Lets Look At The Ways Sugar Wrongs Us
- suppresses your immune system
- Excess sugar consumption is linked to cancer and tumor growth
- promotes weight gain and obesity
- disrupts the mineral balance
- contributes to depression, anxiety and mood swings
- promotes gut dysbiosis and fungal overgrowth in the gut
- contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes
- can cause hormonal imbalances
- increases risk for Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis
- disrupt the bodys pH balance
- can cause hypoglycemia
- will reduce good HDL cholesterol and increase bad LDL cholesterol
- prohibits weight loss
Some people are more sugar sensitive than others, and part of that depends on your genetics. Regardless, you can bio-hack your diet by manipulating certain macronutrients, like protein and fat, to balance your blood glucose levels and ward off cravings.
Heres an example: Lets say you start your morning with coffee and a pastry. You probably feel pretty good because that sugar is plugging up feel-good receptors in your brain, and maybe you get a little high as your blood glucose levels spike. But a few hours later, you crash when your blood glucose plummets again, and then youre hungry, jittery, anxious, moody, irritable. You eat lunch, probably too much because youre starving and you miscalculated your hunger needs, and then you may feel tired as all your energy is diverted into digestion. You may crave sugar in the afternoon, because your body knows it gives you a quick energy boost. Does that rollercoaster sound familiar?
Surprising Causes Of Sugar Cravings
Youve began to uproot the grooves in which the neurons send that pleasure center release and habit based action cues, so that sugar cravings no longer have control over you, and instead, you have control over them. Consumer Marketing. Another place that we need to understand sugar cravings stem from are marketing messages.
4. Add a Sprinkle of Cinnamon. Research has shown that cinnamon helps to reduce sugar cravings by stabilizing your blood sugar and curbing the effects of insulin. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to your oatmeal, coffee, hot cocoa, or tea in the morning! You can also mix it into a smoothie at breakfast time.
Cravings happen for many reasons, but research has shown that we often crave the foods we love most when we restrict them and/or when our meal plan lacks variety. In some instances, cravings are triggered by the thoughts of foods weve given up or havent had in awhile.
Excersise regularly to kick out the sugar cravings-Exercise regularly to kick sugar cravings! It is recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of exercise for five days a week. This will reduce stress, boost your mood and energy levels, and keep you healthy by getting rid of those pesky sugar cravings.
Choose Quality Over Quantity
Its important to remember that trying to control your sugar cravings doesnt mean cutting out sugar altogether. Theres no reason to completely deny yourself the enjoyment of your favourite sweet foods, as long as youre comfortable with your choice. When you do decide to have something sweet, pick something you truly enjoy.; Dont give in to just any old thing; be sure to really make it special. When Ive decided to eat something sweet, I like to pick something small but expensive. That way I cant bear to just mindlessly devour it and I savour it so much more.
If youd like further help with your nutrition please click below:
This article;was written by , intern from the;University of Canberra at;The Healthy Eating Hub.;
References
Duyff, R.L., Birch, L.L., Byrd-Bredbenner, C., Johnson, S.L., Mattes, R.D., Murphy, M.M., Nicklas, T.A., Rollins, B.Y. & Wansink, B. 2015, Candy consumption patterns, effects on health, and behavioral strategies to promote moderation: Summary report of a roundtable discussion, Advances in Nutrition, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 139S-146S.
Elder, S.J. & Roberts, S.B. 2007, The effects of exercise on food intake and body fatness: A summary of published studies, Nutrition reviews, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 1-19.
Rampersaud, G.C. 2009, Benefits of Breakfast for Children and Adolescents: Update and Recommendations for Practitioners, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 86-103.
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How Much Sugar Is Okay
If sugar is so bad for you, then is any amount of it okay? Sugar is not a required nutrient in the diet .
The Institute of Medicine, which sets the Recommended Dietary Allowances, has not issued a formal number for recommended or allowable grams of sugar per day one should consume.
The American Heart Association, however, suggests that the average man consumes no more than about 9 teaspoons of added sugar per day, and the average woman consumes no more than 6 teaspoons per day. That is about the amount in a 12-ounce can of soda.
Natural sugars, like those found in fruits and dairy milk, do not count. The focus is on added sugar, found primarily in things like ice cream, candy, cakes, cookies, regular sodas, and other ultra-processed foods.;
Neurotransmitter Brain Support Supplements
Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers neurons that move around your body to ensure everything signals correctly. They play a key role in managing many body processes, as well as central actions that take place in your brain, such as mood, learning, memory, and cognition.;
If you are very stressed, you do a lot of emotional eating, and youre craving a lot of carbohydrates , your brain might need a little bit of help in the form of supplements, which literally tell your brain to calm down and quit craving a quick energy fix from carbs.;
These supplements include amino acids, gamma-aminobutyric acid , and D-phenylalanine.
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Make Sleep A Priority
Getting enough sleep is a vital key to success for good health. Not only will it help you stop your sugar cravings, but it will also keep you energized throughout the day.
Set a regular bedtime and decrease the number of distractions in your bedroom. Try moving your TV out of the bedroom and charging your phone in another room.
Sugar Craving Cause: You Chowed Down On Salty Foods
When you dine out or eat highly packaged, processed foods, your food has more sodium in it than you probably even realize. This usually remains true even when youre eating something healthy such as grilled salmon and sautéed or steamed spinach from your fave healthy restaurant. Heres the kicker: oftentimes, the saltier your food, the bigger your sweet craving.
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Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth Safely
For times when you just feel you need something sweet, look to options that also have some health benefits, or at least arent especially bad for you. Fresh fruit is a great nutritious substitution when a craving for something sweet hits, as is Stevia, the all-natural sweetener which has zero calories and is 300 times sweeter than sugar . For a snack that is going to slow down the release of sugar and keep you fuller for longer, you should opt for a something that combines protein and carbohydrates. I recommend oat cakes topped with a protein-packed spread, such as Jaffa Quake from Greande . This chocolate orange flavoured spread contains 20% protein and has 87% less sugar than other brands, and will help you to satisfy your sweet tooth whilst keeping your healthy eating regime on track.
Would I Eat A Piece Of Fruit
This exercise is called the fruit test. If a person cannot tell whether they are really hungry or just craving a sugary sweet, asking themselves whether they would eat a piece of whole fruit can help.
If the answer is yes, the body is likely hungry, and if the answer is no, a person may be having a craving.
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Tips To Prevent Sugar Cravings
If you are on a calorie-restricted diet or planning to quit sugar intake then at times, sugar cravings might be challenging to tackle. The science behind sugar cravings is the intake of carbohydrates stimulates the release of serotonin hormone, which makes us feel good. Sweet taste also promotes the release of endorphins which relaxes our mind and elevates our mood. This rewarding feeling in our brain makes us addicted and crave more sweet foods.
There can be several reasons for sweet cravings like emotional disturbances, disturbed sleep cycle, imbalanced diet, nutrient deficiencies and fewer calories intake.
In this article, we will discuss some of the quick tips which might help overcome the urge for sweets.
1. Consume water in case you crave sweets. Drinking water helps get rid of unwanted and untimely sweet cravings.
2. Consume a protein-rich diet. Protein takes more time to digest as compared to carbohydrates and fats. Therefore, consuming a protein-rich diet provides fullness and satiety for a longer duration. This in turn helps reduce untimely cravings. Studies have also indicated that a high protein intake was able to reduce cravings by approx. 60% among obese people.
3. Meal skipping is another reason for increased sweet cravings. Skipping meals disturbs the balance of appetite and hunger hormones – leptin and ghrelin. This in turn results in increased cravings for foods rich in fats and sugar.
Just Run Away From Your Cravings
For this trick, you can accomplish two healthful things at once: Calm the craving and get in a workout. A study published in PLOS One showed that short bouts of physical activity reduced cravings for sugary snacks among overweight individuals. I also see clients reap a mental benefit here. When youre proactive about doing something good for you, the not-good-for-you something suddenly becomes less appealing.
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Limit Your Access To Sugary Foods
In the case of sugar cravings, that old adage out of sight, out of mind definitely rings true. Many of us eat sweet foods out of habit and convenience. Were used to buying those foods and keeping them in our desk drawer or in the pantry at home. One of the best ways to change these habits is to make eating sweet foods really difficult, and to make healthy options really easy.
Identify those times of day when you have really bad sugar cravings and get to work on removing temptation. If you crave an iced coffee first thing in the morning, avoid routes that take you past the local shop or vending machine. If you find yourself reaching for the sweets when you watch TV, clear your cupboard of tempting sugary snacks and keep some pre-cut veggie sticks and dip in your fridge as a healthy alternative. Or try to occupy your hands with another task like knitting or folding washing instead. Since eating is such a social activity, getting your friends and family on board can really help if youre trying to beat your sugar cravings. For instance, see if you can switch your afternoon coffee and cake for an afternoon walk, and ask your loved ones to refrain from bringing sweets around as gifts.
Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels Stable
When your blood sugar levels drop too low, your brain sends out signals telling you to eat more sugar in order to bring your sugar levels back up. So keeping your blood sugar;levels stable helps stop sugar cravings from occurring in the first place. To help keep your blood sugar levels stable, you should:
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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:
Health Experts Reveal Reasons You Crave Sugar
Unlike other unhealthy habits that people try to avoid, like smoking, excessive drinking or drugs, eating sugar is very common in people’s diets, both adults and children, and many of them aren’t aware of the side effects they face.
For this article, we wanted to do something different and we reach out to 25 experts in nutrition and healthy eating and asked them to express their opinions to the following questions:
;If you are used to eating dessert daily and in one day you won’t have anything sweet around you will have to deal with sugar cravings. Eliminating sugar from your diet isn’t as easy as you may think. But thankfully, there is actually more things you can do about it.
At times, even if you aren’t hungry you will feel the urge of eating something sweet like chocolate, donuts, ice cream or something similar. Eating a lot of refined sugar impacts your health in many negative ways. You gain weight, your blood sugar level gets higher, and your diabetes risk also increases. But you already know this, right? Keep reading to learn the actual reasons why you might crave sugar and how you can actully fix it.
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Why Is Sugar Addictive
Many people simply wonder why sugar is addictive. Certainly, not many people report an addiction to broccoli, so there has to be a reason! That reason is found in the chemical release of hormones in our brain when we eat sugar.
With every sweet bite, dopamine is released from our brain into our bodies. This is the link between added sugar and addictive behavior that is also found in substances such as alcohol, cigarettes, and illegal drugs.
The neurotransmitter dopamine is part of the reward circuit in the brain thats associated with addictive behavior. The high one feels from eating sugar makes one addicted to said behavior , creating a vicious cycle.
As you repeat the behavior more often your body adjusts to release less dopamine over time. The only way to feel the same high as before is to increase the release of dopamine, which in this case means to eat more and more sugar.
These same behaviors are found in people with drug and alcohol dependencies, but for sugar, the ingredient is much more accessible, available, and socially acceptable than illegal drugs, making it also much harder to avoid in everyday life.
On average, an average adult in the U.S. consumes around 77 grams of sugar a day, or about 60 pounds of sugar per year!
Know The Difference Between A Craving And Hunger
Oftentimes when we think we’re hungry, we’re actually just having a craving. What’s the difference? Next time you want to reach for that chocolate cake, ask yourself: if the only thing I had to eat right now was an apple, would I eat it? If the answer is “no,” then you’re probably having a craving and not actually hungry. When you’re hungry, what you’re willing to eat is flexible, when you’re having a craving, it’s not. The next time you answer “no” to that question, take 20 minutes before you act on it. Often you’ll find that the craving goes away; if it doesn’t then allow yourself to mindfully indulge.;
“You can also try to replace that craving with a healthy substitute,” says Kien Vuu, MD, a performance and longevity doctor and the author of Thrive State. Whenever I experience a craving, I’ll either go for a walk or sip on sparkling water. I find that if I don’t act on my initial craving and allow some time to pass, my craving will usually dissipate on its own.”;
When flavored water doesn’t do the trick, Cassetty tells her clients that one of the easiest ways to lower your added sugar intake is to swap out your usual dessert for something like Lily’s Sweets. “They’re botanically sweetened chocolate treats with no added sugar. A sweet like this doesn’t count toward your daily added sugar intake.” Note, however, even botanically sweetened treatsaka stevia-sweetened onesshould be consumed in moderation, as previously mentioned.
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Eat Protein And Fiber At Each Meal
We all know how important protein is to our diet, but making sure we have enough at each meal is also helpful for staving off sugar cravings. “Eat protein and fiber at every meal! This is the most important tool you could have on your plate,” says Brooke Alpert, RD,;and author of The Diet Detox. “Both protein and fiber help to slow down the absorption of sugar to prevent any blood sugar spikes which would make you crave more sugar. Plus, they help keep you fuller longer, leaving you more in control over your food choices and less likely to dive into that cupcake!”
Its Time For You To Break Up With Your Sugar Bff
The truth is that sugar is eerily destructive to our cells, energy levels, and even our mood.
Ive been in your shoes attached to the sweet cravings and slowly deteriorating my body.
Sugar transforms into clingy pounds, mood swings, acne and other symptoms you probably never thought were related to you eating that cookie or candy bar. Today. I want you to get my 10-page guide on how to finally. . .
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