How to stop sugar cravings – – I do not know anyone who would not want to know how to do that. If you are familiar with How to Manage Sugar Cravings, you already know some of the tricks, which could help you prevent sugar cravings.
How to stop sugar cravings is…wait, I will get back to this in a minute. Meanwhile, let me ask you a question. Does sugar prolong the life of cut flowers? To answer this question, I did a few unscientific tests.
I thought it was just another urban myth, but to my surprise, the answer seems to be ‘yes’ – for some reason, a few teaspoons of sugar seem to prolong the life of cut flowers by a few days. I was later told that adding too much sugar has an opposite affect on cut flowers – they die earlier.
What about us, humans? Does the amount of sugar we consume make a difference? And what does it have to do with ‘how to stop sugar cravings’?
Well, the sugar is tricky. It “hides” in your food under many different names. Sure, we can use the tricks to better manage our sugar cravings – – but what good does it do if we do not notice sugar in our food it in the first place?
According to some estimates – the average American eats 74 pounds of added sugar each year, which is about 23 tablespoons a day – while others estimate that we eat more than 150 pounds of sugar a year.
Either way, it is much higher than the human body needs – about two teaspoons of sugar at any one time. It is no wonder overweight and obesity are at its highest levels in U.S. – you need to be a “sugar-detective” just to learn all these other names for sugar:
Cane juice, caramel, corn syrup, dextran, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, molasses, raw sugar, refiner’s syrup, sorbitol, sorghum syrup, sucrose, and yellow sugar – – and this is not even a complete list.
According to Taste for Life magazine, knowing how to stop sugar cravings comes down to these quick tips.
Don’t Add Sugar to cereal or drinks. If you don’t enjoy unsweetened foods, add a touch of the sweet herb Stevia.
Avoid Processed Carbohydrates (white bread, white pasta, and white rice), which are quickly converted to blood sugar, disrupting the body’s metabolic balance and fat-control systems.
Eat Whole Foods. Fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains contain some naturally occurring sugars, but they also offer dietary fiber and important nutrients to help balance blood sugar.
The More Natural, The Better. Choose an orange, rather than orange juice. Not only will you get less sugar, but you’ll also benefit from more nutrients.
Dilute Natural Sweets, like juice, with pure water. If you love granola, add unsweetened whole-grain cereal and nuts to reduce your sugar intake.
Beware Of Fat-Free Labels. These foods actually contribute to health and weight problems. What the labels don’t tell you is that these products contain more sugar – sometimes two or more time that found in the “regular” versions.