Sugar cravings are the worst enemy of anyone! A moderate amount of refined sugar can be an acceptable part of a healthy diet. But when you consume too much sugar, it can negatively affect every part of your body – from head to toe. Also read about How To Beat Your Sugar Addiction
In fact, excess sugar intake is linked to many diseases, including obesity, gingivitis, diabetes, depression and liver damage and heart problems.
Refined sugar as well as sugary foods and drinks tend to contain empty calories and have no important nutrients.
Today, many people feel powerless compared to their cravings for sugar, which means they are simply addicted to sugar. In fact, if women are asked to limit their sugar intake to 6 teaspoons, men are advised to limit it to 9 tsp. Tea a day, average Americans eat about 20 c. Sugar tea per day.
If you are addicted to sugar, it is time to beat the addiction and improve your health. You might think this is easier said than done, but you can do it with the help of a plan that focuses on one or two small lifestyle changes at a time.
Here are a few ways to beat your sugar addiction.
Table of Contents
1. Skip Artificial Sweeteners
Avoiding processed sugars is not the only way to beat a sugar addiction. With processed sugars, you should also try to avoid artificial sweeteners.
Artificial sweeteners do not reduce cravings for sugar, and they can actually contribute to weight gain. In your effort to add a little sweetness to life; You end up absorbing more calories.
On top of that, artificial sweeteners have been blamed for many health problems – from slow healing of diabetes wounds.
2. Keep Healthy Snacks Handy
A great way to stop the cravings for sugar is to keep healthy snacks on hand. This way, you can eat something healthy when you crave, instead of your favorite ice cream or creamy donuts. In addition, chances are high that sugar cravings will cause you to eat processed unhealthy foods.
So the solution is to keep a good stock of healthy snacks at home as well as at the office.
Keep your refrigerator stored with whole fruit and healthy vegetables such as cucumbers or carrots. A healthy bag of popcorn in your pantry is another good option.
For the office, you can keep satisfying bites of peanuts, raisins and whole pretzels as well as dark chocolate in your drawer.
Always keep the snack options healthy at hand and buy snacks frequently. However, do not shop on an empty stomach. If you are hungry during shopping, you will tend to buy more unhealthy food.
3. Pack in the Protein
The frequent weaknesses of hunger are one of the reasons why people end up eating more sweet foods. So to beat a sugar addiction, you must manage your appetite and avoid the frequent suffering of hunger. This can be done easily by including more high protein foods in your diet.
Protein-rich foods digest more slowly, allowing you to stay on for longer. In addition, proteins do not make your blood sugar levels like carbohydrates and refined sugars.
4. Hydrate the right path
Thirst is often confused with hunger or food cravings. So when you feel a sudden desire for a specific food, try to drink a large glass of water and wait a few minutes. Drinking water is a great way to trick the brain into thinking that you have eaten.
In addition, sugar cravings can be a sign that your body is dehydrated. So sipping a little water throughout the day can be all you need to keep your body hydrated and thus curb cravings.
Additionally, drinking adequate water has many health benefits. It regulates appetite, helps in weight loss, improves skin quality and much more.
Do not make the mistake of drinking sodas loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners to quench your thirst. If the ordinary water does not excite you, make your own flavored water by adding fresh mint, lemon slices or other tasty fruits.
5. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is another great remedy to help control your sugar cravings. It also helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Ceylon cinnamon is considered the best variety to control your blood sugar levels and food cravings. You can drink cinnamon tea to reduce your sugar cravings.
- Break a 3-inch cinnamon stick into small pieces.
- Put it in 1 ½ cup water and boil over medium-low heat.
- Turn off the heat, then let the solution pass for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Try and drink this cinnamon tea once a day.
6. L-Glutamine
Glutamine is a natural amino acid in the human body, which is needed for the production of other amino acids and for the conversion of sugar into glucose.
Glutamine supplements can help you control your desire for sugar because deficiency of amino acids in the body can be a major factor behind your sugar cravings. While eating a diet rich in nutrients and exercise will help restore your energy levels and amino acids, you will need a little help in the beginning for a successful addiction to sugar.
You can take 500 mg glutamine supplements 2 times a day. Taking these supplements is only a short-term solution as you will no longer need them after a few months when your deficiencies have been resolved.