Three foods to remove first: sugar, white flour, processed food
Dr. Boris Wydoff · 2026-09-09When a person decides to "take up their health," they usually begin with a feat of heroism: a strict diet, fasting, exercise to the point of exhaustion. A week later the heroism ends in a collapse. My advice is the opposite: you don't need to fast and you don't need to "go on a diet." To begin with, it is enough to take three things off your plate — the three that pollute the blood most and overload the liver most.
What we remove
- Sugar — and everything it hides in. Sweets and pastries are obvious, but sugar hides in sweetened yoghurts, sauces, "healthy" bars, fizzy drinks and packaged juices. Read the label.
- White flour. White bread, loaves, pasta made from soft wheat, biscuits. Everything living has been taken out of the grain — what's left is an empty mass that behaves in the body almost like sugar.
- Processed foods. Sausage, frankfurters, smoked meats, fast food, crisps. This is no longer food but products made out of food.
These foods give the body empty calories and acid waste, and in exchange take away vitamins and the energy needed to process them. Remove them, and the body will immediately turn the freed-up energy towards cleansing itself.
WHAT WE REPLACE THEM WITH
Sweets — with fruit and a small amount of dried fruit. White bread — with wholegrain or bran bread. Sausage — with fish, poultry or pulses. And the main household rule: don't keep junk at home. What isn't bought isn't eaten; willpower is needed once in the shop, not twenty times an evening at the fridge.
Three traps
The first is replacing sugar with "diet" sweets and syrups: it is the same sugar in different clothes, and often worse. The second is removing everything at once and collapsing after three days: three groups are enough, but for good. The third is "rewarding" yourself with something harmful for your progress: let the reward be the lightness in your body — it is more honest.
What you will notice
Usually within two or three weeks: steadier energy without the swings after meals, clearer skin, calmer sleep, less craving for sweets — the craving feeds itself, and when the supply stops, it dies down.
Sugar and acid waste
An excess of sugar and white flour makes the internal environment acidic — and to acidic blood the body responds with inflammation, fatigue and the leaching of the minerals it uses to try to neutralize the acid. Acidosis is the acidification of the internal environment by harmful acids; I connect many "causeless" joint pains with it as well. Remove sugar for three weeks, and the joints often respond with gratitude sooner than any supplement.
Hidden sugar: where to look
Check the label where you don't expect anything sweet: bread, ketchup and sauces, "fitness" muesli and bars, yoghurts with fillings, packaged juices (a glass of juice holds up to four spoonfuls of sugar with no fibre at all). The words "fructose," "glucose syrup," "maltodextrin," "dextrose" are the same sugar under a pseudonym.
The first week without sugar: what to expect
Days 2–4 are usually the hardest: cravings, irritability, "just give me a biscuit" — that is habit protesting, not need. What helps is fruit, water, a proper protein lunch and sleep before 23:00. By the end of the first week the craving dies down noticeably; by the end of the third you walk calmly past the display that used to give you orders. That is the freedom all of this was started for.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start with healthy eating?
Not with a diet but with a clear-out: remove sugar in all its forms, white flour and processed foods (sausages, fast food, crisps). It's a single habit, and the effect is greater than that of many diets.
Can sugar be replaced with fructose or syrups?
Better not: "diet" sweets and syrups are the same concentrated sugar in another form. Replace sweets with fruit and a small amount of dried fruit.
When will I see results?
Usually within two or three weeks: steady energy through the day, clearer skin, calmer sleep and noticeably less craving for sweets.
Where to start — step by step
This article is part of my system of natural healing. Start with the free guide "7 Steps to a Cleaner Body": water, nutrition, juices, warmth and mindset — one step a week.
Get the free book Full methods — in the books →
Boris Wydoff — naturopathic doctor, Ph.D. For over fifty years I have helped people restore health through nutrition, cleansing and the power of the mind — in Europe, America and Asia. About the author →