Are Artificial Sweeteners Better
Artificial sweeteners, which are sugar-free and typically lower in calories than sugar, might seem like healthier options, but that idea is controversial. A 2012 scientific statement from the AHA concluded that using artificial sweeteners such as aspartame , saccharin , and sucralose can reduce the number of calories in your diet, thereby helping you lose weight.
However, there’s also evidence that eating these sweeteners, which are generally hundredsor even thousandsof times sweeter than sugar, can make you crave sweets even more. You undermine the benefit of using artificial sweeteners, for example, if you use a glass of diet soda to justify having a bowl of ice cream.
However, if artificial sweeteners can help you cut back on calories in a meaningful way, then they can be helpful in controlling weight and blood sugar. “For people who are trying to make small changes to their diet, artificial sweeteners are sometimes a good stepping stone, but they’re not a permanent fix,” Dr. Hauser says.
You may wonder which artificial sweetener is best. All of the sweeteners on the market are considered safe. There were reports during the 1970s linking saccharin to bladder cancer in rats that were fed extremely high doses of the sweetener. However, later studies didn’t find any evidence of the same effect in humans. Aspartame was also linked to cancer at one time, but that association has also been disproved.
/7why Do We Crave Sugar
The desire to have sugar after dinner is mainly due to human biology. Studies suggest that the body’s internal clock increases hunger and cravings for sweet foods late in the evening. Eating food high in calories in the evening may affect your weight loss goal as our body handles nutrients differently depending on the time of the day. Surprisingly, your dinner habit can greatly influence your craving later. Making some tweaks in it can prove to be advantageous when you are trying to reach your fitness goal. Here are some tips that may help.
Why Is Sugar So Problematic
This wouldnt be a big issue if sugar wasnt so bad for your health. More and more information is coming out every year about just how dangerous sugar is for our minds and bodies.
In addition to contributing to poor blood sugars in people with diabetes, increased sugar intake, over time, also contributes to the development of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in people without existing diabetes, and the development of dental cavities, higher blood pressure, heart disease, whole-body inflammation, dementia, weight gain, fatty liver disease, and even cancer in the entire population.
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Why We Crave Sugar
If you crave sugary foods, you’re not alone. Studies estimate that up to 90% of the adult population may experience food cravings. These cravings are often for sugary foods.
Scientists have long believed that cravings for carbohydrates and other sugary foods are driven by a desire to improve mood due to the fact that consuming sweet treats increases serotonin levels in your brain.
Serotonin, also known as a feel-good hormone, is a brain neurotransmitter that boosts your sense of well-being.
Although serotonin may be the cause of your food cravings, there are a variety of other potential causes that can also play a factor:
/7how To Control Your Craving For Sugar
For all those who have a sweet tooth, the greatest hurdle on their journey to lose weight is to control their sugar cravings. The day may pass by well but at night, the urge to indulge in some sweet treat intensifies. It almost becomes impossible to control cravings, and people end up giving in to them. You may beat yourself up in the morning for this mistake, but honestly, it is not in your hands.
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How To Detox From Sugar
Overcoming sugar addiction is part physical and part psychological. Id say the psychological element is the most difficult, and in order to move beyond it you must change your subconscious feelings about food. Lets take a look at how you can take care of your body and mind during your sugar detox.
Sugar Around Every Corner
Sugary snacks and drinks arent the only culprits to blame. A lot of common, everyday foods are packed full of sugars.
That fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt your family is so fond of? Its loaded with 20 grams of sugar in that 8-ounce serving thats 13% sugar.4
Not only that, healthy cereals like bran flakes can contain 5 grams of sugar in a ¾ cup serving.
And while that may not be a ton of sugar, it can add up quickly when taken with the rest of your kids daily diet.
It is one thing to talk about sugar content in daily foods, but one way to see if your child has a sugar problem is to eliminate all processed sugars from their diet for a week. This means no fruit juices, breakfast cereals, sugary snacks, cookies, candy , desserts just about any packaged or wrapped goody. Then sit back and watch.
Has their behavior changed? If so, how? You may be alarmed at just how much they change in the short term when you cut out refined sugars from their diet. If you do see a big change in your child, there is thankfully a way to break them of their sugar dependence.
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Balance Out Your Meals
Whole foods can be beneficial substitutes for sugary substances and offer health benefits while also toning down your addiction to a minimum. They are a foods natural form, so they present no health risk and contain no processed sugar. Oat milk and nut milk are prime examples of whole foods. Dont forget a balanced breakfast. They are the most important for cutting down sugar intake. The right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats in your body will enable you to feel less hungry and not go for that bowl of ice cream in the fridge. If you start off your day with a breakfast full of carbs and fats, it will make you crave sugary foods all day.
How To Beat A Sugar Addiction
Breaking a sugar addiction begins with reducing the amount of added sugar that you have in your food. Sweetened beverages are one of the main culprits, including sodas, energy drinks, and sweet iced tea. Opt for the sugar-free versions of your favorite drinks, or add sweetener yourself, gradually reducing the amount youre putting in your drink. Also consider reducing the amount of alcohol you drink. Beer and wine have a lot of sugar in them, too.
You may also like water with a few flavor drops added in. When you become dehydrated, its easier to cave and say yes to sugar. However, switching to foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners may delay the amount of time it takes to kick a sugar addiction.
Opt for the sugar-free versions of your favorite drinks, or add sweetener yourself, gradually reducing the amount youre putting in your drink. Also consider reducing the amount of alcohol you drink.
You can also stop buying desserts and sweet treats. If you think youll have a hard time moderating how many cookies or pieces of candy youll eat, simply stop bringing it into the house. If others in your family are asking for treats, ask them for their cooperation in helping you beat your sugar addiction. Or, you can buy small packages of your favorites instead of a large family-sized container.
When you feel a sugar craving coming on, try to do something to distract yourself. Exercise is a natural mood booster and can help take your mind off the craving for a sweet treat.
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How Long Should You Detox From Sugar
This will depend on your personal goals. Just need a reset after too much indulgence? 5 days is fine.
However, if like mine, your relationship with sugar has become a habit or physical addiction, 30 days is a good start. Many people find that it takes about a month to break a habit, however, other research suggests it may take much longer. Furthermore, to break a habit, one must replace it with another behavior.
Do A 10 Day Clean Eating Cleanse
Try challenging yourself to 10 days of nothing but clean eating. Switching to clean foods and whole foods is such an important part of learning to ditch the sugar.
Foods and drinks that you never thought contained sugar are packed full of it. This is because sugar is a cheap preservative and sweetener. If you know you are addicted to sugar, dont worry. Clean eating provides natural sweeteners to replace your unhealthy addiction. Start replacing sugar with the following 5 natural foods today and your unhealthy cravings will be satisfied with naturally healthy foods.
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Identify Cravings That Transcend Physical Hunger
Sugar addiction has a strong physiologic component, so we cant underestimate the emotional and psychological aspect to sugar addiction. If you are tired, take a break or rest, rather than pushing yourself harder in the face of fatigue. If you are bored, find something more interesting to do. Sometimes, writing down what were feeling helps us to acknowledge and become attentive to our feelings. If youre feeling lonesome, reach out and connect! When we are emotionally present for ourselves, we are less likely to reach for the sugar-drug fix in order to reduce the intensity of our feelings. Overcoming your sugar addiction involves really paying attention to what you are feeling, and giving yourself what you really need instead of using sugar as a substitute.
Tips And Strategies To Help You Quit Sugar
At least a few days ahead of quitting, start eating meals that include one food from each group in tip # 2. Continue doing that. On your quitting day, stop eating sugar. Use 1 teaspoon of liquid B-complex whenever you get a sugar craving, and give it a few minutes to take effect. B-complex supplies the brain with the B-vitamins that help in the formation of the brain chemicals that stop cravings. If you stick with this for 6 days, it will work. Youll be past the hard part. Then the discipline starts as you stick with this type of eating long-term.
Wishing you great success with this! Share your stories us as well!
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We Become Conditioned To Need Something Sweet To Feel Complete Or Satisfied And Continue To Self
In stark contrast to this clinical assessment is the fact that, for most of us, something sweet is a symbol of love and nurturance. As infants, our first food is lactose, or milk sugar. Later on, well-intended parents reward children with sugary snacks, giving them a treat, turning a biochemically harmful substance into a comfort food. We become conditioned to need something sweet to feel complete or satisfied, and continue to self-medicate with sugar as adults, using it to temporarily boost our mood or energy. But as any addict knows, one quick fix soon leaves you looking for anothereach hit of momentary satisfaction comes with a long-term price.
The bottom line is that sugar works the addiction and reward pathways in the brain in much the same way as many illegal drugs. And, like other drugs, it can destroy your health and lead to all sorts of ailments including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain, and premature aging. Sugar is basically a socially acceptable, legal, recreational drug, with deadly consequencesand like with any drug addiction, you have to have a flexible but structured plan to beat it.
How Do People Develop A Sugar Addiction
Sugar consumption can create a short-term high and a spark of energy in the body. Some studies have suggested that sugar is as addictive as Cocaine. People often enjoy the dopamine release that sugar brings. But due to the addictive nature of sugar, long-term health effects like obesity and diabetes are a risk of sugar overindulgence. Similar to other compulsions or behavioral addictions, sugar addiction is a special risk for people with low moods, anxiety, and stress.
Additionally, people who suffer from constant tiredness may reach for carb-rich sugary foods for a boost. Sugar releases endorphins in the body and combines with other chemicals in the body, resulting in a surge of energy. Once someone mentally connects sugar with help providing energy, they may become dependent on it . People may begin to crave sugar to balance irritability, emotional lows, and other conditions. At this point there is often little control over dietary habits, and a sugar addiction has developed.
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Why Do People Get Addicted To Sugar
In a nutshell, people become addicted to sugar because their brain tells them it feels good. When its consumed, sugar turns into glucose, which is the fuel that powers the cells in your body. Glucose also helps your brain produce serotonin, the happy hormone that lifts your mood. Overcoming sugar addiction may mean youll have to find other ways to help elevate your emotions.
Addiction to sugar can form more easily in children than in adults. This is because the neural pathways in childrens developing brains respond more strongly to excess glucose. This means eating a lot of sugar early in life can result in a lifelong sugar addiction. Learning how to break a sugar addiction as an adult can be challenging, but overall, decreasing your sugar intake gives you a healthier body and mind.
Sugar works on the dopamine receptors in the brain, similarly to drugs and alcohol. The sugar you eat starts working on the reward centers of your brain, giving you artificial mood boosts. Excess sugar can dampen the bodys ability to produce dopamine and regulate your moods on its own, which can lead to a physical addiction. The physical component makes beating a sugar addiction challenging for many people.
Add Some Protein To A Carb
“A study that looked at MRI scans of people eating a high-protein breakfast found reduced activity in the regions of the brain associated with cravings,” Cassetty says. Try adding some protein to your breakfast and see if it helps you cut down on sugar later in the day. “You can serve your hot or cold cereal with some Greek yogurt, or have it with a couple of eggs on the side to boost your protein intake. If you’re eating a bagel or toast, include some smoked salmon to get the benefits of protein.”
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How To Break A Sugar Addiction
Those cookies you smell at the holidays, the ice cream that makes your eyes light up in the summertime and the candy jar full of tempting chocolates all have one thing in common they’re loaded with sugar.
There’s something about sugar that speaks to your brain, evoking feelings of happiness with each bite of food or each sip of your favorite sugary drink you consume. It’s part nostalgia and part chemical reaction. The more you eat, the more you crave, which can lead you down a road of long-term health problems.
We’re here to discuss what makes sugar so habit-inducing, how you can kick your cravings and which foods you can substitute to please your sweet tooth.
The Sour Side Of A Sweet Tooth
Ever raided the biscuit tin? Tucked into treats at the office? Added an extra spoonful of sugar to your coffee? Sugar has become a staple ingredient of modern day eating, and everyone, with or without diabetes, can benefit from limiting their intake.
But, in our sugar-laden diets, this is easier said than done, particularly as sweet food is often offered as an expression of love in our food-abundant cultures. We take a look at the psychological reasons behind sugar cravings, in an effort to help you master them…
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