by Dr. Alberto Villoldo: One Spirit Medicine states that the best way to heal and maintain health is to grow a new body on a regular basis…

It recognizes the body as a system, not as a collection of parts that can be medicated or replaced when they go wrong.

There are two foods that will prevent you from growing a new body. The first is sugar—we’ll deal with the second one in a future blog post. We’ve known about the evils of sugar and sugary drinks for some time, and I have written extensively about them in this forum.

One hundred years ago, the average American ate five pounds of sugar per year. Now, the typical American adult consumes 200 pounds of added sugar a year and another 180 pounds of refined grains that turn into sugars as they enter the bloodstream. Processed foods are sources of much of this amount. No wonder Americans are increasingly overweight.

Sugar is the deadliest toxin found in nearly every kitchen in America. And so, my first recommendation for a healthy new year is to eliminate sugar in all forms from your diet. Here are several reasons why:

Diabetes: Even foods we don’t think of as sweet―like catsup, peanut butter, and yogurt―often contain sugar or substitutes like aspartame, saccharine, sucralose and high fructose corn syrup. Like sugar, artificial sweeteners have been linked to type 2 diabetes. When high blood sugar becomes chronic, you have a prediabetic condition known as insulin resistance. If you’re gaining weight around your belly and experiencing mood swings and brain fog associated with blood-sugar fluctuations, you’re already on your way toward insulin resistance.

Decreased BDNF: Sugar in all forms (except honey) reduces levels of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a hormone that triggers the growth of new neurons and stem cells in the brain, repairing crucial brain structures. Inadequate BDNF production is also associated with depression.

Alzheimer’s: In some circles Alzheimer’s is being called type 3 diabetes because of its connection to high blood sugar and a sugar-rich diet. Statistics now show that if you live to be 85 years old, you will have a 50% risk of having diagnosable Alzheimer’s.

Candida: Sugar favors the growth of yeast menace Candida albicans in your gut flora and other parts of the body. Candida infections are epidemic today, and we do not know how to treat them with any degree of success.

Cancer: Consuming too much sugar throws off the insulin system, and causes blood sugar levels to spike, which leads to inflammation, weight gain, and food cravings. High blood sugar plus inflammation is the perfect environment for cancer.

Cholesterol: Sugar lowers HDL (the “good” cholesterol). Along with carbs and processed foods, sugar increases the levels of small LDL cholesterol particles.

Mitochondrial Damage: Continual consumption of sugar (and grains) keeps the body’s insulin system going and impairs its ability to switch to fat burning. When we don’t switch off the insulin system, toxins build up and damage mitochondria, which then do not combust fuel cleanly and produce large amounts of free radicals that further damage the mitochondria.

Brain Drain: Sugar, along with excess protein and toxins in our brain, maintains a thick doorway between us and the invisible realm of the mind, where we find the wisdom that infuses all creation. If we change our diet, repair our broken brains, and learn to use fats for fuel, we can break down the gate that keeps us from the Oneness that is obvious from the perspective of our higher brain.

Brain Fog: A brain steeped in sugar is sluggish and dull, as opposed to a brain fueled on fat.

Vicious cycle: Sugary foods (and carbs, which convert to sugar) stimulate the same centers in the brain that are stimulated by drugs like heroin and cocaine by releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine, which triggers a pleasure response. You may think you’re gorging on chocolate cake or tortilla chips because you love the taste, but the real reason is that the yeast, fungi, and bad bacteria in your gut thrive on sugar, and to get their fix they bring on cravings. So you eat more sugary foods.

Had enough bad news yet? Here’s the good news: YOU are in control of how much sugar you consume, and just like every other habit you have formed in your lifetime, you can change it. Cold turkey is always an option, but you can also start with fasting.

My seven-day Grow a New Body program includes a daily 18-hour fast (most of which takes place while you sleep) and numerous other dietary and spiritual protocols that help end sugar addiction, switch on longevity genes, silence the genes that create disease, detoxify the brain, and heal broken systems in the body so you can grow a new one.

Around day 5 of the program, you will notice that your perception of the world has changed. Colors seem brighter, your mood lighter, and your life more beautiful. By day 7, your higher brain will have become engaged and you will find that many of your questions answer themselves as they form inside your head. Your blood sugar will begin to stabilize at a healthy level, and your food cravings will be largely gone. You will have set in motion dormant programs in your DNA that will turn on the production of stem cells in every organ in your body.

Changing your eating habits is an essential part of reaping the benefits of One Spirit Medicine. Remember that detoxifying and upgrading your body is a process. Your limbic brain—the tyrant king—will most likely rebel against your efforts to remove it from its sugar- and dopamine-rich throne, and as the driver of your decisions, emotions, and perceptions. It may insist that nothing’s happening, so why bother continuing the program? Whatever excuse your primitive brain proffers, don’t give in to its insistent voice!

My new book, Grow a New Body, details all the spiritual, nutritional, and practical elements of this innovative program. Grow a New Body releases on March 12. You can preorder it now at www.growanewbody.com.