A Refined Sugar Free Diet - A Guest Blog Post by Bel Hardman, Stress & Resilience Coach
"A huge thank you to Bel for sharing her thoughts and recipes with us!"
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"Hi my name is Bel and I have Stage 2/Type 4 Lipoedema. Mary of PhysioPod invited me to write a blog on the benefits of being 'Refined Sugar Free' and share some of my favourite Refined Sugar Free recipes. As someone who has turned her health around with diet and lifestyle changes I was more than thrilled to help with Mary’s request. It’s not quite as simple as me saying, do this or do as I do, you know that, we are all individuals, so this is my journey, I encourage everyone to try many different foods to find what does and does not work for you.
I truly appreciate that for many of us with Lipoedema, food issues, disordered eating and eating disorders are sadly part of our life. With that in mind, I want to start by saying, please remember that food is meant to nourish our bodies to help us to be able to function to the best that we can, with what we've been given. If you choose to make dietary changes please make sure you're doing it with love and nourishment in mind and not making changes from a place of discipline, guilt or restriction, because that is not sustainable, loving or fun. ♥
Here's a little into my background and why I chose to heal my health with an anti-inflammatory diet. I was diagnosed with Lipoedema in August 2020 but before that diagnosis, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2015. I had already been gluten free for about 3 years due to an intolerance but after receiving my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia (FMS), and after 3 months of research I decided to reject conventional medicines as I knew that they would affect my immune system and likely cause weight gain.
In that 3 months I’d looked at diet and lifestyle changes and decided to adopt an Anti-Inflammatory diet. At that point, I also went Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free. I really want to point out that I’m simply trying to show alternatives to highly processed sugar sweets, I do not want to vilify sugar, we need sugar to survive, but sadly we consume too much, as it’s in nearly everything we buy at the supermarket, even savoury foods like soups, sauces and breads. As a sweet tooth, I knew I needed to find alternative sweet treats that would help the inflammatory pain I experienced with Fibromyalgia, that were also delicious.
My main reason for focusing on sugar was I had noticed that the FMS pain flared for days when I ate too many chocolates and sweets. I decided to test my theory by essentially indulging in too many Quality Streets, don’t get me wrong, I still have them occasionally, just in moderation and that’s easy to do when you have some lower sugar alternatives. To be honest when you start to reduce your sugar intake you will find regular sweets just too sweet. So back to my test, sure enough I suffered awful pain the following 4 days after indulging so that made it easy for me to resolve to finding Refined Sugar Free alternatives. I was very consistent in my efforts, I ensured I had many Refined Sugar Free treats in the fridge and freezer so I was never tempted to choose an alternative that I knew would not benefit me.
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Within 4 months on a Refined Sugar Free diet the FMS pain was gone and it’s never returned since. Whilst I may not be as strict now as I was then, I still bake and make a lot of the same treats, as I see and feel so many health benefits.
I have carried on the same diet since and whilst it did take a further 3 years for the remaining FMS symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog and sensory issues to resolve, I now no longer suffer with any FMS symptoms.
In hindsight I 100% believe that adopting an Anti-Inflammatory diet has helped the Lipoedema as well, not least along this process I also lost 55 pounds in excess weight. It was losing the weight that actually got me to my diagnosis of Lipoedema. Removing refined sugar, gluten and most dairy has helped me control the inflammation in my body and focus on nourishing wholefoods. Changing to Refined Sugar Free is really a mix of using less sugar, utilising fruits to add natural sweetness and focusing on unrefined natural sugars.
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I do recognise that diet cannot reverse the effects of Lipoedema but keeping inflammation under control, keeping our non-Lipoedema weight to a level suitable for our bodies and eating to nourish our bodies, does go a long way to stop the Lipoedema from getting worse. Despite this, I have still chosen to manage Lipoedema with liposuction surgery due to my stage and age. However, surgery is not a cure, and as Lipoedema is a genetic condition, I will continue with this way of healthy eating for life, to ensure the Lipoedema does not regrow and I can maintain my current level of health and mobility.
Here are my favourite Refined Sugar Free recipes – Enjoy!
See more healthy recipes on my Instagram @heal.fibromyalgia
Follow my Lipoedema journey on Instagram @lipoedema.facts
Written by Bel Hardman
Stress & Resilience Coach
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Owner and Director of Integral Workplace Wellness - a Mental Health Support & Training Company that specialises in Staff & Business support for SME’s - www.integralworkplacewellness.com
