Today there always seems to be a new diet or a new trend to lose weight, but I realized there is a lack of people coming up with ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle rather than looking to drop pounds. It is easier to eat healthier if you make certain plans and changes. One new way that I have changed my diet is cutting out sugar and grain. Grains, according to the USDA, are “any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and grits are examples of grain products.”

When following no sugar, no grain (NSNG), you get rid of all processed sugars and all grains from your diet. It is also considered the “Carnivorous Vegan” or the “Paleolithic Diet.” What that means is that you have lots of healthy vegetables and meat in your diet. You can eat real food which is only non-processed foods. You can eat vegetables, fruits, nuts/seeds, legumes, healthy fats, and meats.

I know this might seem like you can’t eat anything, but there are some great alternative snacks. Some include fruit, cut veggies, hard boiled eggs, beef jerky, full fat cheese, raw nuts, olives, pumpkin seeds, 85% or greater cacao dark chocolate, deviled eggs, pepperoni slices, coconut oil, avocado, lettuce rolled up with smoked salmon and full fat cream cheese, hummus and celery, pickles, and coffee with heavy cream.

Another positive part about NSNG is that there have been studies that prove taking away sugars and grains help fight against certain health issues including obesity, anxiety, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and depression. In order to protect ourselves from these diseases, we need to protect our bodies from inflammation; taking away sugars and grains is the best way to do that. Sugar is also highly addictive and breaks down the body’s immune system. Sure, it is delicious, but the health effects are pretty intense. I am definitely not saying to get rid of all sugar forever, but with NSNG it trains your body to crave it less.

One of the major points in this is to not pay attention to the loss of calories since that is not the point. The point is to cleanse your body of the processed toxins that go along with artificial sugars and grains. The reason I am trying the NSNG diet is because it is not a typical diet. It is just trying to help you live a more healthy life.