Hey Jen,

I can answer some of your questions:

My question is, I've become very lax over the past year with 95% clear skin that I've been drinking soda on a daily basis. Now trying to give it up is very hard. Pepsi, specifically. If I go a day or so without it, I get really tired and really bad headaches.

I'd have to agree with using the green tea for weening off pepsi. Not that i don't agree with the other suggestions, it's just that green tea was the first thing i thought of when you said you wanted to gradually come off the addiction. A little raw honey added to the tea makes it much more palpable. And it's best to add the honey when the tea has cooled to warm. This way the beneficial enzymes aren't destroyed

The best, most universal diet one can suggest to you (as there are many) is a diet that consists of only whole, organic, nutrient dense foods. It's not even a diet. It's simply replacing one food with another. If you want to continue grain consumption, i'd suggest only consuming sprouted/fermented grains. Many members make their own flatbread with fermented grains. Refined crap honestly has to go.

What you eat can help greatly with hormonal imbalance, and this is achieved through many complex processes and organ functions. It isn't so cut and dry as 'this food causes acne' The more disciplined you can make yourself, the better your results will be. And it isn't easy to say no to crap foods at first. Quite the opposite

Hey Jen,

I can answer some of your questions:

My question is, I've become very lax over the past year with 95% clear skin that I've been drinking soda on a daily basis. Now trying to give it up is very hard. Pepsi, specifically. If I go a day or so without it, I get really tired and really bad headaches.

When you become addicted to caffeine and high fructose corn syrup (and it's not your fault, these chemicals are added purposely to make you addicted), withdrawal symptoms from the toxins being detoxed is quite common. I suggest you just simply replace sodas with tea (green tea is awesome). Also, get on a protein supplement such a Whey Protein. Whey protein is high in anti-oxidants and hormone regulating properties and also has full spectrum of amino acids (including glutamine, super duper important). Protein will also curb sugar cravings.

Also, I've been doing research and have heard that people who suffer from adult acne (I'm 38), may have a thyroid problem. I also suffer sometimes from fatigue and dry brittle hair in one particular area on my head. I'm wondering if I should get my thyroid check.

You're probably fatigued because you're not getting enough of your fats; Essential Fatty Acids. Most people these days are running on simple carbs/sugar; bread, pasta, rice, refined sugar, etc. The body doesn't like sugar as energy: it prefers fat. Fats give you a nice long steady amount of energy; sugars are explosive in nature and are jolts of energy (imagine how marsh-mellows react when on fire - much the same process in the body).

I would also start supplementing EFA's. Flaxseed oil is the best source due its good balance of omega 3's/omega 6's. 6-9 tablespoons daily is a good place to be. Also, you will see your hair improve with adequate EFA consumption.

Those are just a few tips, hope I helped. Best of luck!

 

Give this man a medal.

Good post,

This is great advice.

Too many are scared of fats and favor high carn low fat low protein food in take. This all stems from the 1950's and 60' when war on fat was declared. Since then more of the western world has become more obese than ever before.

Healthy fats, essential fats are essential (hence the name). The lining of our veins are composed of of good cholesterol.

Also people with higher good cholesterol are typically heather than people with very low cholesterol. The reason being is the body actually uses it for maintenance and repair. Cholesterol gets a bad rep because it's easy to measure.

Also arguments likes "only eat carbs in the morning because your body is more efficient at this time) Okay technically true but i have found in carbs in the morning makes me sluggish all day. My breakfast most mornings is protein and fats. Scrambled eggs and udos oil, or every so often i'll have steak for breakfast. End result i don't have any mid morning drops in energy and in fact i eat the bulk of my carbs closer to bed time.

This all helps boosts energy and will give overall better health.

Hey Jen,

I can answer some of your questions:

My question is, I've become very lax over the past year with 95% clear skin that I've been drinking soda on a daily basis. Now trying to give it up is very hard. Pepsi, specifically. If I go a day or so without it, I get really tired and really bad headaches.

When you become addicted to caffeine and high fructose corn syrup (and it's not your fault, these chemicals are added purposely to make you addicted), withdrawal symptoms from the toxins being detoxed is quite common. I suggest you just simply replace sodas with tea (green tea is awesome). Also, get on a protein supplement such a Whey Protein. Whey protein is high in anti-oxidants and hormone regulating properties and also has full spectrum of amino acids (including glutamine, super duper important). Protein will also curb sugar cravings.

Also, I've been doing research and have heard that people who suffer from adult acne (I'm 38), may have a thyroid problem. I also suffer sometimes from fatigue and dry brittle hair in one particular area on my head. I'm wondering if I should get my thyroid check.

You're probably fatigued because you're not getting enough of your fats; Essential Fatty Acids. Most people these days are running on simple carbs/sugar; bread, pasta, rice, refined sugar, etc. The body doesn't like sugar as energy: it prefers fat. Fats give you a nice long steady amount of energy; sugars are explosive in nature and are jolts of energy (imagine how marsh-mellows react when on fire - much the same process in the body).

I would also start supplementing EFA's. Flaxseed oil is the best source due its good balance of omega 3's/omega 6's. 6-9 tablespoons daily is a good place to be. Also, you will see your hair improve with adequate EFA consumption.

Those are just a few tips, hope I helped. Best of luck!

 

In the past I could've sworn that green tea broke me out. Perhaps it could have been something else. Does white tea work too? As far as EFAs go, I was thinking about trying evening primrose oil. I've heard it's good for hormonal acne as well as hair. Do you think that will work as well as flaxseed oil?

Thanks for the great info! If you have any whey protein recipes I would really appreciate it. I have really noticed a difference in my energy when my breakfast has some protein vs. when I just eat a bowl of cereal or something. I think if I find some good recipes, I could definitely do whey protein every morning.

I'd have to agree with using the green tea for weening off pepsi. Not that i don't agree with the other suggestions, it's just that green tea was the first thing i thought of when you said you wanted to gradually come off the addiction. A little raw honey added to the tea makes it much more palpable. And it's best to add the honey when the tea has cooled to warm. This way the beneficial enzymes aren't destroyed

The best, most universal diet one can suggest to you (as there are many) is a diet that consists of only whole, organic, nutrient dense foods. It's not even a diet. It's simply replacing one food with another. If you want to continue grain consumption, i'd suggest only consuming sprouted/fermented grains. Many members make their own flatbread with fermented grains. Refined crap honestly has to go.

What you eat can help greatly with hormonal imbalance, and this is achieved through many complex processes and organ functions. It isn't so cut and dry as 'this food causes acne' The more disciplined you can make yourself, the better your results will be. And it isn't easy to say no to crap foods at first. Quite the opposite

 

I'll try to give the green tea another try..unless I find out that white tea will work as well. Giving up refined grains and going organic is easier said than done, esp. when you have a family to feed, but I will try to make gradual swap outs. I'll definitely look into it.

Thanks!

In the past I could've sworn that green tea broke me out. Perhaps it could have been something else. Does white tea work too? As far as EFAs go, I was thinking about trying evening primrose oil. I've heard it's good for hormonal acne as well as hair. Do you think that will work as well as flaxseed oil?

 

There's a huge difference between a tea bag and loose leaf tea, but even then there's different grades, some cheap, some very expensive. The best tea comes from china and japan and usually stays there unless you buy from a tea specialist in your country.

Most of the studies have been done on green tea, which is very high in antioxidants, but white tea is even higher. Most people think white has no caffeine, but can sometimes have more than green depending on variety. All tea has caffeine, but it doesn't have the come down like soda or coffee. 2-4cups a day is fine.

Evening primrose oil is good as it has an unique fat called GLA(gamma linolenic acid) and is very hard to come by in foods. Hemp seeds and its oil are the only edible food source of this fat, other sources don't taste good and are usually in capsule form. GLA has anti-inflammatory properties and may help skin, hair and nail problems, but usually takes up to 2 months to work.

Personally i take flaxseeds rather than its oil, which is so much better since you have fiber, protein and lignans that are lost in the oil. When it comes to omega 3 it's best to get them from oily fish rather than plants, since not everyone can convert ALA(plants) to DHA and EPA(fish), but plants soruces are still a great addition.

The fatigue and headache could be thirst, in which case drink some water. Or it could be caffeine withdrawal in which case you just have to go through it but you can wean off the caffeine by choosing a weaker source such as weak iced tea.

You need to quit sodas for reasons far more important than acne. They are incredibly bad for you in so many ways. All sugary drinks are, but soda has so many more negatives than just sugar. Like the phosphoric acid that erodes yor tooth enamel and leaches the calcium from yor bones.

Hey Jen,

I can answer some of your questions:

My question is, I've become very lax over the past year with 95% clear skin that I've been drinking soda on a daily basis. Now trying to give it up is very hard. Pepsi, specifically. If I go a day or so without it, I get really tired and really bad headaches.

When you become addicted to caffeine and high fructose corn syrup (and it's not your fault, these chemicals are added purposely to make you addicted), withdrawal symptoms from the toxins being detoxed is quite common. I suggest you just simply replace sodas with tea (green tea is awesome). Also, get on a protein supplement such a Whey Protein. Whey protein is high in anti-oxidants and hormone regulating properties and also has full spectrum of amino acids (including glutamine, super duper important). Protein will also curb sugar cravings.

Also, I've been doing research and have heard that people who suffer from adult acne (I'm 38), may have a thyroid problem. I also suffer sometimes from fatigue and dry brittle hair in one particular area on my head. I'm wondering if I should get my thyroid check.

You're probably fatigued because you're not getting enough of your fats; Essential Fatty Acids. Most people these days are running on simple carbs/sugar; bread, pasta, rice, refined sugar, etc. The body doesn't like sugar as energy: it prefers fat. Fats give you a nice long steady amount of energy; sugars are explosive in nature and are jolts of energy (imagine how marsh-mellows react when on fire - much the same process in the body).

I would also start supplementing EFA's. Flaxseed oil is the best source due its good balance of omega 3's/omega 6's. 6-9 tablespoons daily is a good place to be. Also, you will see your hair improve with adequate EFA consumption.

Those are just a few tips, hope I helped. Best of luck!

 

In the past I could've sworn that green tea broke me out. Perhaps it could have been something else. Does white tea work too? As far as EFAs go, I was thinking about trying evening primrose oil. I've heard it's good for hormonal acne as well as hair. Do you think that will work as well as flaxseed oil?

Thanks for the great info! If you have any whey protein recipes I would really appreciate it. I have really noticed a difference in my energy when my breakfast has some protein vs. when I just eat a bowl of cereal or something. I think if I find some good recipes, I could definitely do whey protein every morning.

I'd have to agree with using the green tea for weening off pepsi. Not that i don't agree with the other suggestions, it's just that green tea was the first thing i thought of when you said you wanted to gradually come off the addiction. A little raw honey added to the tea makes it much more palpable. And it's best to add the honey when the tea has cooled to warm. This way the beneficial enzymes aren't destroyed

The best, most universal diet one can suggest to you (as there are many) is a diet that consists of only whole, organic, nutrient dense foods. It's not even a diet. It's simply replacing one food with another. If you want to continue grain consumption, i'd suggest only consuming sprouted/fermented grains. Many members make their own flatbread with fermented grains. Refined crap honestly has to go.

What you eat can help greatly with hormonal imbalance, and this is achieved through many complex processes and organ functions. It isn't so cut and dry as 'this food causes acne' The more disciplined you can make yourself, the better your results will be. And it isn't easy to say no to crap foods at first. Quite the opposite

 

I'll try to give the green tea another try..unless I find out that white tea will work as well. Giving up refined grains and going organic is easier said than done, esp. when you have a family to feed, but I will try to make gradual swap outs. I'll definitely look into it.

Thanks!

 

Whey protein Breakfast smoothie.

Before using this please that i use a method called Carbohydrate cycling. It cycles between low and high carb days. I use this for a very high carb day and the shake is around the 700 calorie mark. So please factor that into your daily in take and use it accordingly.

2 scoops of vanilla whey protein isolate

50grams of gluten free oats

100grams of blueberries

2 table spoons of honey

3 teaspoons of udos oil ( could use flaxseed oil or olive oil as well

300ml of water

Put it in a blender, job done. Enjoy

Total macronutrient values

Protein: 52g

Carbs: 60g

Fat: 23g

Calories: 636

Just thanking everyone again who responded to this post. I haven't been able to completely give up he soda yet, but I have incorporated green and white tea to replace some of the soda with good results. I've also been taking zinc and EPO with good results. I still have a ways to go, but it's a process and the advice given here was so very helpful.

Have a blessed day everyone!

What do you mean you haven't been able to give up soda yet?

How much soda are you drinking that it's that hard to give up? I gave up diet pepsi 2 years ago.....it sucked at first but I feel SO much better not drinking soda all the time (it even helped me lose 5 extra pounds just by cutting the stuff out of my life...and I was drinking DIET). I only really remember the hard part being the cravings, however, not headaches or being tired.

Just thanking everyone again who responded to this post. I haven't been able to completely give up he soda yet, but I have incorporated green and white tea to replace some of the soda with good results. I've also been taking zinc and EPO with good results. I still have a ways to go, but it's a process and the advice given here was so very helpful.

Have a blessed day everyone!

 

I have often found when someone finds it hard to give a vice (soda in your case) i try and bring them down slowly and i adopt the same with myself.

Give an example.

My vice is chocolate and over xmas i ate my fare share. So over the last 3 weeks i a gradually brought down my chocolate in take, 2 or 3 bars a week, 2 bars a week, 1 bar a week and this week will be zero bars.

It find it a lot easier gradually phase something out rather than going cold turkey. So i'd say continue what you doing but set yourself a target.

Week 1: 5 glasses of soda for the whole week

Week 2, 3 to 4 glasses

Week 3, 2 glasses.

Week 4, 1 glass

Week 5 0 to 1 glass.

I am not a believer of cutting things out 100% unless you have a severe reaction or medical condition then there is room for everything in moderation.

Another example. I am training a girl at the moment and she wants to reach her target weight and body composition in a certain time. Therefore her diet has been strict and training hard. However this week just gone she was feeling week and mentally she was starting to get down. So i asked what she was craving most. She said pizza so i told her to get whatever she wanted from pizza hut and enjoy.

2 days later she had a shed load of energy and mentally she was back on it.

Humans have very addictive personalities, it just programmed into us. I would never try to cure or beat this but i do my best to manage it. This is the key to success or cutting things out. Stay on it 90 to 95% of the time allowing yourself a treat every now and then.

Soda is so incredibly bad for you, you should just cut it out. When I 'got' that we aren't meant to consume so much sugar and how bad it was each time you poured the massive amounts in one can practically straight into your bloodstream, I quit cold turkey. And I am positive this alone accounts for drastic improvement in my skin. The other high gi foods in my diet just can't compare to the 39 grams in one can of coke. The CDC recommends you not have more than 40 grams of suger per day. And really, you should have much les.

And sugar is just one of many problems with soft drinks.

I grew up heavily addicted to diet coke (which was absolutely horrible for my teeth and probably overall health, too). I thought I could never give it up because it really was a strong addiction, but I managed to do it by switching to coffee, and then slowly weaning myself off of coffee.

Now that I'm a busy student with early mornings, I still drink black coffee on a semi-regular basis and could call myself somewhat addicted. But it's still much better than being addicted to soda. Now that I never drink it anymore, the mere idea of tasting diet coke or any soda in general disgusts me to no end.

So my tip is: try quitting by switching to good old java. Tea has never done anything for me at all, and it wouldn't have worked in my case. But coffee is also a much better alternative.

If its about the caffeine, coffee has much more than coke.

Soda is so incredibly bad for you, you should just cut it out. When I 'got' that we aren't meant to consume so much sugar and how bad it was each time you poured the massive amounts in one can practically straight into your bloodstream, I quit cold turkey. And I am positive this alone accounts for drastic improvement in my skin. The other high gi foods in my diet just can't compare to the 39 grams in one can of coke. The CDC recommends you not have more than 40 grams of suger per day. And really, you should have much les.

And sugar is just one of many problems with soft drinks.

 

I couldn't agree more with you.

However in my experience most people struggle mentally when cutting things out. Especially after a life time of eating a certain way.

In the long term i find people are more successful if they are taken down slowly. Some can go cold turkey but most can't.

When i train someone they have to earn their reward meal before i say "okay, go have a treat for that one meal" It is for psychological reasons and i also use it as strategic refeed to replenish glycogen stores. Is it optimal..... no. Necessary? (psychologically speaking) Yes.

A little bit of bad every now and then won't hurt. It is the repeated consumption and abuse of this that will do long term damage.