You could register to kick your sugar habit tomorrow

“But the Hot Now sign is on” is probably a statement you have said or heard at least once living in the Carolinas. I mean, Krispy Kreme’s birthplace is Winston-Salem for goodness sakes so it’s no wonder that sugar has a hold on us.

According to SugarScience.org, the average American consumes nearly 66 pounds of added sugar each year, which equates to 17 teaspoons per day. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day for women and 9 teaspoons (38 grams) for men.

There is an obvious problem and integrative nutrition health coaches Jennie Dawkins and Merritt Tracy created the “Free Me From Sugar 6-Week Sugar Detox” to help individuals kick the cravings with high level support including shopping lists, private Facebook groups, recipes, live calls and educational articles.

The goal of the detox is to help remove refined sugars and cut back on other sugar sources in your diet. Both coaches will help participants identify healthy sugars in hopes of setting a foundation for healthier decision-making.

“We want people to come away with an understanding of the way sugar affects their health,” Tracy said. “We want people to change their relationship with sugar. After the detox, hopefully they will have a new healthy approach to sugar and see it as a treat.”

Through Dawkins and Tracy’s research, they have found that six weeks is an effective amount of time — and is challenging enough — to break the sugar habit.

They offer two approaches for curbing your sugar habit: “all-in,” where you go cold turkey, eliminating all sugar items at once, or “step-in,” which allows you to wean yourself off sugar by removing various forms of it one week at a time throughout the course of the program.

During the detox, some may not experience withdrawal symptoms while others could experience headaches, aches and pains, mood swings and the shakes. The most common symptom of sugar withdrawal is fatigue.

“Sugar does give us energy so the body is withdrawing from that,” Tracy said.

As you go through the withdrawal process, the program resources are set in place to help participants stay on track.

The expected results of the program are: an increase in energy, weight loss and reduced taste for sugar.

Sharon, one of Tracy’s private clients, saw positive results following the detox. She said, “I didn’t think I ate that much sugar, but giving up sugar with the 6-Week Sugar Detox program improved my energy level and significantly reduced the pain and inflammation in my hands from arthritis.”

Want to join the detox? It starts Sept. 15

To sign up or to learn more, visit http://freemefromsugar.com/.

Photos: Padurariu Alexandru, CJ Johnson

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "You could register to kick your sugar habit tomorrow."