Alcohol and sugar cleanse?

Bulldogs1717

Anyone successfully gone on a simple cleanse? Nothing like juice for every meal or anything but maybe just eliminating simple sugar and alcohol? I have recently been dealing with a lot of physical and emotional stress in my life and curious if this would be helpful in managing it? I feel less energy for my workouts lately as well as decreased perceived ability to manage stress in general. Any insight or tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

paperpudding

No.
Not me.

Reducing your sugar intake could be benificial if you think you are eating too many sugary foods ( I assume you are eating sugar in foods or drinks, not by itself) and your diet is not nutritionally balanced or you want to reduce calories by swapping for low sugar alternatives or you have trigger food issues or medical issues.

And of course alcohol is fine in moderation - but reduce it if you feel your intake is above that or you just want to be alcohol free for whatever reason.

Neither of the above apply to me - I eat sugary foods in portion controlled amounts and I drink alcohol in very moderate amounts - but they are good aims if they apply to you.

I wouldn't term them cleanses though.

DancingMoosie

I wouldn't call it a "cleanse" but I did cut out alcohol and most sugary treats when I first started my weight loss journey. It was so much easier to keep the calories down without them! I did eat a piece or two of fruit a day.

Diatonic12

You're not 'toxed' so you don't need a detox. You don't need a cleanse either. If you were actually 'toxed it would mean that liver had gone kaput. The liver does a mighty fine job of cleansing absolutely everything.

Just forget about all of that. You've got stress. I get it. Me. too. Simply take it all back outside and blow the stinkin' thinkin' right off. Create your own positive food management plan that you can actually live with for the rest of your life. Nothing radical. You know your own limits. Really.

lynn_glenmont

Diatonic12 wrote: »

You're not 'toxed' so you don't need a detox. You don't need a cleanse either. If you were actually 'toxed it would mean that liver had gone kaput. The liver does a mighty fine job of cleansing absolutely everything.

Just forget about all of that. You've got stress. I get it. Me. too. Simply take it all back outside and blow the stinkin' thinkin' right off. Create your own positive food management plan that you can actually live with for the rest of your life. Nothing radical. You know your own limits. Really.

Actually, alcohol is a toxin, and sometimes people do need to detox from it. Enough alcohol can impair your liver's ability to do "a mighty fine job of cleansing absolutely everything."

I have no idea of whether the OP's level of alcohol consumption puts them in this category, but they did mention alcohol, so this would be one of the few "detox" threads that may actually be using the term legitimately.

But, OP. if that's the case, you want to do this under medical care, as abrupt cessation of a habitual high level of alcohol consumption can have serious complications.

kimny72

If you feel like maybe you're leaning too much on alcohol, many people do find they have better energy and mood cutting it out. It certainly can't hurt to try. As Lynn said, if your alcohol consumption is high, cut back slowly and check in with your doctor.

There's really no need to eliminate sugar, unless you are eating so many sugary and high cal foods that it's pushing out other foods you need.

I always find a positive goal is far easier and more rewarding than a negative one. Why not pick something beneficial that you're shorting and make a goal for working it into your daily diet? Like focus on getting 5 servings of veggies, or hitting your fiber goal. If your diet is too high in sugar, that sort of goal will probably naturally push the excess sweet treats out anyway.

I found I felt better when I started watching my macros. I was almost always low in protein and fiber, and sometimes low in fat. Balancing out my diet by focusing on increasing the stuff i was lacking was key.

Give some thought to your sleep quality too, we often don't prioritize it enough. Good luck!

claireychn074

I read the headline and thought this was a new kind of “drink lots of gin and eat sweets diet” and got quite excited.

I need to get out more.

HeidiCooksSupper

Alcohol is a natural depressant. The last thing many of us need, especially as we're dealing with the pandemic while also trying to change the eating and exercise patterns of a lifetime, is a depressant. You wouldn't want to take a depressant pill if the doctor gave it to you. Drinking is a way of self-medicating with a depressant.

It may seem counter-intuitive to think of alcohol as a depressant since we often drink it to improve our mood and it can do so very short term by depressing and impairing our brains. This removal of inhibitions can lead to short term mood improvement but it doesn't work long term or when alcohol is used to excess. Things alcohol does to you like mess with your sleep patterns and making concentration on tasks harder can lead to emotional depression.

So, dump it. I did and I don't miss it.

Slacker16

claireychn074 wrote: »

I read the headline and thought this was a new kind of “drink lots of gin and eat sweets diet” and got quite excited. (...)

Heh, my first thought was that it's definitely happened for alcohol to trigger a "cleanse"... of sorts...

sijomial

I tried jellybeans soaked in vodka for 24hrs on the recommendation of my children.....
Not impressed, a waste of both jellybeans and vodka.

More seriously....
From personal experience managing the symptoms of stress has never been particularly successful - tackling and managing the root cause on the other hand has been.

Without knowing the level of your alcohol consumption or the form it takes makes it impossible to judge the effect of eliminating it.
There's a world of difference between moderate consumption in a social situation and self-medicating with excessive amounts (did that and elimination for a while was necessary for my mental and physical health).

Not seeing why you are picking simple sugars? What exactly is it that you think adds to your stress level from consuming sugar? Especially when you report less energy for your workouts cuttng down an energy source seems an unusual choice which I'm not understanding.

Strudders67

I find that eating sugary (or high carb) foods makes me lethargic and want to curl up on the sofa for a siesta so, if that's your experience, I'd definitely look for alternatives to replace at least some of the sugar with. I'm sure you realise that alcohol is also sugary. If you're looking to cut things because you feel you're turning to sugar / alcohol as a comfort, that's no bad thing but it won't resolve the underlying issue and may just add to your misery. Perhaps reduce the quantity rather than cut it out.

Other factors may be more important right now. How well are you sleeping? Stress often leads to restless nights and that won't help your energy levels.

How is your general diet looking? Are you roughly on track with your carb / protein / fat macros? Getting those to the right proportions may also help with energy levels and may also mean you feel less desire for sweet stuff.

If you don't feel like doing a workout, are you able to go for a walk? Fresh air and being outside may help clear your thoughts and give you some 'me time'. Or consider meditation.