What Happens to your Body when You Give up Meat for Veganuary?

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animal, animal products, antioxidants, complexion, dairy, Dermalogica Redness Relief Essence, diet, Elemis Superfood Facial Wash, essential fats, fruit, inflammation, insulin, iron, meat, meat free, multivitamin, no meat, plant-based, skin, type 2 diabetes, Vegan, veganism, Veganuary, vegetables, Vitamin B12, weight gain

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Even if you’re a lifelong meat-eater, you’ve probably heard of Veganuary. The movement started in 2014, and encourages people to give up all animal products and go vegan for the month of January. It’s estimated that half a million people take part, worldwide, and “in January 2019, 500 companies promoted Veganuary and veganism, while more than 200 plant-based products and menus were launched”. With this in mind, we thought we’d take a look at the knock-on effects that giving up meat can have on your body, to give you the inspiration you need to go vegan, even if it’s just for a month:

Inflammation will be Reduced

If you eat cheese, red meat and other processed animal products, there’s a good chance that you’ll have more inflammation in your body than someone who doesn’t. If you suffer from redness and inflamed skin issues, there’s a good chance that your diet is making it worse. As well as giving up animal products, using Dermalogica Redness Relief Essence will help.

You’ll Make Your Gut Happier

There’s a lot of current wisdom which points to the fact that our microbiome, the balance of bacteria in our gut, is what controls how the rest of our body functions. Going vegan can give your microbiome a complete makeover, while using Elemis Superfood Facial Wash will help balance the skin’s own precious microbiome.

Cut Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Many people still think that diabetes is caused by eating sugar, but that’s simply not the case. Animal fat and nitrate preservatives in meat have been found to damage pancreatic cells, worsen inflammation, cause weight gain, and impair the way our insulin functions. By giving up animal products, you dramatically reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Your Skin Could Improve

When you cut meat and other animal products out of your diet, you tend to eat more fruit and veg, nuts, and other things which contain essential fats and antioxidants, which are all great for your skin. Supporting this with a proper skincare routine means that, by February, your skin could look better than ever.

You Might Need to Supplement

The one downside of giving up animal products is that you might lose certain nutrients from your diet. It is possible to get everything you need from a plant-based diet but this often takes a bit of time and some trial and error. Adding a multivitamin into your diet, and ensuring you’re getting enough iron and vitamin B12 will help you to stay feeling great without animal products.

What Happens to Your Body When you Give Up Sugar?

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acne, bloating, cortisol, energised, energy, insulin, low energy, quit, quitting, sluggish, sugar

December is almost over which means that most of us are ready to switch out of ‘over-indulgence’ mode and into a far more virtuous mind-set. With Christmas goodies all around, it’s so easy to eat more sugar than during the whole rest of the year and January is a great time to think about seriously reducing your sugar intake, or even giving it up altogether. Today, we’re taking a look at what happens to your body when you quit sugar, to give you an idea of how it might benefit you.

Acne

When you suffer with acne, there are often one or a number of triggers which are personal to you, which can include hormones or any other number of things. However, most people who suffer with acne report a marked improvement when they cut all sugar out of their diet, so if you’re a sufferer it could be well worth a try to improve your outbreak frequency.

Anxiety

It’s been largely proven that the whole “sugar makes kids hyper” thing is a myth, but many adults report that high levels of sugar can really aggravate feelings of stress and anxiety and that cutting it out can improve anxiety levels overall. Reducing stress is important for your heart and overall health, so this could have a knock-on effect in other areas, too.

Weight Loss

In the past, we were taught that fat was the thing to cut down on if we wanted to lose weight, but the most up-to-date research shows that it’s actually sugar which needs to be cut out in order for our bodies to effectively shed weight. Quitting sugar and other simple carbs is the best way to lose weight, feel healthier and even possibly reverse type 2 diabetes.

Bloating

Eating a lot of sugar can encourage the body to hang on to excess fluid, leaving you feeling bloated and over-full. The good news is that as soon as you cut down, your body will release the excess fluid and help you to feel slimmer and less bloated almost immediately.

Energy

Eating large volumes of sugar floods your body, needing a high level of insulin to process it, which then causes your body to crash and feel super low. Sugar also interferes with cortisol production, which can affect your sleep cycle, leaving you feeling incredibly low on energy for the whole day. Quitting sugar and eating a high protein diet will help to keep you feeling energised.