About twelve years ago, my husband and I implemented better food choices not to just get healthy, but to thrive. We started on minerals and vitamins and gave up white flours, sugars, and potatoes.

Is Sugar good for us?

When I started Trim Healthy Mama, I gave up most grains and all sugar. I know unbelievable, right? I was fortunate; sugar addictions and withdrawals had little effect on me when I stopped eating sugar. My husband and I feel better; we have very little inflammation (because sugar and grains increase inflammation) and seldom get sick (as a biologist, I know all bacteria, viruses, and CANCER feed on sugar).

(Did you know doctors actually use sugar to find cancer in our bodies using the PET scan?)

Sugar shuts down the immune system–which inhibits you from fighting viral and bacterial infections.

Think about how sick most people get between Halloween and the New Year when we eat the most sweets and desserts.

After I got sugar out of my system, I noticed my food tasted better–I now like certain foods I had not liked before. And if I eat something sugary now, my joints and body get sore and stiff. I have even gotten sick to my stomach. My body now hates sugar.

I should mention that I am NOT talking about naturally occurring sugar in fruits and vegetables.

I believe God made us to eat for our health, not to self-medicate or to satisfy our sweet tooth.

It’s about balance

Balance is God’s way for us physically and spiritually.

I am not suggesting we never eat for enjoyment either. God gave us food to be pleasing to the eyes and taste buds. I enjoy food now more than ever, but what I eat is much better for me and tastes better, too.

Children are getting Type 2 diabetes younger and younger. Obesity is getting just as common among children as it is among adults.

Eating habits are not just eating how we were taught as children, but why we eat as well. #ThisSideofHeaven #AreyouThriving?

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Depression, loneliness, fear, pain, and guilt, among other things, cause us to medicate with food and drink. A lack of nutrition causes many of our diseases. We need vitamins and minerals like magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, and vitamins A, B, C, D, and E to keep us healthy and our bones, muscles, nervous and digestive systems to operate as they were designed.

We find most of those vitamins and minerals in foods grown from the ground, not in processed foods at McDonald’s…

Many people may wonder why we do not see as many healings as in the Bible. I have even heard people claim that Jesus only heals us in a spiritual sense, but not physically. I don’t believe that.

But, could it be we don’t see as much healing because Jesus wants us to take responsibility for what we put in our mouth? OUCH! Sowing and reaping apply here.

I believe God can heal anything and everything. I am not suggesting He won’t heal because we eat donuts and candy. He alone knows when and how He wants to heal our bodies, but sometimes it may not be until Heaven.

Steps for taking control of our body’s health:

1. Incorporate more low-carb fruits and vegetables like berries and green leafy veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and brussels sprouts. Using a mixture of real butter, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic gives these vegetables great flavor.

2. Avoid processed foods. Eat foods that you make yourself or you know were grown from the ground.

3. Drink lots of water. Drink one-half of your body weight in ounces of water. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, then you need to drink seventy-five ounces of water a day.

4. Cut way back on sugar. Avoid candy, too. Sugar and even most artificial sugars like Splenda, Aspartame (or Nutrasweet and Equal), or Saccharin (or Sweet ‘N Low, Sweet Twin) still spike your blood sugar.

For instance, Stevia, sugar alcohols, and brands like Swerve do not raise your insulin levels while letting you enjoy sweets. There are many websites with recipes that use these healthier sweeteners.

There are also brands like Swerve, Lily’s Chocolates (https://lilys.com/pages/keto-friendly-chocolate), and even Duncan Hines (https://duncanhines.com/keto-friendly) that make sugar and grain-free desserts and candy.

In a lab, we grow bacteria on sugary cultures. From Halloween into the New Year we overdose on sugar and feed the bad bacteria in our body spending most of the winter sick.

5. Limit white and wheat flour, pasta, bread, and anything made with them. Keto diets really help you get your sugar and insulin levels in a healthy range.

6. Don’t use food to self-medicate. Eating to self-medicate is never good for us and either is making food an idol. God wants us to live free from sugar addictions and self-medicating.

Too many of us do not realize we make food an idol–especially sweets. Like any other idol, we must ask for forgiveness and turn away from it. Pray and ask Jesus if you turn to food for comfort more than Him.

He is the Healer of our minds, bodies, and emotions. Seek Him to find healing and freedom from food addictions.

Seek Him if you are hurting. Forgive and bless those who have caused you pain. Freedom comes only through Christ.

Please do your body a favor and give it Healthy food. It will thank you by helping you to grow old gracefully without disease and stay healthy.

1 Corinthians 10:32 (NLT) says, “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial.”

Are you thriving physically? Pray and ask God how to do that.