Authors: Mark Hyman
Tags: #Health & Fitness / Diet & Nutrition / Diets, #Health & Fitness / Body Cleansing & Detoxification
The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet: Activate Your Body's Natural Ability to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast (10 page)
During the 10-Day Detox trial program, participants lost an average of 8 pounds and 3.4 percent of their body weight (these are the averages; some participants lost as much as 25 pounds!). They lost up to 10 inches around their waist, up to 11 inches around their hips, and their BMI dropped an average of 1.4 points. The average drop in fasting blood sugar was 18 points. The average blood pressure dropped 10 points. But
more importantly, people felt better, and many chronic symptoms and conditions resolved.
We had the participants rate and track their overall symptoms, just as you did in the Toxicity Questionnaire
here
. In ten days, their overall score went down an average of 62 percent. No drug can come close to reducing all those symptoms in that short a time! This is why I say food is medicine and that what you put at the end of your fork is more powerful than anything you will ever find inside a prescription bottle.
The key to believing is measuring your results. The proof is in the numbers! I’m simply going to ask you to track your results at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of the ten days, and you’ll see for yourself the miraculous changes in your own body.
I loved tracking my results! It was amazing to see the instant blood sugar corrections and see my waist and hips shrink in only ten days.
—TERRI FRIEDMAN
During the Prep Phase, I will give you instructions for exactly what measurements to take. You want to get a baseline of all measurements for comparison.
Then, every morning throughout the program, I’ll remind you to take your measurements and stats and record them in your Detox Journal to track your progress. (See
here
for information about the Detox Journal, or you can go to www.10daydetox.com/resources to use our online tools for tracking all your scores, measurements, vital stats, and daily experiences and feelings through journaling.)
Each evening, you’ll record what you ate, how much exercise you did, the number of hours you slept, how many minutes that day you
dedicated to the prescribed relaxation techniques. Research shows that people who write down what they do lose twice as much weight as those who don’t. Bottom line: Tracking what you’re doing creates results. And if you continue to track your results after the 10 Day Detox, you will enhance and extend your results.
While measuring your blood sugar is optional before, during, and after the 10-Day Detox, I highly recommend it. Many people think you have to be a diabetic to check your blood sugar. Not so. In fact, I think it is a simple, great way for everyone to see how their body responds to what they eat. It will give you immediate and direct feedback about how dramatically and quickly your body responds to the right information in diet and lifestyle.
Some of you may already have a glucose meter and know how to test your blood sugar. Others may want to get a meter at their local drugstore. The newer ones are easy to use, and you can always ask your pharmacist to show you how. I like the ACCU-CHEK Aviva Blood Glucose Meter with Strips, which includes a few test strips (you may need extra).
Here is the protocol I recommend for testing:
Measure your fasting blood sugar daily, first thing in the morning before breakfast. Ideally, your fasting blood sugar should be between 70 and 80 mg/dl.
Measure your blood sugar two hours after breakfast and two hours after dinner. Ideally, your two-hour sugars should never go over 120 mg/dl. If they go over 140 mg/dl, you have pre-diabetes. If they go over 200 mg/dl, you have type 2 diabetes. Technically, this is after a 75-gram glucose load, but if they go this high on the plan, you definitely have a problem. Pay attention to how they change depending on what you eat.
Lastly, I strongly encourage you to consider getting basic lab tests done before and after the program. These would include:
Insulin response test, which is like a two-hour glucose tolerance test but measures insulin as well. It is done by measuring both insulin and glucose, fasting and one and two hours after a 75-gram glucose drink.
Hemoglobin A1c, which measures your average blood sugar over the past six weeks. Anything 5.5 percent or above is considered elevated; over 6.0 percent is diabetes.
NMR lipid (cholesterol) profile, which measures LDL, HDL, and triglycerides, and the particle number and particle size of each type of cholesterol and triglycerides. (This is a newer test, but I would demand it from your doctor, because the typical cholesterol tests done by most labs and doctors are out of date.) This particular test can only be obtained through LabCorp or LipoScience.
Lab tests can be done through your doctor, at most hospitals or laboratories, or ordered by you through personal testing companies such as SaveOnLabs (www.saveonlabs.com). For more information and detailed explanations for each of these tests, go to www.10daydetox.com/resources.
Part of what you’re doing over these ten days is becoming an active partner in your health and weight loss plan, and that includes having a full understanding of your numbers and following them over time. I believe everyone should become empowered to learn about their bodies, interpret their test results, and use that information to track their progress.
As I mentioned earlier, I have one strong caution to offer before you get started. The program works so well that your blood sugar and blood
pressure can drop dramatically in just a day or two. If you are on medication or insulin, you must carefully monitor your blood pressure and blood sugar and reduce your dose of medication in partnership with your doctor to make sure you don’t get into trouble. Having your blood sugar or blood pressure run a little high for a week poses almost no danger (if your sugars are under 300 mg/dl and your blood pressure is under 150/100), but rapid drops in blood sugar or blood pressure can be life-threatening. So please be sure to talk with your health care provider before embarking on this journey.
When I train physicians, I explain that learning the science behind functional medicine is very complex, but practicing it is often very easy. All you do is take out the bad stuff and put in the good stuff, and the body does the rest.
Out with the bad, in with the good:
These are the two simple but powerful steps behind the success of the Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet.
Here’s the breakdown of what you’ll be ditching for these ten days and what you’ll be adding in.
What exactly do I mean by the “bad stuff”? The bad stuff is all the toxic foods, drinks, and lifestyle habits that are clogging your system. This list also includes foods that are not necessarily “toxic” but are likely to trigger spikes in your blood sugar, as well as other biochemical disruptions:
All sugar products or anything containing sugar, including honey, molasses, agave, etc., and all liquid sugars, such as sodas, bottled teas, fruit juices, and sports drinks. This includes all artificial sugars and sugar substitutes. No exceptions, so don’t ask!
Gluten, which is a type of protein found in wheat, rye, barley, spelt, Kamut, triticale, and oats.
All grains (including gluten-free ones).
Dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream, butter, cream, and casein (often in nondairy products). People often think dairy includes eggs, but I haven’t seen a cow lay an egg recently, have you? You can eat eggs on this program.
Beans, or legumes (this does not include green beans).
All processed and factory-made foods.
All refined and processed vegetable oils.
Alcohol.
Caffeine.
Other stimulants or sedatives. If you are on regular medication, don’t cease taking it without an okay from your doctor. If you are on “as-needed” medication, see if you can get by without it or gradually taper off your dose. If you are a smoker, of course you should stop, but this may not be the time. One step at a time, one addiction at a time.
Media overload, the incessant overexposure to phones, texting, the Internet, social media, and television that stresses our nervous system and often shapes our eating behavior and preferences.
I’ll explain why eliminating each of these baddies makes such a huge difference.