The World Health Organisation (WHO) has added its support to countries which place a ‘sugar tax’ on soft drinks, saying that raising prices by 20% or more results in lower consumption and ‘improved nutrition’.
The global health group has previously advised a lower sugar intake, but stopped short of backing tax measures, reports the BBC.
Several countries, including Mexico and Hungary, already tax added sugar products while South Africa is introducing a sugar tax next year – the only country in Africa to do so.
The WHO said it wants to see lower consumption of ‘free sugars’, which it said will lower incidences of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. ‘Free sugars’ are all the different types of sugar in the diet, except for the sugars that are found naturally in fruit and milk.
Controlling what we eat is not always done by following a fad diet or by being taxed on what is consumed. It can be done by choice and this is where clinical hypnotherapy can play an all-important role in helping people who want to watch what they eat and how much they eat.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) says that managing weight loss is one of the most effective results of hypnotherapy. And this is done without adhering to a diet routine as prescribed by some in-vogue weight guru or slavishly checking the calorie count on labels in the supermarket.
“Rather than just reducing calories that you are likely to put on again in the longer term, hypnosis gets you in touch with the reasons why you unconsciously eat,” says the NCH. “If you are the type of person that struggles to stop after a small piece of chocolate and feels compelled to finish the packet then a hypnotherapist can help you understand why and help you create new healthy self-management techniques.”
Working with their client, the therapist will put together a programme of treatment that will motivate the client to exercise more and eat less.
“Hypnotherapy for weight loss is about changing your habit with food for the rest of your life, so unlike crash diets it changes the root of your compulsive eating or lack of interest in exercise so you are free to enjoy the rest of your life – eating and exercising sensibly without having to think about it,” adds the NCH.
The WHO’s nutrition director, Dr Francesco Branca, said ‘nutritionally, people don’t need any sugar in their diet’ and he recommended sugar intake be kept below 10% of a person’s total calorie intake – and preferably below 5%.
The WHO report also found that government subsidies for fruit and vegetables – which lower prices – can increase the amount people eat. It also said that the same tax measures levied against sugary drinks appear to work with other sugary foods, as well as those high in saturated fats, trans fats, and salt.
But clinical hypnotherapy can remove the worry about what to eat, what is taxed because of its nutritional value and so on.
Quite simply, by using a range of different techniques, your hypnotherapist will relax the client, making them feel comfortable and then work towards achieving their goal.
“After a session you may feel uplifted, lighter and very relaxed. Often change is very subtle, as your hypnotherapist will be working with you subconscious mind, and you may just notice a very positive shift in how you are feeling,” says the NCH.