How To Quit Sugar Addiction

How To Stop Sugar Cravings: 8 Tips To Use Right Now

If you’re craving sugar, here are some ways to tame those cravings.

But won’t eating more often mean overeating? Not if you follow Neville’s advice to break up your meals. For instance, have part of your breakfast — a slice of toast with peanut butter, perhaps — and save some yogurt for a mid-morning snack. “Break up lunch the same way to help avoid a mid-afternoon slump,” Neville says.

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Eat A Naturally Sweet Snack

When a craving hits, instead of running for the candy drawer try something that will give you fuel, too. “If you need a shot of sugar along with energy that will last longer, try making a trail mix with almonds, dried fruit, and a few dark chocolate chips,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read It Before You Eat It Taking You from Label to Table. “This snack is portable and will not only provide that sweetness you crave, but you’ll also get protein and healthy fat from the nuts, and iron and fiber from the fruit.”

Sugar Addiction: Causes Dangers And Withdrawal Symptoms

Reviewed by Michael Espelin APRN

How real is sugar addiction? There have been numerous narratives on the dynamics of its intake and how it affects the system. Sugar is everywhere in almost all of the food people eat, in one form or the other. Its in all the expected foods, but one might not realize its also in much other food where one would not expect it. Our daily intake of sugar averages 95 grams, which might not sound like a lot, but that adds up to about 77 pounds per year. The American heart association recommends reducing its intake to, at most, half of ones daily calorie consumption. For most individuals in the United States, this is about 150 calories for men and 100 calories for women, or in another unit, 9 teaspoons daily for males and 6 teaspoons for females. With the intake level currently, a lot of people are already way over the limit. As a result, obesity has become a major issue, with 1 in 3 adults and 2 in 5 kids showing various degrees.

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Break The Sugar Addiction

If you’re “hooked” on sugar, don’t try to eliminate all sugary foods at once. If you deny yourself even a single piece of candy or sliver of cake, you’ll only crave sweets more. Instead, eat a healthy diet made up of more satisfying foodswhole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy oils, and lean protein. “Steer yourself away from sugar and eat these foods, which are digested more slowly. They’ll help to even out your blood sugar and you won’t have spikes and crashes all the time,” Dr. Hauser says.

Here are a few suggestions to help you break the sugar habit:

Keep sugary foods away. Don’t tempt yourself by stocking candy, cookies, and other high-sugar foods in your cupboards and fridge. “As a substitute for these things, keep fruit around,” suggests Dr. Hauser.

Sweeten foods yourself. Start with unsweetened iced tea, plain yogurt, and unflavored oatmeal. Then add your own sweetener. No matter how much sweetener you add, you probably won’t put in as much as the manufacturer would have, according to Dr. Hauser.

Watch for hidden sugars in foods. Be wary of foods where sugar tends to hide, including reduced-fat products. “When companies take out the fat, they add back almost all the calories in sugar,” Dr. Hauser says. Read labels. Avoid products that list sugar as the first ingredient or that contain several different types of sugar it’s one way manufacturers avoid having sugar listed as the first ingredient.

Your Diet Is Lacking In Good Nutrition

If your macro balance is off or you’re just eating too many unhealthy foods, your blood sugar could be way out of whack. And poor blood sugar control can cause your energy crash, increase hunger and cravings for certain foods , and mess with your overall mood. If you’ve ever been hangry, this is an actual symptom of low blood sugar and/or lack of carbs .;;

Certain nutrient deficiencies may also contribute to cravings. After all your body runs on nutrition not just calories, and if your body isn’t getting what it needs, it could be signaling to your brain that you need more food to get it .;

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S To Kick Your Sugar Addiction

By Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN

Today, I want to share with you my secrets to reduce sugar cravings and food cravings so you can kick sugar addiction. This is a chronic problem in America today. In fact, I would say the No. 1;cause of people falling off diets and something that stops or even reverses weight loss efforts is when people have cravings.

Lets be honest. A lot of people know what they should eat. We should eat more vegetables. We should eat more fruit. We should eat organic. But a lot of times when Ive asked patients over the years, Why could you not stick with a diet before? they would say, Because of the cravings. I started craving sugar so much.

Keep A Journal Of Your Battle With Sugar

Keeping a journal has been proven to have mental health benefits. It helps you work through problems. It helps you stick to habit changes. And it helps you stick to things you might not always want to stick to like healthy eating.

Taking a few minutes at the end of your day to reflect on your food choices will help you eat healthier as you become more aware of your eating habits.

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How To Detox Sugar From Your Body

Rules for the Sugar Detox

No ADDED SUGARS. This means cane sugar, stevia, coconut sugar, anything that ends with -ose in your packaged foods . Ditch all the sugar-y drinks, soda, kombucha . I also avoided natural sugars like honey, maple syrup and dates. I think those are definitely healthier, but for the detox, I stayed away from them. Another subjectartificial sweeteners. I think this goes without saying, but these are a big no-no, whether youre on a sugar detox or not, just stay away!

No alcohol. This was the hardest part for me, which makes me sound like an alcoholic, but hey, I love a good glass of wine!

Very little gluten and very little dairy. Next time around, I wont have any dairy or gluten. I dont really eat them much, but did have a piece of sprouted toast with avocado one day, but that was it.

Lastly, fruit! I personally believe fruit is really healthy, and I would never suggest eating no fruit. There are so many amazing health benefits! But, for this detox, I did cut back a bit. Mostly because I usually eat a LOT of fruit. If youre not a big fruit eater, dont worry about it! Its also perfect when you get a craving for something sweetjust grab a handful of berries.

Clean Out your Fridge & Pantry

This is a good step to take BEFORE you start. You dont want to have chips, candy, granola, sweetened creamer, flavored yogurt, etc. sitting around tempting you while you do your detox. If anything, consider this a good time to clean out your fridge and pantry!

Cut Out Sugar In Foods That Aren’t Sweet

If you can’t give up your ice cream and chocolate, try to eliminate ketchup and salsa. “Sugar is in many condiments and sauces, and one must be careful not to assume that because it’s not a dessert or a sweet food it must not have sugar,” says Ilene Ruhoy, MD, PhD, a doctor trained in both pediatric and adult neurology and a gut council member for Jetson. “Sugar is found in many kinds of ketchup, mustards, salsas, marinaras, and other sauces. It can also be found in some meals such as sushi rice and polenta.”;

In fact, according to Dr. Drucker, manufacturers add sugar to 74 percent of packaged foods! “Sugar is the most popular ingredient added to packaged foods; a breakfast bar made with ‘real fruit and whole grains’ may contain 15 grams or more of added sugarsugar is literally hidden everywhere in our food supply. Adults, children, toddlers and even babies are unknowingly conditioned to desire sugar.” Making a habit of checking ingredient labels will open your eyes to just how much sugar is added to some of the most unexpected foods.

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Best Ways To Quit Sugar

Be Positive

Dealing with your sugar addiction requires a positive mindset just as it is with any other addiction. Have in mind that it is about you improving your health and living longer, not getting deprived. Just like the urge to consume alcohol or nicotine, which people know arent healthy but still binge on, sugar addiction can be that severe. You need to take responsibility for your health by preparing your mind to combat it.

Get Rid of Sugar Around you

Now you have made up your mind to kill the addiction. But what are sugary foods still doing around you? Get rid of them! Keep only healthy foods and drinks around you, to make this addiction-breaking journey easier for you. Eliminate the flavored water, milk chocolate, honey, packaged fruit juices, alcohol, cows milk, processed grains, dry fruits, breakfast cereals, ready to eat foods, and biscuits.

Kill the Trigger

Sugar craving is linked to habits such as watching a movie at the cinema with a large bowl of popcorn and a bottle of soda. Identify the habits associated with your own sugar addiction. It could be the many bars of chocolate you consume while Netflixing late in the night. These triggers come as a result of your habit of consuming sugary foods. Write these triggers and find a healthy substitute for each of them.

Be Careful with Tea/Coffee

Cook your Meals at Home

Eat Veggies

Read Labels

Eat Less Sweet Fruits

Drink Water

Use These Natural Swaps

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Kick Your Cravings For Good With This Fast Plan To Squash Sugar Addiction

Sugar addiction can be ubiquitous and dangerous. A high-glycemic diet, heavy in processed carbohydrates, does not only create weight gain and increase risk of diabetes and heart disease; it also is a powerful contributor to cancer, especially breast cancer.; High sugar intake is also linked to depression and later-life dementia.

This can be as dangerous as addiction to alcohol or drugs and what makes this a big problem is so many people are eating unhealthfully and oblivious to the risks.The overuse of sweets also weakens the taste buds, so the subtle flavor of naturally sweet fruits lose their flavor.

Sugar Withdrawal And Diabetes

Sugar addiction and binging can lead to a range of health conditions, including diabetes. It is also possible that diabetes is what caused addiction to it, and for that reason, one needs to restore balance. Regardless of the situation, as with any addiction, it is safer to gradually reduce the dosage. This is the same with sweeteners. A drastic reduction can enhance withdrawal symptoms and sometimes even be the trigger for diabetes.

If a person does have an addiction to sugar and is looking to get help, one should tell a doctor about any health conditions experienced or any family history of diabetes. This will help a doctor to recommend the best method of cutting down or quitting sugar.

This substance can be just as addictive and as problematic to withdraw from as any drug. In a world surrounded by advertising for sugar-based products, it can be difficult to recognize what is the right amount for our bodies and what is too much. This substance is not only addictive but pleasurable to eat, so quitting even temporarily will not be easy.

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Manage Your Stress Levels

Research shows that stress affects food preferences and increases cravings for sweet foods.

Sugar also appears to have a calming effect on stress hormones, which contributes to your desire for sugar when feeling stressed.

Keeping your stress in check will make it easier to cut sugar from your diet and help keep cravings under control.

Taking a short walk, talking to a friend, and reading a book are a few simple ways to relax.

Can I Eat Fruit When Quitting Sugar

If we look at the food pyramid, it suggests we should consume 2-4 servings of fruit a day. This runs counter to the idea of living a sugar-free lifestyle. Plus, many vegetables have some amount of sugar in them naturally.

Living 100% sugar free is just about impossible. What I suggest doing is to do the following:

• Use products with zero added sugars.
• Do not add extra sugar, yourself.
• Only eat a moderate amount of fruit.

Ive found this to be the easiest method for quitting sugar. Cut back to the minimum amount of sugar, even on seemingly healthy items like fruits.

When it comes to naturally occurring sugars in fruits, choose fruits with lower amounts of sugars per servings.

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Give Sugary Junk Foods The Boot

Have a sudden desire for a mid-morning or late-afternoon snack? Dont we all! This is your bodys way of telling you it needs an energy boost.

Often when we deprive ourselves of fueling up, waiting it out until mealtime, we get lethargic and distracted, which hinders us from completing our work and following through with various other priorities. When hunger strikes, often the easiest options are the unhealthiest ones, like cookies, candy bars and granola bars.

Pinpoint these highly sugary snacks and switch them for healthier options that are sure to give you energy as opposed to make you crash. Try starting with fruit when the craving for sugar hits.

Also incorporate high protein, fat and fiber foods that keep the body full for longer, like eggs, nuts, avocados and hummus.

Enhanced Mood Mental Clarity Focus And Health

Sugar is often a source of reward, when emotions run high or stressful situations occur. Eating sugar as a compulsive reaction to feel better does more damage than good, though.

Sugar only aids in greater mood imbalances, stress, poor eating habits, and feelings of tiredness. The more people give into their sugar addiction, the more troubles they will have with their mental health.

Studies show that 80 percent of people who stopped eating sugar and other unhealthy foods found that their mental health greatly improved. Scientists who studied the group found that patients had decreased depression, anxiety, fewer mood swings, and more mental focus.

Quitting sugar may come with side effects such as sugar headaches, which is the body suffering from sugar withdrawals. Soon after replacing sugary foods with brain foods fish, nuts, leafy greens, and lean meats sugar headaches will disappear.

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Step : Start Slowly By Quitting The Worst Sugar Offenders

Since sugar addiction can run deep, one of the best ways to overcome addiction is not by an all-at-once method. Instead, use a slow and gradual approach.

The first four steps of our quit-sugar process removed the worst offenders. Step 5 gets rid of the sneaky sugar offenders that many people may not realize are harmful.

The 17 items listed below are the sneaky offenders, but they do not constitute ALL of the bad sugar offenders. In addition to avoiding these 17 items, I would like to refer you back to Step 1, which is to read labels.

Keep an eye on everything you consume. Since we are doing a gradual approach here, you do not have to quit sugar, cold turkey. Learn to avoid items that have excessive sugars.

17 Sneaky Sugar Offenders: Dont Fall for A Sugar Ruse

These 17 popular food & drink items often contain far more sugar than you would normally expect. Dont fall for the trick that any of these items are even close to being healthy.

1. Flavored Coffee A large flavored coffee from your favorite local coffee shop has up 25 teaspoons of sugar. By volume, that is the same amount sugar in three cans of Coke.

2. Granola Bar Often people eat granola bars because they appear to be healthy. But many of these health bars contain honey, chocolate, and sugar to bind it all together. Granola bars can have up to 6 teaspoons of sugar.

7. Ketchup Just like BBQ sauce, ketchup is chock full of sugar. For most brands, theres one teaspoon of sugar for every tablespoon of ketchup.

How To Quit Sugar Addiction

In this article, we are going to dicuss about 5 science based ways on how to quit sugar addiction. Before taking on these steps, you have to understand that it will get easier. The shift not having sugar will be very difficult especially on your first day. Most people have this false belief that its only going to get harder and harder. The truth is that when you cut out sugar, not only will your body and brain adapt, but even your tongue will become more sensitive to sugar allowing you to appreciate the real natural sweetness.

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