Artificial flavorings stimulate the dopamine pathways in the brain, which create an addiction to junk food. Eating for a ‘dopamine hit’ means eating out of addiction; which can interfere with our ability to feel satisfied and full. Eating to satisfy a craving, can easily go beyond eating to satisfy hunger and interferes with intuitive eating. We want to embrace intuitive eating; which starts with food education and supporting the brain healing pathways with Zelo’s Brain Fuel. Just know that it takes about 6-weeks to reset the taste buds and when people first start cleaning up their diets, everything can taste bland – after the 6-week mark we actually start tasting real food again.
“Studies suggest that the side effects of artificial flavorings range from nervous system depression, dizziness, chest pain, headaches, fatigue, allergies, brain damage, seizures, and nausea. Some of the more popular flavorings can also cause genetic defects, tumors and bladder cancer to name a few.” Read more of this article from Nature’s Happiness blog here.
Is it realistic to eat 100% clean?
100% clean eating is not realistic – but striving for 80/20 is a realistic goal, 90/10 if you are struggling with profound health challenges. We can start by learning to read labels and if you cannot pronounce it, pause and consider if you actually want to eat it. Then figure out how to swap out your favorite foods with cleaner options. For example, swapping fruit juices and sodas with sparkling water, fresh pressed juices and kombucha or better yet, plain H20. Consider shopping only the outer isles at the grocery store avoiding a lot of processed and packaged foods that contain artificial flavors and coloring (read those labels).
It will take a little time in the beginning, but once you change over you will notice reduced food cravings and it will be easier to maintain a slim system. Just take one favorite food at a time and build on that. We are looking for progress, not perfection. Oh, one more thing, eating out of your own kitchen results in consuming less calories than eating out. If you eat out 6-days a week, eat out 5-days a week, then 4, then…... There was actually a study for this and it confirmed eating out of your own kitchen results in less calorie consumption than eating out.
The reality is that most of us ping pong from one addiction to another and by taking a step towards health and nourishing ourselves with one healthy food at a time, we end up feeding our beautiful vessels and helping to build a stronger and leaner body one bite at time.
Remember every 2 years (other than our nerves) we are a whole new bag of cells. Since we are constantly breaking down and rebuilding, our daily choices all add up over time. Knowledge is power, but action is priceless.
Junk calories mean empty calories with little to no nutrition.
Consider obtaining your personalized data with Zelo’s lab tests. We can take a deeper dive and gather data on your micro-nutrients, metabolism and hormones.
Written by Dr. Julia Stevens and Dawn Pullin