How giving up your favourite treat for lent can help your health

By Bernard Turk On Mar 2, 2022

While the idea of giving up a vice for 40 days may seem like a daunting task, cutting out certain habits can have a profound impact on your mental and physical health.

As Lent begins, medical and wellness experts have shared with FEMAIL the benefits of giving up treats like refined sugar, foods high in saturated fat can have on your mental and physical health.

Those ditching refined sugar by giving up sweets and chocolate are sure to notice improved energy levels and clearer, brighter skin while women cutting out coffee could help balance their hormone levels.

Giving up alcohol has a host of massive benefits from improved sleep to reversed liver damage and weight loss, while going on a social media cleanse can help reduce stress and anxiety.

From weight loss to better mood, while giving up your vice for over a month may be difficult- it’s almost sure to benefit your health in the long run.

REFINED SUGAR

How quitting benefits your health: More energy, lower blood pressure, improved metabolism and better skin

Cutting out refined sugar can have a myriad of benefits, from improving skin health, mood, metabolism and helping you maintain steady energy levels throughout the day. Stock image

Cutting out refined sugar can have a myriad of benefits, from improving skin health, mood, metabolism and helping you maintain steady energy levels throughout the day.

Cosmetic doctor and hormone expert, Dr Martin Kinsella explained: ‘Consuming lots of sugary foods can affect your hormones, causing an imbalance that can negatively impact the body in a number of ways. This is because sugar causes cortisol levels to rise.

‘Eating simple carbohydrates or refined sugar causes a spike in blood sugar, and insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, goes into overdrive. Then it crashes, causes a mood and energy dip and a craving for more sugar.

‘The more refined sugars we eat, the more these dips and spikes happen. Over a prolonged period of time your blood sugar to become resistant to insulin, leading to diabetes, hunger and even depression.’

Sugar also affects the adrenal gland and your thyroid, meaning it can negatively impact stress levels, blood pressure and metabolism.

‘Sugar also causes glycation, which is when the sugar molecules bombard the body’s cells,’ he explained. ‘It causes protein fibres to become stiff and malformed and is ageing and damaging to the body.

‘In addition to the hormonal impact of eating too much sugar, it also affects your collagen levels.

‘Collagen is the protein that helps skin to maintain elasticity, strength and also to repair itself. Sugar attacks collagen in the body and so too much of it can cause skin to become wrinkled and prematurely age.’

ALCOHOL

How quitting benefits your health: Better sleep and skin, reversed liver damage, weight loss and lower blood pressure

After just one week without alcohol, you will notice better hydration and improved sleep while two weeks can reverse liver damage. Stock image

After just one week without alcohol, you will notice better hydration and improved sleep, explained Dr Harriet Bradley, Medical Director at digital healthcare provider Livi.

‘Alcohol causes you to get less restorative REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. That means you wake up feeling less rested and are more prone to daytime drowsiness. Some studies suggest that REM sleep benefits learning, memory and mood.

Millions drinking up to FIFTY units a week after alcohol consumption soared during pandemic

Lockdown has led to millions more Britons putting their health at risk by drinking up to 50 units of alcohol a week, new research revealed this week.

Professor Julia Sinclair, chairman of the addictions faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the switch to boozing at home was partly to blame for the rise as the drinking sessions can last hours longer than they would in a pub.

The research used a score called Audit, developed by the World Health Organisation, to assess problem drinking. Audit takes into account a range of factors including how often people drink and how many units they consume in a session to determine if they fall into ‘increasing’ or ‘higher’ risk categories.

It found the number of Britons whose drinking puts them at risk jumped to eight million in October last year – a rise from six million in October 2019.

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‘Your REM cycle usually returns to normal after one week, so you should expect to see an improvement in your cognitive function and mood, as well as feeling more rested.’

Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that if you don’t drink enough water with alcohol, you can quickly become dehydrated. This is because alcohol causes your body to remove fluids from your blood through your renal system at a much quicker rate than other liquids.

‘In the first week of giving up alcohol, and as long as you drink plenty of water, you should see improved hydration levels – meaning less headaches, more energy and better physical performance,’ he said.

By week two acid reflux will be reduced because of decreased stomach acid production and a heightened ability to get rid of bacteria and week three sees liver damage begin to be reversed.

‘A healthy liver should contain a small amount of fat’, said the doctor. ‘Excessive alcohol intake can lead to alcohol-related fatty liver disease, but this is often reversible and can improve as your liver regenerates.

‘Stopping alcohol for a few weeks allows the liver time to recover, stop the inflammation and reduce the fatty deposits. Longer term excessive alcohol intake can lead to liver cirrhosis, a life-threatening condition where the damage is not reversible.’

Alcohol is high in calories and, if combined with a healthy diet, you should see weight loss by the third week of quitting

‘Giving up alcohol can benefit your waistline in other ways too’, she said. ‘It should make it easier to make healthy food choices, and mean you are more likely to be motivated to exercise – especially if you’re sleeping better too

‘Regularly drinking too much alcohol can eventually raise blood pressure, but various studies have shown that blood pressure can be significantly lowered in just four weeks.

‘By lowering your blood pressure, you can reduce your risk of developing serious conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, which in some cases are caused by high blood pressure,’ said Dr. Harriet

UNHEALTHY FOODS

How quitting benefits your health: Lower cholesterol, lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, increased energy and mood

Eating too much saturated fats in your diet can raise ‘bad’ cholesterol, which increases your chances of heart problems or a stroke, in your blood. Stock image

Saturated fats

Eating too much saturated fats in your diet can raise ‘bad’ cholesterol, which increases your chances of heart problems or a stroke, in your blood.

By replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, you can lower your ‘bad’ cholesterol and may lower your risk of getting heart disease and type two diabetes.

Holly Zoccolan, Nutritional Health Coach and Founder of The Health Zoc, said: ‘Having a balanced blood sugar level can help lower weight, reduce food cravings and helps to maintain a healthy metabolism.’

Simple carbs

Cutting out simple carbs like white bread and white pasta can help balance blood sugar levels, increasing energy, mood and promoting weight loss by helping you feel less hungry.

‘Simple carbohydrates are composed of various forms of sugar, such as glucose, fructose, and fruit sugar. Since they can be easily metabolised, they are most likely to cause an insulin spike,’ said Zoccolan.

‘Instead of eating simple carbohydrates such as flour and sugar, we want to ensure that we are keeping our blood sugar levels balanced by eating healthy meals which help keep our blood sugar levels in check and prevent excess weight gain, fatigue and brain fog.’

Processed foods

‘It’s important to be aware of where hidden sugars sit, especially liquid sugar! For example, processed foods. There is often high sugar content in processed foods like bread, ketchup, soups, salad dressing, canned fruit, peanut butter.

Another example is fat free foods, where sugar is added to replace the flavour that is lost when the fat is removed. The simplest way to stabilise your blood sugar within the normal range is to eat fat, protein, fibre and complex carbohydrates with each meal.’

COFFEE

How quitting benefits your health: Better sleep, stronger bones and balanced female hormones

Cutting out coffee can have a huge host of benefits, from improved sleep by cutting down on caffeine to stronger bones and balanced female hormones. Stock image

Cutting out coffee can have a huge host of benefits, from improved sleep by cutting down on caffeine to stronger bones and balanced female hormones.

Adeet Maswood Founder of Superfoods Company UK said: ‘Caffeine has been shown to alter oestrogen levels. Higher levels of oestrogen can mean increased risk for some conditions.

‘It is also known to worsen certain menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, inability to sleep, sweats and irritability’.

He says caffeine can decrease your ability to absorb calcium for bone strength and can worsen skin by interfering with collagen production needed to keep our skin healthy, supple and reduce wrinkling.

Adding that weight loss is a potential side effect of cutting out caffeine, he went on: ‘While caffeine is often considered to be beneficial in weight loss due to the metabolism speeding up, it can actually cause weight gain through hormonal disruption.

‘Drinking caffeine can cause insulin levels to be raised, if this is continued through the day then the body becomes desensitised to this ‘signal’, known as insulin resistance.

‘Insulin resistance is a prime culprit in weight gain around the midsection so cutting down, or cutting out, caffeine will help to increase insulin sensitivity which helps to lose weight and keep it off.’

SMOKING

How quitting benefits your health: Reduced chance of developing life-threatening cancers, heart disease and strokes

Quitting smoking can have a drastic impact on health, even just for a month, reducing chances of developing life-threatening cancers, heart disease and strokes. Stock image

Quitting smoking can have a drastic impact on health, even just for a month, reducing chances of developing life-threatening cancers, heart disease and strokes.

‘We all know smoking is bad for our health, and it’s not just our lungs that are affected’, said Dr Naveen Puri, Associate Clinical Director at Bupa Health Clinics.

‘Smoking puts people at higher risk of multiple cancers including in the mouth, throat and bladder.

‘It also contributes to your arteries narrowing and makes your blood more likely to clot, meaning smokers have a significantly higher risk of heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and dementia.’

Smoking can affect the smaller arteries in our bodies, affecting our kidneys, eyes and the blood supply to our legs – but those who kick the habit at 60 add three years to their life.

‘Many people smoke because they feel like it helps them to unwind or deal with stress. Smoking can feel soothing and relaxing – but it doesn’t actually make you calmer or happier’, said Dr Naveen.

The relaxation that can come from smoking wears off quite quickly. When these feelings go away it makes you want to smoke more. Cravings can feel like anxiety, and when you smoke, they go away.

‘Stopping smoking isn’t easy, but the benefits could add years to your life and these benefits start from the first hour that you stop. The risks you face as a smoker lower from the very first day that you quit’.

SOCIAL MEDIA

How quitting benefits your health: Boosted energy, reduced anxiety and better sleep

A social media cleanse, even for a couple of hours a day, can have a massive impact on our mental health – boosting energy, reducing anxiety and improving sleep. Stock image

A social media cleanse, even for a couple of hours a day, can have a massive impact on our mental health – boosting energy, reducing anxiety and improving sleep.

‘Quitting social media and television for the first hour of the morning and at least 2 hours before you go to bed will allow you to begin your day and wind down your day naturally, calmly and peacefully’, said Shareen Kullar, founder of self-care box BlissBox.

She said that limiting screen time in the morning allows you to soak up the natural sun, providing a much-needed energy boost, while less in the evening will allow you to wind down and relax without artificial light.

Shareen says social media can have a negative impact on your mental health by showing you negative content which can increase your anxiety and worsen your mood.

‘Quitting TV and social media will naturally inspire mindfulness. As you are not filling your free time with scrolling, binge watching and essentially escaping your mind and life, she said.

‘You are able to be more present and in the moment so you can spend more quality time on the other things you love to do and really be with people you love which will make your life richer.

‘Being more present and in the moment means that you can connect with yourself and with others properly which will help to eliminate loneliness.’

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk

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