21 Day Optimal Health Challenge

The principle of the 21 Day Optimal Health Challenge is simple, yet profound. For 21 days, wean yourself off of two addictive stimulants that make you lose control of your appetite, cause you to gain weight and increase your stress: sugar and caffeine.

Experience more energy, improved mood, and increased health as your body recovers from the roller coaster ride of energy highs and lows. Join millions of Americans who are taking back their health by avoiding unhealthy, addictive foods and beverages that lead to chronic illness and dependency on prescription drugs. By achieving balanced blood sugar through a healthy diet, we can stem the tide of today's "diabesity" epidemic by reversing obesity that causes type ll diabetes and heart diseease.

AFTER 21 DAYS:

• YOUR TASTE BUDS WILL BE RETRAINED
• YOU’LL EXPERIENCE MORE ENERGY
• YOU’LL BE MORE SENSITIVE TO THE EFFECTS OF STIMULANTS
• YOU WILL BE IN CONTROL OF YOUR APPETITE

KEEP IN MIND:  This is just for 21 days. You can do it!

The Goals:

1. To wean yourself off your dependency on stimulants like caffeine and sugar that cause stress, weight gain, fatigue and ultimately chronic illness like heart disease and diabetes.
    
2. To stabilize your blood sugar so you can control your appetite and lose weight.
    
3. To give your adrenal glands a rest from caffeine so they can rebuild your natural and plentiful energy supply without stimulants.
    
4. To take control of your cravings that don't serve your health.
    
5. To retrain your taste buds to enjoy other flavors like sour, savory and bitter rather than the American diet of sweet, sweet, sweet. 
    
6. To avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting coffee "cold turkey", such as headaches, fatigue, and irritability.

The Challenge

• Remove caffeine from your diet using the Teeccino Kick the Caffeine Habit Program in a maximum of 14 days.
• Eat only natural sugars as they occur in fruit and vegetables where they are bound by fiber.

Let’s Get Started!

Wean Yourself Gradually To Avoid Withdrawal Symptoms

Start by blending your normal coffee 3/4 to 1/4 Teeccino Caffeine-free Herbal Coffee in the filter. Gradually reduce the percentage of your coffee over a two to three week period until you are drinking 100% Teeccino. You should be able to avoid the painful withdrawal symptoms and also gradually adjust your body to less reliance on stimulants.

Use the following proportions if you make a 10-cup pot of coffee daily:

2. Reduce Your Sugar Intake:

Sweets to Avoid:

• Avoid any foods with added sugar such as muffins, cookies, cereals, sodas, juice, candy and chocolate. 
• Stay away from any form of cane sugar including "evaporated cane sugar", high fructose corn syrup, agave syrup, honey, maple syrup and fructose.
• Avoid all synthetic sweeteners including NutraSweet, Splenda, Sweet & Low, etc.

Sweets you can eat:

• Non-caloric sweeteners such as xylitol, erythritol, and stevia found in natural food stores. Remember though to weaning yourself off of the need for sweet tastes. Even non-caloric sweeteners have been shown to stimulate the craving for sweets. Studies show that when sweet flavors hit your taste buds, your body prepares for a spike in blood sugar. The insulin surge lowers your blood sugar despite the lack of calories it ultimately receives. Next thing you know, you're hungry again and craving something sweet!
• Eat as many apples a day as you like when you want something sweet. Other seasonal fruits may be enjoyed such as berries, tangerines, oranges, kiwis, grapes, melons, and pomegranates.
• Go easy on super sweet fruits like bananas, mangos, watermelon and pineapples.

3.  Healthy foods you can enjoy:

Breakfast:

• Eat  a bowl of TeeChia, a sugar-free, super seed cereal that gives you lasting energy, sateity (satisfying fullness) all morning long, plus keeps you regular daily. With a full spectrum of antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, soluble and insoluble fiber, TeeChia makes a quick and easy wholesome meal. Enjoy it with milk, unsweetened yogurt or any non-dairy alternative.
• Eat high omega-3, free-range brown eggs or vegetarian sausages for additional protein.

Lunch & Dinner

• Enjoy fresh salads made with a varitey of leafy dark greens,
• Experiment with new foods to replace wheat and bread such as quinoa, the high protein seed from the Andes that cooks like a grain and rare varieties of rice with high nutrient contents,
• Eat an abundance of as many vegetables as you desire with lemon juice, olive oil, and herb salt to flavor them
• Stick to lean proteins like tofu, wild fish and organic, free-range chicken and turkey.

Snacks

• Seeds and unsalted nuts, unsweetened yogurt, nut butters on slices of apples, low fat cheeses, baked tofu.
• For appetizers, enjoy baby carrots, celery sticks, and endive spears with hummus or olive tapenades.

 Dessert:

• Drink Teeccino Mediterranean Herbal Coffees like Vanilla Nut, Hazelnut, Mocha, and Chocolate Mint for a satisfying dessert without all the calories. Add frothed milk and if desired, sweeten with stevia or xylitol.
• Make a bowl full of fruits with vibrant colors. Add plain yogurt and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Remember: Spending money on high quality of food saves you money in the long run. Protect the gift of good health by buying foods that nourish you, not deplete or poison you!

4.  Healthy beverages to replace caffeinated sodas, coffee and tea:

• Drink Teeccino, instead of coffee, in the morning and afternoon for an energy pick up.
• Instead of sodas, drink mineral water with a squirt of sliced lime or lemon or a splash of your favorite unsweetened juice such as fresh orange juice or pomegranate juice.
• Refresh with Iced Teeccino: Chill brewed Teeccino. Add milk or non-dairy milk and pour over ice. Sweeten with stevia or Xylitol.
• Drink caffeine-free herbal teas. Rooibos is an excellent alternative to black or green tea. It’s high in antioxidants and other health benefits. Taste caffeine-free Tulsi teas  that help relieve stress and boost your immune system.
• Teeccino's new Tee-bags making brewing anywhere easy and convenient. Take them with you in your purse or pocket so you will always have a cup at your fingertips.

5.  Dealing with Energy Slumps:

We all experience them when we least want them. Those moments when we wish we could take a nap but we're in a meeting, or taking care of others, or have a deadline to meet. Here's how your can deal with them to get steam generated that will keep you going:

• Drink Teeccino Herbal Coffees when you feel a mid-morning or afternoon energy slump.
• Make a Teeccino smoothie with some fruit and protein powder to replace a meal or snack and give you longer lasting energy.
• Eat an apple to stave off hunger and for a quick, energy-producing snack. They are high in fiber and will fill you up.

Health Educators Speak Out About Caffeine And Sugar:

Brendan Brazier,
The Thrive Diet:

“If stimulation is used when it will not help you achieve something of value, it is an uncomplimentary stress. I consider coffee drinking an uncomplimentary stress. I view it as a form of credit, similar to shopping with a credit card. You get energy now that you don’t actually have, but you pay for it later – when the “bill” or fatigue hits. Simply drinking more coffee to put off the inevitable is like paying off one credit card with another: It will catch up with you sooner or later. You’ll most likely pay a high interest rate as well, needing more time to recover than if that energy had not been borrowed in the first place.”

“Food cravings, usually for sugary or starchy foods, are often telltale sign that the diet lacks nutrients or is tired. Cravings and chronic hunger, if not addressed, will lead to weight gain and fatigue in the short term and, in the long term, any number of health problems.”

“Nutritional stress, for the average North American, is by far the greatest source of uncomplimentary stress…Not eating enough natural, unprocessed foods rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, high-quality protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and good bacteria (probiotics) is a major source of stress on our bodies…Not having enough nutrients in our diet is a form of nutritional stress and therefore produces a stress response.”

Mariel Hemingway,
Healthy Living From the Inside Out

“If you use caffeine throughout the day, then time and again you’re forcing your adrenals to respond as if there’s an emergency. It’s no wonder that when this becomes a habit it puts great wear and tear on the body…Without a regular intake, you feel withdrawal symptoms, such as powerful headaches. During one notorious episode when I quit coffee cold turkey at the height of my habit, I forgot all my lines on the TV show I was filming and the crew resorted to holding cue cards saying, “please have some java!’. Coffee had such an effect on my wiring that without it, I was turned upside down.”

Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin,
Skinny Bitch

“We all know how difficult it is to stay away from sugar. But if you don’t exorcise this demon from your diet, you will never be a skinny bitch. Take a look around your kitchen and become aware of all the places the devil is lurking. Probably in places you wouldn’t ever expect to find ‘him’. Read the ingredients of your breakfast cereals, breads, crackers, junk foods, everything. Sugar is like crack, and food manufacturers know that if they add it to their products, you’ll keep on coming back for more.”

 Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons,
Potatoes Not Prozac

“Yes, you can be addicted to sugar, to sweet foods and to white-flour products that your body responds to as sugars. This addiction is physiological and affects the same biochemical systems in your body as do drugs like morphine and heroin. You can actually get high on sugar. Eating it can make you feel euphoric immediately afterwards. If you don’t have your regular sugar “fix”, you may experience withdrawal symptoms. Yes, You can become physiologically dependent upon the effect sugars have on your body.”

Dr. Ron Rosedale,
The Rosedale Diet

"Excess sugar poses a far greater threat to your body than excess fat (which isn’t good either, but is not quite as bad as sugar – diabetes can kill you faster!). When sugar combines with the proteins in your body (called glycation), it triggers chemical reactions that can be very damaging to healthy cells and can cause aging, disease, and death. Sugar burning also promotes the formation of potentially high amounts of toxic chemicals called free radicals, unstable oxygen molecules that can damage cells and ultimately lead to numerous diseases. My hunch is, the body probably burns off sugar first as a defense mechanism to protect you from the potentially lethal effects of sugar. Thus, if we bombard our bodies with sugar-producing foods, it becomes harder for our bodies to switch to fat-burning mode.”

The information in the 21-Day Challenge is for educational purposes only. If you have a health condition, please consult with a physician. The information in this challenge is not meant to used in place of a doctor’s advice.