.