Why You Need To Be Eating Sweet Vegetables

Since sharing The Real Reason You Should Cut Sugar, I’ve gotten a lot of desperate emails and phone calls asking HOW?

Sugar is scientifically proven to be more addictive than cocaine, so it’s no wonder that so many of my clients and friends are having a really hard time reducing or quitting it. If you were a cocaine addict and had cocaine available to you at all times, don’t you think it would be hard to abstain?

We’re bombarded with advertisements pushing sugar every day, and I know many people who genuinely believe it’s a healthy source of energy that should be consumed regularly. Little do they know, it’s actually draining their adrenals and causing their bodies to store excess fat.

It’s funny, so many people think dietary fat is the problem, but it’s actually sugar and carbohydrates. Our bodies utilize dietary fat for essential operations like brain function and digestion. Our bodies store carbs and sugar as fat much more readily.

Then artificial sweeteners like Splenda, and even super-natural alternative like stevia enter the scene. Both are problematic because the brain reads them the same way it reads sugar, and doesn’t know to store them differently. 

Bottom line? Splenda and stevia trigger the same response as sugar, and cause us to store fat. Artificial sweeteners in particular cause us to crave even more sugar because we’re never really satisfied by the chemicals, although our brain thinks we just got something sweet, so it gets to work storing fat.

So what’s the answer?One of the easiest ways to balance sweet cravings is by eating sweet vegetables once or twice daily. These delicious vegetables contain fiber, natural sweetness and so many key vitamins and minerals. They’re very comforting, and they truly satisfy our need for sweet tastes, rather than putting a bandaid over that craving with fake stuff that only ends up causing weight gain, fatigue, and brain fog in the long run. 

If you only do one thing for yourself this week, eat sweet vegetables once or twice a day.

A really easy way to get in sweet vegetables is through smoothies. This week I have an awesome carrot-mango smoothie for you that is great for breakfast or a snack.

Give it a whirl and let me know how you like it.

Carrot-Mango Smoothie

Ingredients
Serves 2

1 mango
1 large carrot
2 tablespoons chia seeds
¾ cup full-fat coconut milk
Tiny pinch Himalyan salt

Method

Peel mango. Wash carrot and peel if not organic. Chop both roughly. Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth and creamy. And more coconut milk or water if needed.

Photos: Jake Freeman