In this episode, you'll discover:

• Exploring the sugar-anxiety link reveals its impact on blood sugar fluctuations, hormonal responses, and cognitive functions, vital in understanding dietary influences on mental health.
• Not all sugars are equal—natural sources like fruits, vegetables, and cinnamon offer healthier sweetening options, while artificial substitutes and refined sugars contribute to addiction and hormonal disruption.
• Implementing mindful breakfast choices, embracing natural sweetness, and observing individual body cues enable a holistic shift away from refined sugars, fostering better mood, energy, and overall well-being.

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Transcription

Dr. Latt Mansor:

What are your thoughts around sugar and anxiety? 

Sophie  Teixeira de Abreu:

I love this question. Thank you. It's actually where I start. I love the, the, I love the passion that it's, it's, I always start with the, uh, explanation about blood sugar stabilization. So it's, it's going back to your point. Sugar, sugar is, for me, one of the major culprit here in the us around the world, but in the standard American diet.

It's huge. And sugar is linked and blood sugar spikes and crashes. And so when your blood sugar goes up and down and we can go in more details, the insulin, glucagon, and, and the cortisol that is released. This roller coaster linked to sugar leads to brain fog. Your, your your neurons are not actually able to all slowing down.

So you have this. This way of thinking that is not very very, not like us because we have that, but you know, but so you, you have brain fog, you have this jittery effect of sugar on, on kids, you know, you, you mentioned it with a, with Halloween. So it's instant burst of energy, yes, sugar leads to energy you have the insulin grabs the sugar in your blood and brings it to the cell and the rest it stores as fat.

The link, it's not fat that makes us fat, it's sugar for me, um, oh, the overconsumption of sugar. So overconsumption. Exactly. Ends up putting it into fat. And it's, and maybe it's the right time to say that not all sugars are the same, and not all carbohydrates, and if you need, if you, if you have to have some kind of sugar to get your, you know, the energy that you need, get it from the fruit, get it from the vegetables, get it from the The whole grains from natural product.

There is plenty and it and make them taste good. Or cinnamon is also a trick that I love cinnamon. You know how you you wean off someone from putting sugar in their coffee. You try them to You ask them to try to put cinnamon in their coffee instead of sugar a little bit and this you know How sweet cinnamon tastes sweet you add cinnamon whenever I roast sweet potatoes.

I add cinnamon it just Enhances the flavor cinnamon is a great tool on your journey to be enough sugar There's plenty of things that can replicate I, I think it's important not to go to the, let's take Coke for instance, people are, yeah, I'm out of sugar, I'm, I'm off sugar, I drink diet Coke. Because Diet Coke has doesn't have sugar per se, but it has replacement that all also first endocrine disruptors and that also keeps your palate addicted to the sweet taste and we want you off that addiction of the sweet taste, be it from the processed food, real sugar or not real sugar.

And I think I think there's plenty of things you can do. One of the key thing I tell my clients is don't start your day with something sweet. Try to have for breakfast something that is not super sweet because you'll see how it impacts your cravings in the afternoon. You'll have less craving. You'll see how it impacts the way you eat all day.

So something like eggs, avocado? Eggs, avocado, salmon. That's one thing, the very basic one. Some people don't like either to prepare it for themselves in the morning. So, for those people, you can do a chia pudding. In five minutes and make some for the week, you can do Oh la la, I have to make one with you.

You have to make one with me. We'll make my cashew milk and I'll show you. It takes five minutes. Okay. And this is sweet, but from the coconut milk, sweet from everything else that is not bad. Not refined sugar. Not refined sugar. Exactly. Natural. jUst the sugar can take and and fruit. I mean, we're food divorce.

We're our body knows how to process fruits and I love to eat to tell people to eat fruits in the morning. Maybe not every day, but fruit in the morning, not in the afternoon. If you want to lose weight because they contain calories, but take a blender and put two fruits, your favorite ones and some 23 cashew nuts, a brazil brazil nut brazil are full of selenium for your thyroid.

Bam. You have what you need for the day. Okay. You put some filtered water and then you blend this, it creates a smoothie, add some greens, maybe a, a leaf of kale or something, and you have a nutritious breakfast. Not to say that you need to eat a smoothie every day, but this could be part, and then you rotate and you see how it impacts your cravings later.

You see how when you eat a smoked salmon avocado and, or an egg and avocado toast. For instance, in the morning, this impacts your your cravings or your thoughts. Because that's the other thing, sugar creates irritation, creates bad thoughts. And I, I really notice it. I notice it in myself when I go off the road, you know, in the holidays or, and I know why, and I'm lucky enough to know, and I know exactly what to do to get back on track.

And this is what I try to teach people. So they have the same toolbox. I think that's a great point.

Dr. Latt Mansor:

You know, we talked about this a lot in fact, in the past two days, I've talked about this so much about knowing your body. Well no one can tell you how it's good for you to feel how, or what you, what you're feeling is correct or not.

Ultimately you have to, to do that. But also know that when you're feeling certain type of way, you have to identify whether that is a misleading signal or is that a true biological signal. It takes time right? It takes time. It's not a trial and error.

Sophie Teixeira de Abreu:

Exactly. It's a trial and error. I mean I am still trying to figure out my body.

You need to be an observer. You need to be connected to yourself. You need to, to be aware of how you feel when you wake up today. It takes time. Now that we are on the topic of hunger I want to ask you some questions around different diets. Yes. Okay. So there are different thoughts around diets that exclude certain macronutrients like sugar.

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