I spent the latter half of my childhood in Denver, Colorado in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  One of my favorite places to eat at the time was Round the Corner.  Every table was a big red booth with a phone you used to call in your order.    I was an abnormal teen in that I hated to talk on the phone, but I sure enjoyed using the one at Round the Corner.  My go to order was always a lemon pepper chicken sandwich.  The pepper added some heat to the refreshing citrus tang.  It was a flavor combination so memorable I've had a hard time forgetting it.  The only solution was to try to recreate it.

At the grocery store, you can find Lemon Pepper Spice Blend in the herbs and spices section (usually in the baking aisle).  On the surface, it seems like a simple solution: toss some chicken thighs with a tablespoon of the spice blend and you are good to go.  Except, what the heck is in that spice blend?

In the McCormick's version you'll find, "Salt, Black Pepper, Citric Acid, Onion, Sugar, Garlic, Calcium Stearate, Silicon Dioxide, And Calcium Silicate (Added To Make Free Flowing), Celery Seed, Lemon Oil, And Fd&C Yellow 5 Lake."  As some of my favorite television characters say, "Oh Hell No!"  I don't know about you, but I don't need to be ingesting food coloring derived from coal and known to have adverse reactions with the nervous system.   And fun fact about calcium stearate: it's the main component in soap scum.  Probably harmless, but I don't need to eat it.  Reading this label reminds that if I can't pronounce it and/or don't know what it is I probably don't want to eat it.

Back to the drawing board because like you, I've been busy this summer, and I want to make healthy, grilled dinners that don't take a lot of time.  As it happens, making lemon pepper chicken from scratch using actual lemons and actual black peppercorns doesn't take a whole lot of time, and it produces better flavor that's healthier for you.  Win!  Win!  Win!

Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken
Serves 4

1 lemon, zested and juiced

½ lemon, juiced

¾ teaspoon kosher or sea salt

½ Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 ¼ pounds boneless and skinless chicken thighs

Combine first five ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken.  Whisk vigorously to emulsify.  Add chicken.  Marinate for 2-4 hours.

Preheat grill to medium.  Add chicken to grill.  Grill 4-5 minutes per side.  Internal temperature should be 160-165 F. 

While chicken is grilling, place marinade in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil.  Turn down and simmer until chicken is done.

Serve chicken with the sauce on the side.  This is lovely served with brown rice or potatoes that you can drizzle the sauce over.   It also is delicious with Brian's Bodacious Broccoli, as shown in the photo above.

Last week we covered four ways in which sugar is wreaking havoc with your health.  This week we look at how you can curb your sugar cravings so you start to feel better.

Notice, I used the word simple, not easy.  Remember, sugar is 94 percent more addictive than cocaine.  For coke addicts, there are many rehab options.  If you are addicted to sugar, the American marketplace has decided you should be bombarded with it at every single moment.  While it may feel like the deck is stacked against you, small efforts can yield big rewards.  I encourage you start with one of these methods, try it for at least two weeks, and notice any changes that occur.  According to Dr. Daniel Amen, research shows that it will take two weeks of totally eliminating sugar to rid it completely from your system.  While that may not be a proposition that rings true for you right now, the following is a good starting point. 

1.  Drink water when you feel hungry.   Sugar can send us on a roller coaster of eating, feeling satisfied, hitting a sugar low which manifests as hunger, and binge eating to reach our sugar high again.  This is a system controlled by the brain.  Often when we are hungry, the body (not the brain) is actually thirsty.  If you are feeling hungry, try drinking 8-12 ounces of water first.  Wait 15-20 minutes.  Are you still hungry?  This has two effects.  One, it can change patterns in the brain which control hunger and teach the body to turn to water when you crave sugar, thereby changing a habit.  Two, if you still are hungry, drinking water prepares the digestive system to receive food and makes it more efficient.  Digestion is the most stressful function our bodies perform so aiding it with water is helpful.

2.  Replace soda, sports drinks, coffee beverages and juices with water or herbal teas.  Soft drinks are the number one source of added sugars in the American diet.  Sports drinks tout themselves as "healthy" and "natural" but neither one of those labels is monitored by the government so they are essentially meaningless when it comes to food labeling.  Eliminating caffeinated beverages can also help.  Many of our coffee beverages are sweetened so you are eliminating a source of sugar.  Beyond that, caffeine can also cause energy surges and slumps much like sugar, as well as dehydration and blood sugar swings.  Imagine getting off the cycle of energy surges and slumps and no longer medicating the slumps with sugar.  What would change for you?  How would you feel?

3.  Get more sleep.  I have a whole post about sleep I'll be posting soon.  In the meantime, know that a tired body will do anything to feel just a little bit better, especially if it is in a chronic state of stress and sleep deprivation.   Sugar is the most accessible way for a quick hit of energy.  The problem is that the hit doesn't last very long.  Further, each time you hit that energy slump you need more and more sugar to get to the original level of energy you desire.  It's a vicious cycle.  To end it, make sleep a priority.  Remove all electronics from the bedroom.  Develop a regular bedtime and wake time, and be consistent even on the weekends or days off.  

Be good to yourself as you explore removing sugar from your diet.  It's simple, but it may not be easy. 

Sources for this post can be found here and here and here and here. 

Sugar is everywhere.  It's highly addictive.  It's wreaking havoc with our health, and in surprising ways.  Here are four ways sugar isn't so sweet:

Sugar lowers your sex drive!  This isn't common knowledge but it should be.  If your libido is suffering, there could be many factors, but one we tend to overlook is diet.  When you ingest sugar, your body secretes insulin.  When you secrete insulin, your testosterone levels drop, by as much as 25%.  Consider reducing or eliminating sugar in your diet to bring your testosterone levels into balance.

Sugar increases inflammation in the body.  Inflammation, which is often silent and undetected, has been shown to lead to long-term health problems, including type 2 diabetes.  Studies are now being done to examine links between the rise of autoimmune diseases in our society and sugar consumption as part of a Western diet.  The short of it is, if you have general pain and discomfort in your body, explore eliminating sugar as a way to help your body heal. 

Sugar increases depression.  The cycle of consuming sugar and sugar crashing has a negative impact on our mental health, leading to an increase in depression (and, scarily, schizophrenia).  If you are prone to feeling sad (I am!), removing sugar from your diet is a cheap and easy way to improve your mental health.

Sugar hinders cognition.  When sugar is consumed in amounts we are unable to properly process and we create a cycle of too much insulin secretion, that insulin hinders communication between brain cells, especially in the areas of learning and memory.   If you find you have brain fog more often than not, sugar might be to blame.

If reading this is serving as a wake up call to changes you'd like to make in your diet, the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Mark Hyman have developed this handy infographic about how to kick your sugar habit.   If you need support to do this, contact me so I can help you.