Writer’s Diet Trap of the Week
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Freelance writing takes discipline. As Lieurance Group writer Renee Kirchner wrote last week, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wasting precious writing time. Don’t let your diet trap you into wasting time with scattered and foggy thinking. Instead, eat to support your creativity, mental clarity and discipline.
This is the first in a series of articles on common diet traps for writers. This week’s trap is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and other refined sugars.
Our brains use glucose for fuel, but the source is important. HFCS has replaced white sugar or table sugar, as the most common sweetener used in prepared foods today. Read labels. You may be surprised how often you see it.
It sounds natural. Fructose is found in fruit. The liver must convert fructose to glucose for it to be used as fuel. But as the name “high fructose” implies, it contains more fructose than found in nature. Some studies assert that this causes the liver to make more fat in the form of triglycerides leading to obesity. One thing we know for sure is that HFCS acts like any other refined sugar. It enters the bloodstream too quickly, causing a sudden rise then precipitous fall in blood sugar levels. Thus you end up craving foods like sodas, candies and crackers that contain high fructose corn syrup and other refined sweeteners, in an effort to keep your sugar supply even and your mind sharp.
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Our brains, and for that matter, all of our organs and cells, prefer a more even source of fuel. A better solution may be to start your day with oatmeal sweetened with fresh or dried fruit, or a slice of whole grain bread topped with pumpkin seed butter and all-fruit jam. A smoothie or fruit shake is a great between-meal pick me-up. Here’s a yummy date shake to try in your blender. This recipe uses bananas, peeled, cut in half, and frozen to make the smoothie creamy without added fat.
Energizing Date Shake
¾ cups water
2 TBSP almond butter
4 dates
½ frozen banana
1 TBSP carob chips (decadent, but optional)
Add the water and almond butter to the blender and blend until well mixed. Slice the dates lengthwise and remove the seeds. Add the seeded dates, frozen banana and optional carob chips and blend until smooth. Serves one. Enjoy.
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