I’m Seamus Mullen, a chef, cookbook author of Real Food Heals and instructor of the Clean Eating Academy’s new online course, The Gut-Health Fix. Register now with a $50 discount when you sign up today with promo code GUTHEALTH50.
When I was focused on healing myself naturally from rheumatoid arthritis, a severe and painful autoimmune disease that is associated with poor gut health, I changed a lot of things in my diet—I ditched gluten, most grains and even dairy. But there was one key thing that I did that stands out among the rest: I stopped eating sugar. It sounds so simple, but it’s one of the most profound changes you can make to your diet.
The health of your gut depends upon a delicate balance of good and bad bacteria, yeast and other microbes known as your microbiome. What we eat—or don’t eat—can either feed the good guys or the bad guys. And sugar definitely feeds the bad guys, both the bacteria and yeast that you don’t want to support.
In my new course, we’ll go over everything you can do to feed the good guys—you won’t want to miss it. But in the meantime, I suggest cutting back on sugar right now. This means not only omitting sugar in the foods you’re making, but it also means you have to be a sleuth at the grocery store. Things like mayonnaise, ketchup, dressings, yogurt and granolas are all products that tend to be laced with sugar. To complicate matters, it’s not always called sugar. Scan ingredient lists for things like dextrose (or anything ending in “-ose”), rice or corn syrup (or anything ending in “syrup”), concentrates, cane juice or even maltodextrin. If a product has any of these ingredients, put it back on the shelf.
Admittedly it takes a little more work at the grocery store, but it’s well worth the effort. If you are going to make just one change right now for the health of your gut, this is it.
These frozen raspberry lime squares are the perfect make—ahead treat to quash your sweet cravings, without any refined sugar. They’re made with summer-fresh raspberries and sweetened only with dates and a touch of pure maple syrup—they’re a great dessert or snack that won’t undermine your gut-health goals.
Join me for my new course, The Gut-Health Fix, where we’ll get into the kitchen to cook up a ton of delicious recipes—without sugar. Register now with a $50 discount when you sign up today with promo code GUTHEALTH50.
