Welcome to 50 to 50! Join us for 50 days of expert tips and insights as we count down to Dr. Fernan’s 50th birthday. Discover simple yet powerful ways to look and feel your best at 50—and beyond!
Dietary inflammation, Part 2.
Ditch the sugar and carbs. Carbohydrates like bread, pasta, crackers, and pretzels begin to be broken down into sugar before they leave your mouth, before you swallow. The American carb-rich diet delivers a tsunami of sugar to your liver and bloodstream causing waves of inflammation. Did you know that alcohol and sugar share 20 of 21 steps of metabolism in the liver? That means that sugar eats up most of the same vitamins that alcohol does including the B vitamins. Some foods, like vegetables and healthy meats, nourish and add vitamins and nutrients to the body, and some foods like sugar rob the body of essential nutrients. Get your carbs through healthy vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, and beans. Another way that sugar inflames the body is by spiking insulin that causes other hormonal spikes that drive disease processes like acne, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and diabetes. Can’t break that sugar addiction? This week stop drinking any drinks with sugar or calories. Next week stop eating foods with sugar or corn syrup, and by week three you’ll be ready to start cutting back on breads, pasta, crackers, and pretzels. Don’t forget to leave them at the store!