I recently met two really cool people, Varuna and Dhrumil.

Varuna is a young, hip college-aged woman from Thailand. She goes to school in NYC where she studies jewelry design. But I ran in to her in Providence while she was there to take an ESL test required for the Masters program she’s applying to in California. Through broken-English, Varuna said she misses her family but left everything that was familiar to her, to pursue her dream of becoming a master jewelry designer.

Dhrumil is a sharp, young professional man from India. Dhrumil explained how he lives in Washington, DC two weeks a month and travels to the town I live in, in Connecticut, the other two weeks of the month to be with his wife and new baby. Dhrumil’s wife is up for a promotion in a career she loves in Connecticut, so they made the decision to live apart two weeks every month so she could advance in her career. Though it was very hard for he and his wife to live apart for two weeks, that he especially missed his new baby, Dhrumil said they were very clear in the decision they made, to support each other’s goals.

I was so inspired when Varuna and Dhrumil each shared their stories with me. Actually, I felt more than just inspired, I felt connected … and fired-up!

Varuna’s and Dhrumils’ stories make me feel connected and fired-up because I know what its like to make a choice that others don’t understand.

Like when I started seeing a Naturopathic doctor to help me get answers to my health problems.

Like when I quit my job to go back to school full-time at Mount Holyoke College.

Like when I left a secure career track to build a business I know matters.

In all three cases, my family didn’t understand my decisions, my friends questioned my reasoning, so neither knew how to encourage or support me, but I still pursued what I felt best for me, like Varuna, Dhrumil and Dhrumil’s wife.

I learned that, “I’ve got to do, what I’ve got to do,” no matter if others understand, or not.

Their stories came back to me when Monica, a participant in my 10 Years Younger in 6 Weeks Program, said to me, “Carol, my friends and family don’t approve of the way I am eating. They call me a hippie and bohemian, but I’ve never felt better.”

My response came loaded with memory, experience and inspiration from my life, and from many like Varuna and Dhrumil. I confidently said, “Don’t worry, Monica, they’ll come around. They love you, but you’ve got to do what is best for you. You’ve got to choose healthy for you.”

Many years back when at Disney World in Florida with my son, I bought a framed picture-quote that ‘talked to me’ over the years like a drum beating silently in the background, “Choice, not chance, determines destiny.”

No matter if it’s leaving our home for a foreign land, defying social definitions of what others deem acceptable, or simply choosing healthy foods that make us look and feel amazing, yet challenge our families’ traditions, we must choose what calls to us.

What are you doing that you know is right for you, but isn’t understood by others? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments below.

I vividly remember one of the times when I swore off sugar once and for all, when I went looking for my equally sugar-addicted coworker. The drill went like this, I’d whisper “they like you,” about the pastry chefs we worked with, “pleeeze get us a treat, they’ll give you anything you want,” full well knowing I’d long out-used my ‘just this once’ ‘pretty please’ reasoning with them.

We’d turn the corner greedily swallowing what ever sweet-fix we could get, giggle, lick our sugary fingers and swear off sugar yet again.

Maybe like me, you too experience some of the common signs of sugar addiction:

• You crave sweets
• You eat even when you’re not hungry
• Your tired from overeating
• You use every and any other form of ‘healthy’ sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth
• You’ve tried to control or quit eating sugar, but you just can’t

I felt liberated in a sense, when I saw the lecture that Robert Lustig posted on YouTube entitled, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” in 2009, which now has over 6 million views. In this lecture, Lustig refers to sugar as a ‘toxin’ and poison 13 times.

I watched in horror thinking, no kidding!

And then in my research to better understand this thing that felt like a straight-up addiction, I learned that students at a nearby liberal arts college found that eating Oreos activated more neurons in the brain’s “pleasure center” than exposure to drugs of abuse.

The student’s research found that high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do, which explains why I couldn’t resist sugary foods.

Actually, the average American today eats 150-170 pounds of sugar a year. If you do the math, this means ‘you’ are eating 1/4 – 1/2 pound of sugar a day!

I found a study that says rats — a whopping 94 percent — preferred sugar or saccharin, rather than cocaine!

Sugar is problem for more than just me, but you still might be saying, so what? So what if I love a lot of sugar?

Sugar directly impacts the health of your gut. Dr. David Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain, and Brain Maker, says “sugar has a direct effect on the gut microbiome,” and the gut-brain connection.

Your gut microbiome has more than 100 trillion bacteria living within the gut wall. Sugar causes an imbalance between the good bacteria in your body, and the bad bacteria, candida albicans. Candida albicans thrives on sugar. Sugar feeds the yeast so it can continue to grow.

An unhealthy balance of bacteria in your body, brought on by a high-sugar diet can actually affect DNA expression and lead to increased inflammation, a key factor in issues like poor digestion, coronary artery disease, elevated blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer and even everyday memory and focus!

Sugar increase the uric acid levels in your body. High uric acid levels put you at risk for heart and kidney disease and an overly acidic body, which leads to poor digestion, weak bones and mineral deficiency. Sugar puts undue strain on your liver, leading to potential liver damage. Sugar causes metabolic dysfunction, including weight gain, abdominal bloating, imbalanced blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and high blood pressure. Sugar prematurely ages.

Craig Thompson, president of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the leading cancer research centers, said in the April 2011 issue of New Yorker Magazine, “I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can, because I believe ultimately it’s something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer.”

I offer you 10 things that I know will help you curb and eliminate your sugar cravings:

1. Eliminate processed and packaged snack foods. These foods contain high amounts of sugar.
2. Reduce or eliminate caffeine. Caffeine causes metabolic fluctuations, including dehydration and blood sugar swings, which can lead to sugar cravings.
3. Avoid artificial sweeteners and foods with added sugar. Use a natural sweetener like stevia instead.
4. Move your body. Physical activity helps balance blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and reduces tension.
5. Drink water. Sometimes sweet cravings, and cravings in general, are more a sign of dehydration. Before eating a sugary food, have a glass of water, it may be all you really need.
6. Get more sleep. If you are chronically tired, your body will crave sugar for the instant energy it provides.
7. Eat vegetables and the less sweet fruit, like berries, green apples, grapefruits, lemons and limes. Their natural, healthy sugar will satisfy you.
8. Include with spices. Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom will naturally sweeten your foods and reduce your cravings.
9. Reduce the amount of animal food you eat. According to yin-yang principles of eating, like Macrobiotics and Traditional Chinese Medicine, eating too much animal food, which are yang, can lead to cravings for sweets, which are yin.
10. There are many ways to add sweetness to your life, beyond just food. Look for non-food ways to sweeten your life, like in your relationships and your career. Cravings often carry a psychological or emotional component. By identifying the psychological causes for your cravings, you better understand how to choose healthier choices.

One last thought. Many will tell you it’s OK to eat sugar in moderation. Depending on the severity of your sugar cravings, it’s actually better to avoid sugar completely for a healing interim. Since research shows that sugar is more addictive than drugs of abuse, it’s better to eliminate it completely, until you feel you’ve got your cravings under control. And who knows, you may feel so great from this abstinence period, that you may choose to forgo this highly questionable substance.

Has sugar caused you problems?

You know I gave up sugar for a healing interim to get to the other side of my sugar addiction. I’m curious, do you think sugar could be holding you back from achieving your healthy breakthrough?

Which of the ideas above gave you an aha moment?

I look forward to reading your stories and thoughts in the comments below.

Ready to start eliminating sugar from your diet with a healthy start to your day? Get my 9 nutrient-dense smoothies guide to kickstart your healthy goals!

Watercress has a sharp, peppery bite that the Chinese regard for it’s detoxifying qualities. Radish has a spicy, crisp bite and are regarded for their powerful detoxifying benefits for the liver and gallbladder. Parsley supports kidney function, which promotes healthy liver function. And since Spring is the season of rejuvenation and cleansing, Perfectly Spring Salad from my More Than a Detox, Spring program is a super choice to include in your weekly meal planning to support your body’s healing processes. The pear adds a ‘sweet’ compliment to the sharp flavors of the watercress and radish. Dress the salad with the tomato vinaigrette and enjoy this delicious, healing seasonal favorite!

SALAD

• 2 cups mixed greens
• 1/2 bunch watercress
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 red pear, diced
• 2 to 3 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 handful parsley, chopped

TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

• 1 large Roma tomato
• 1 to 2 sundried tomatoes
• 1 scallion
• 1 handful fresh basil, parsley and cilantro minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon
• Sea salt to taste Black pepper to taste

Vinaigrette: Add your fresh tomato, sundried tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, scallion, basil, parsley, cilantro, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper. Blend until well incorporated. Set to the side to allow the flavors to marinate for at least 10 minutes (30 minutes even better).

Wash mixed greens and add them to a bowl. Wash watercress and remove thick tough ends, and add  to salad bowl. Add radishes, pear, cucumber, and parsley. Mix and top with tomato vinaigrette.

Buono Appetito … and Happy Spring! 

In a meeting last week, a corporate leader asked, “How could your work help my employees?”

I responded with some of the big wins clients experience overall, like an increase in energy and weight loss, clearer and more focused thinking, increased productivity and a lighter, happier feeling.

He loved the results and set a date for a wellness workshop.

But after we spoke, I recognized the benefits I offered up in that conversation, the results clients regularly experience in the online and 1:1 coaching programs I offer, including my short, but very potent, 7-Day Detox program, More Than a Detox only grazed the surface.

Beyond weight loss and an increase in energy, I consistently get feedback like,

• I got off of high-blood pressure medication
• I got off high-cholesterol medication
• I got off anti-depression medication
• I don’t get chronic headaches anymore
• I reduced insulin from 40 units 2x per day, to 6 units 2x per day
• I healed digestive problems, like Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Leaky Gut
• I healed chronic urinary tract infections
• I put autoimmune disease into remission
• I don’t experience anxiety anymore
• I created healthy lifestyle habits that I can do, and am still doing!

The results are impressive, but the quality-of-life perks from feeling so darn good far exceed the immediate wins.

And all from just a shift in perspective … and a change in diet.

How could results like this help you rock your perspective to rock your life?

I'd love to hear your perspective on perspective in the comments below, especially to the point I offer.

Download my 6-Secrets to Look and Feel Your Very Best to get the health results you most want!

March is officially “National Nutrition Month.”

National Nutrition Month is an initiative created to emphasize the importance of making healthy food and fitness choices.

In the Spirit of spreading education, I offer you the ANDI Chart to help you make your choosing easy-peasy!

You’ve heard the expression “nutrient dense?” Dr. Joel Fuhrman, created the ANDI scoring system, “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index.” to rate the nutrient density of all foods. The ANDI system rates a wide-array of foods on a scale from 1 to 1000 that are richest in nutrition and lowest in calories, with 1000 being the very best!

Nutrient Scoring Method*

To determine the ANDI scores, Dr. Fuhrman evaluated an equal-calorie serving of each food. The following nutrients were included in the evaluation: fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, vitamin A, beta carotene, alpha carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin E, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, choline, vitamin K, phytosterols, glucosinolates, angiogenesis inhibitors, organosulfides, aromatase inhibitors, resistant starch, resveratrol plus ORAC score. ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a measure of the antioxidant or radical scavenging capacity of a food.

For consistency, nutrient quantities were converted from their typical measurement conventions (mg, mcg, IU) to a percentage of their Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). For nutrients that have no DRI, goals were established based on available research and current understanding of the benefits of these factors. To make it easier to compare foods, the raw point totals were converted (multiplied by the same number) so that the highest ranking foods (leafy green vegetables) received a score of 1000, and the other foods received lower scores accordingly.

Cheers to National Nutrition Month and you optimizing your health with the best nutrient-dense choices! 

To see the rest of the chart and download a copy, just click the image above! (No opt in required.)

Post your thoughts below. I'd love to share some easy-peasy ideas to help you up level your healthy food choices!

Want a Guide full of nutrient-dense choices for breakfast to jumpstart you and your day? Click here. 

Do you suffer from brain fog? Do you suffer from a poor ability to concentrate, remember and focus?

Many dismiss brain fog as absentmindedness, old-age, or fatigue.

But actually, it’s about digestion.

There is a one-cell thick wall, your digestive wall, between you and the outside world. If your digestive wall is irritated, hyper-permeable or ‘leaky’ from the foods you eat, the stress you experience or an imbalanced lifestyle, undigested food passes beyond your digestive wall and into your body causing a whole host of problems, including slow brain function.

What’s more, when your body is irritated by poor food choices, stress and an imbalanced lifestyle, it produces excess mucous to protect you from what it deems foreign invaders. But an increase of mucous production and subsequent build-up further compromise your body’s ability to carry out normal digestive processes; break down, absorb, assimilate and eliminate the foods you eat.

If you are not breaking down, absorbing, assimilating and eliminating what you eat correctly, you’re body breaks down, with inflammation, poor concentration, poor memory and poor inability to focus but some of the expressions your body is in trouble.

Inflammation in your gut means inflammation in your brain.

In “Why Isn’t My Brain Working?” Dr Datis Kharrazian says inflammation in the brain slows down conductivity between neurons.

So what does that mean for you and your ability to focus?

Slow brain function triggers slow, dull thinking.

To counter brain fog and slow brain function, try these 5 healthy lifestyle strategies to improve your digestion and gut health, to improve your ability to concentrate, remember and focus.

1. Eliminate common inflammatory foods. The top 5 toxic triggers are gluten, dairy, sugar, coffee and alcohol. In the ideal scenario, you will eliminate all 5 for 21 days. Then add 1 food (beverage) back in every 2 days during a reintroduction phase. During this phase you monitor your body’s response to each food you add back in. The cool thing about the reintroduction phase is, you will know right away if the food is a toxic trigger for you, or not, because you will notice brain fog, lack of focus, or poor memory return. I had one client say, “I knew I was feeling much clearer, but didn’t realize how much so until I reintroduced gluten and dairy again.” His response told him that gluten and dairy were his toxic triggers.
2. Drink fresh, whole food green smoothies for breakfast. Load your smoothie up with fresh kale, spinach, cucumbers, berries, avocado, fresh almond milk and a clean plant-based protein powder. Think about it, by starting your day with a whole food, green smoothie, you’re starting your day with nutrient-dense fuel that will help balance the microflora in your gut, alkalize your body, quell inflammation and fuel your focus for many hours. Include a meal-sized green salad and a green juice daily too, for added healing benefit.
3. Balance your gut health. Do you know that you host more bacteria in your body than cells, by a ratio of 9 to 1? That means you host a community of trillions of bacteria inhabiting your gut, mouth, lungs, nasal passages, skin, and brain, your microbiome. The gut microbiome is critical to the normal functioning of the brain-gut axis. Balance the friendly flora in your gut to promote digestive health, to in turn support clear thinking and healthy cognitive function.  Your brain depends on the neurotransmitters produced by the microflora in your gut to process thought and emotion. 

To repopulate the friendly flora in your gut, take a high quality probiotic of 50-100 million units daily. Alternate your selection monthly to nourish the diverse community of bacteria that live in your body. Include fermented veggies daily. You can make them yourself, or buy them in the cooler section of your natural health food store.
4. Reduce stress. Stress triggers the fight-or-flight response and causes a cascade of hormonal responses, increases inflammation and causes an imbalance in your gut flora, which all impact your cognitive function. Include stress management as a daily practice to not only help you decompress and lighten up. Try, for example, yoga, meditation, deep breathing and even walking in the woods or going on a bike ride. While meditation, yoga and deep breath work are noted to help improve concentration and focus by quieting and calming the mind, choose what you enjoy. If it brings you pleasure, it’s the right choice.
5. Exercise. Beyond the physical benefits exercise offers, research shows over and over that exercise improves overall brain performance. Exercise increases your decision making skills and promotes higher thinking and learning by releasing feel good hormones, increasing oxygen in your bloodstream and nourishing your microbiome.

Want to play a fun game? Implement these 5 healthy lifestyle strategies and watch what happens!

Your digestion will improve, your focus, concentration, memory and clarity of mind will return … and you will very likely experience healthy weight loss, balanced emotions, glowing skin and a skip in your every step! Think I’m kidding? Go ahead, prove me wrong … and in the interim, get ready to have your socks blown off and your brain turned on!

My area of expertise is gut health. From personal experience and 30 years of research, study and close scrutiny on the steps it takes to heal your gut, I've got something to offer you. Let's talk about the ways I can help you. Email me at carol@carol-egan.com.

I paused when I first read an article in the New York Times that said some companies use financial incentives to motivate employees to attend corporate wellness programs.

I get it. Offer reduced insurance policies to those who participate, and impose penalties to those who don’t.

Money incentivizes. Always. The ‘bottom line’ matters to us.

But does it matter most over the long haul? Are savings on insurance premiums going to be the variable that keeps employees engaged in the get-healthy game? Can companies save more, and gain more over the long-haul if employees choose to participate because of the value they derive beyond just financial incentives?

The problem with incentives is they smell of company interests, not employee wellbeing and happiness. So, dangling the carrot, or exacting ‘the stick’ will no doubt excite employees initially, but over the long term, will it keep them invested? And if not, what’s the loss?

With health care costs sky rocketing, companies can no longer ignore the impact a sick workforce has on company growth, nor the benefits a wellness program could make. Experience and research offer three compelling considerations when implementing corporate wellness programs:

Connect with your employees

Employees who feel seen, heard and valued join in and get involved in wellness programs, even those who may feel intimidated and ‘not ready’ initially. Connecting with employees on a personal level is the sure-shot way to promote fully-vested, even fully-passionate buy-in to wellness programs.

Everyone loves to feel connected and connection fosters ‘we are all in this together’ team Spirit.

What difference would it make for your company if every employee brought the very best of themselves to their work everyday?

Cultivate genuine interest for employees and their health and well-being, and watch game-face turn on to program initiatives, with the added benefits of a health and wellbeing contributing to company bottom line. Because you connected with them. Because they trust you.

And the win? Company-wide growth and productivity for the business and employees alike.

Question ideas about healthy lifestyle habits.

Garnering employee buy-in is not enough. The years of indulgence are glamorized and continue to linger in day-to-day practice, especially for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, which is in many ways the antithesis of a healthy lifestyle.

Add the nuances of the modern lifestyle, like fast-food nation, immediate gratification, the pull of family and memory and what ‘everyone else is doing,’ it’s no wonder many find the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle difficult to develop. Restraint and self-discipline land as ridiculous.

For employees to bring the very best of themselves to their work everyday, to increase productivity and foster creativity, there’s got to be a mental shift, a questioning around how we think about healthy lifestyle habits, how we live our lives and how we care for our body.

James Allen said in his timeless classic As a Man Thinketh, “A man is literally what he thinks.” A wellness program falls short if it does not guide employees to questioning what they think about health and wellbeing.

Encourage reconnection to self and self-awareness.

Personalized and detailed diets plans. Individualized fitness programs. Reduced premiums. All are super awesome in encouraging health and wellness in the work place and life, but the grandest buy-in to corporate wellness initiatives helps employees develop self-awareness.

While we weigh in how our time is better spent in dollars earned, we’ve become disconnected from the very simple day to day things that ground us down, beyond all the achieving.

Mindfulness and meditation are the tools. Science shows that by integrating mindfulness and meditation techniques into corporate wellness programs, mental clarity and productivity increase, focus and concentration expand, creativity and innovation grow.

Mindfulness promotes self-awareness. Self awareness promotes healthier choices.

Mindfulness training is essential in helping employees reconnect with themselves, to make smarter choices about health and wellbeing for greater physical, emotional and mental health.

Successful corporate wellness programs remember,

1. It’s about the genuine wellbeing of employees, not just the bottom line.
2. To explore habituated ways of thinking about doing things, to make way for new healthy lifestyle habits.
3. Encourage reconnection to self and self awareness.

With all three points in place, you’re sure to offer a corporate wellness program that does work, a program that assures the results you most want, an office buzzing with peak potential and productivity, high-energy, increased focus and booming creativity!

To discuss corporate wellness programs, contact team@carol-egan.com