Eat Smart, Live Long: There Is No Diet That Can Do What Healthy Eating Can

By Alicia Merrell

What is wreaking havoc on our bodies? What is contributing to an American population that are heavier, less healthy and more prone to a variety of chronic illnesses than ever before? How to maintain a healthy lifestyle that in this day and age has become unnecessarily complicated? Break free from added sugar, artificial coloring, dyes, additives, preservatives, stabilizers, GMOs and hormones in our food supply, which is expanding our waistline and stealing your youthful glow. A guide to clean eating and a healthier lifestyle. Good health is not something that just happens, you need to make a plan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514483459

Alicia Merrell

Alicia Merrell was born in London, England and has also lived in Canada, where she graduated from Carlton University with a BA in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology. She now lives in Northern California with her husband and children. Her passion in understanding how and why there is such a health crisis in the United States lead her to write her first book, Eat Smart, Live Long. She is currently studying to be a Health Coach. She is an avid runner and biker and enjoys being creative in the kitchen using wholesome fresh ingredients. Her Eat smart, live long cook book will be coming soon.

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Copyright © 2016 by Alicia Merrell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

The material in this book is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, medical diagnosis, or medical treatment. You should consult your physician or other health care professional before making any changes in your diet or exercise regimen, especially if you have a medical condition or are on medication.

Rev. date: 06/08/2016

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1:  Why Detox from Added Sugar

Chapter 2:  Does Starch Equal Sugar?

Chapter 3:  What Else Is Lurking in Our Food?

Chapter 4:  Steps to Help You Crush Food Addiction and Cravings

Chapter 5:  The Power of Antioxidants

Chapter 6:  The Power of Herbs and Spices

Chapter 7:  The Importance of Vitamins and Minerals

Chapter 8:  What are GMOs?

Chapter 9:  Why Go Organic?

Chapter 10:  The Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables

Chapter 11:  Where to Shop Organic

Chapter 12:  Meat, Dairy, and Eggs

Chapter 13:  The Truth about Cooking Oils

Chapter 14:  Love Your Liver. How Does Alcohol Fit into a Clean Eating Lifestyle?

About The Author

Resources

FOREWORD

True health is not a measure of the way you look or feel, but rather to me, it is a measure on how well your body functions. Wait…let me repeat that for you again, as I find it is the most important thing I can say to my patients: TRUE HEALTH IS NOT A MEASURE OF HOW YOU LOOK OR FEEL. INSTEAD, TRUE HEALTH IS A MEASURE OF HOW YOUR BODY FUNCTIONS. I repeat my definition of ‘true health’ daily to my patients and when I speak to large groups on health and well-being. It is interesting because so many people base their health status on how they are feeling or how they look. If you were to base your health status on how you feel or look on the outside, then you may be making a grave mistake, as one does, when they find out that they have wide spread cancer, but had no symptoms. Or when someone falls over with a heart attack, not knowing they had been suffering with a heart condition for years. That is why I know, that health-status is misleading by the way we are feeling or how we look. One thing I know for sure, is that we do have some control on the functioning of our bodies by what we put inside it. I mean by the food we nourish ourselves with. Let’s be honest here…I feel much differently after I eat an apple then when I eat french-fries. Don’t you? Our bodies always tell us but we have ignored and ignored or taken something to help us, whether it is an antacid or a constipation aid.

As an award winning health and wellness expert in my community, author and speaker, I feel it is my responsibility to discuss food with my patients. To me, food can either be medicinal or toxic to our bodies. As a chiropractor, I don’t believe in symptom chasing and taking drugs to cover up problems. Many times it doesn’t seem to fix anything, but instead leads to other symptoms which therefore requires another drug. From watching the numerous pharmaceutical products being promoted on television and in magazines, it seems our society has become more symptom based. Our ‘health’ is becoming a big race, on who can beat symptoms first. Instead, my motto has been, let’s look to our real medicine…what we eat… which becomes our flesh and alters our bodies functioning.

Alicia Merrell, the author of this book, was first a patient in my office years ago, suffering with neck and shoulder pain. Reluctant of chiropractic treatment, she opted to give me her trust with her health and I began to work on her condition. Over time, something incredible happened…not only did she receive marvelous results with her discomfort, but she began to transform. She became even more involved with natural health and wellness, particularly interested in nutrition. Eventually, her passions lead her to working with me, where she started taking over nutritional classes in my office. Her true excitement for learning about healthy foods and the effects on the body, allowed her to connect to my patients in a very real and unique way.

As our friendship developed, I saw her passion for food and the effects on the body grow. When we spoke, she would light up as she discussed the ill effects of certain foods and chemicals that are now used to process or preserve many everyday foods. Over the next several months she spent countless hours researching mainstream preservatives, artificial flavoring, coloring, dyes and much more. She researched their effects and hidden sources in food. She had become consumed with the truth about our foods and her mission was clear…to share it with everyone including you.

When she first presented me her rough draft of her book, I was more than impressed. Not only did she captivate me with all the important facts that you will read, but her style of delivery is upbeat and her chique personality comes through. It was as if I could hear her speaking to me in person as I read. This book is a deeper look into everyday foods that we eat, even the foods that are sold to us as ‘healthy’. It is explained in such a clear way, that all the science behind our food makes sense, and is easy to put to use. With my years of nutrition knowledge and education, I wouldn’t be able to describe what she has in such simple, clear and engaging ways, as she has done here in this book.

This book will benefit you whether you are just starting to become curious and concerned about what you put into your body. Or, if you are the person who has done a lot of your own research, and needs a simple guide to keep you on tract and informed on some of the latest hidden dangers in food.

Alicia Merrell has explained food in a way that not only helps you to understand food labels in a whole new way, but she has also simplified how to shop for the right foods. What to be aware of, what foods you really need to buy organic and which ones are not necessary, so you can spend your grocery dollars intelligently. She has done all the research and displayed her findings beautifully with graphics and simplicity of this ever confusing topic of food.

I am delighted that she has written this book for you, for me and for all my patients, because a majority of our health really all comes down to what we eat. Understanding how to pick what to eat, is easier after this great read.

Anita Haque, D.C.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A very special thank you to my husband Jonathan, for all your love and support through out my journey in writing this book. You are my rock. I love you more and more each and every day.

A thank you to my family and friends who have inspired me throughout my life to follow my dreams. You have given me courage and confidence in myself, which has lead me to who I am today. I am truly grateful.

Lastly, I would like to give a thank you to my friend Dr. Anita Haque for taking the time to write my forward. You are a true inspiration.

INTRODUCTION

What is wreaking havoc on our bodies and making us unhealthier and sicker than ever before? What has changed? This question is how it all started and I decided to write this book. When I was young growing up in England, my family loved to cook and I only knew fresh wholesome ingredients. We lived in the countryside so we were accessible to local farms and farmers’ markets. My parents—well, my father in particular—refused to take us to fast-food restaurants. I remember he got so upset on one family holiday when we were invited to friends for lunch and they served us hot dogs. That memory has stuck with me; now that I am older, it makes me chuckle every now and then. I have, of course, eaten since then at fast-food restaurants and even eaten hot dogs, but I do prefer home-cooked meals.

I don’t think until I moved to the United States and had children, did I start to see so many of my friends and family members getting sick with chronic diseases or cancer, some leaving families behind with small children, that I started to think why this was happening. What was going on? Was it hereditary, environmental, lifestyle, or maybe from the type of food they were eating? I started to notice how many unhealthy processed foods were on the grocery store shelves and how many fast-food restaurants there are on every corner. I needed to know and started my research.

So let’s talk about what is going on. Firstly, most of our food supply is loaded with unhealthy added sugar, artificial flavoring, colorings, dyes, preservatives, additives, stabilizers, GMOs, and hormones. We are increasingly being exposed to stress and environmental toxins. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is becoming unnecessarily complicated; and it doesn’t help that we are constantly bombarded with conflicting messages in the media, poor regulations in the food industry, and false claims, which causes constant confusion. These are some factors that are contributing to an American population that are heavier, less healthy, and more prone to a variety of chronic diseases than in previous decades.

So what can you do to break free?

I want you to create a new habit of eating by making healthy lifestyle choices and end the sugar addiction that is expanding your waistline and stealing your youthful glow. Good health is not something that just happens; you need to make a plan.

How do I do that?

Just follow some simple steps and educate yourself with the wealth of knowledge that is provided to you in this book, and you will be on your way to a better, healthier, and happier life.

It’s time to become a better version of yourself, detox, lose weight, and feel great. Who doesn’t want that!

Eat smart and live long.

We need to eat 2 live, not live to eat.

Let’s get started.

CHAPTER 1

Why Detox from Added Sugar

Detoxification simply means cleaning of the blood. This is done by removing impurities from the blood in the liver, where toxins are processed for elimination. The body also eliminates toxins through the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphs, and skin.

We can do this by consuming a huge amount of phytonutrients from plant-based foods, cutting out processed foods, nonorganic dairy, and non-GMO animal-based proteins, which can help to promote the body’s natural ability to detoxify.

The Sugar Detox

Let’s talk sugar.

There are many health problems that have been linked to sugar. These health problems include chronic inflammation, heart disease, cancer, dementia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, acne, infertility, and impotence.

Scary, right?

How do we get started?

The only proper way to eliminate bad habits is to replace them with good ones.

The information in this book will start by teaching you how to recognize added sugar and chemical sweeteners so you can avoid them and make better choices.

Then you will be given some examples of healthier alternatives. Eventually, your taste buds will adapt to enjoying natural sweetness again.

Now to get SUGAR SMART: no more added sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Americans consume double and, for some, triple the recommended amount of sugar daily. The American Heart Association says women should have no more than 100 calories of sugar daily (about six teaspoons) and men 150 calories (about nine teaspoons). We are killing ourselves by consuming truckloads of hidden added sugar.

Did you know that the average adult consumes approximately twenty-two teaspoons per day and children consume about thirty-two teaspoons per day? Some of the biggest culprits are soft drinks, candy, cakes, pies, cookies, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, and milk. All these products are loaded with unnecessary added sugar.

Truth: We are addicted to sugar. It is not our fault. We have an inborn attraction to sweets as it is a part of our biological hardware. It doesn’t help that sugar is in nearly all packaged and prepared foods, including stuff that was never meant to be sweet.

Fact: Flour is worse than sugar. Flour raises blood sugar even more than table sugar, including whole wheat flour.

Sugar Highs

Why do you get a rush when you eat a midday candy bar?

The sugar in it is called a simple carbohydrate that is quickly turned into glucose in your bloodstream. Your blood sugar levels spike.

Simple carbs are also found in fruits, veggies, and dairy products, but they have fiber and protein that slows the digestion process down.

Sugar is just as addictive as cigarettes; it is highly pleasurable and gives you momentary bliss, but ends with health consequences.

Is sugar the tobacco of the twenty-first century?

Did you know that sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine?

When you consume food, there is a simple chain reaction. When your diet is high in processed and junk foods that tend have high levels of added sugar, this is where the later part of the chain reaction causes health issues.

Consume carbohydrates (which contains molecules of sugar [glucose]) 45449.png enters your bloodstream 45452.png pancreas releases hormone insulin 45454.png moves to different cells in the body for needed energy 45456.png too much glucose turns to fat 45458.png stores for future use 45461.png this remaining fat accumulates in the liver and abdominal area as visceral fat, which is associated with insulin resistance and diabetes

Raw fruit and vegetables have natural sugar as well as fiber that slows down the delivery to the liver so it doesn’t cause the same chain reaction.

Tip: Reset insulin by drinking filtered water with two tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar before a high-carb meal. It reduces blood glucose levels.

What’s one harmful effect of a high-sugar diet that you may not know?

When you have too much sugar in your bloodstream, it attaches to proteins in your body including your skin’s collagen and elastin. This damages them and makes them brittle. Over time, this will contribute to wrinkles, saggy skin, and other signs of aging. This is just yet another great reason to start the sugar detox.

But it’s not all bad news. Sugar is a carbohydrate found naturally in a variety of different foods from lactose in milk, to the fructose in fruit and honey. We need some sugar in our diets to supply ready energy to fuel our muscles and keep our brains active. The problem is that many processed foods have added sugar, which supplies energy in the form of calories and very little else. This means our body has to draw on the nutrients from the rest of our diet to process it, and this can affect our health, including our immunity, leaving us more prone to bugs and colds. A high intake of sugar causes our blood sugar levels to shoot up, giving us that feel-good high followed by a