subject: Ka Pow Sugar Cravings and Beat Your Addiction [print this page] Ka Pow Sugar Cravings and Beat Your Addiction
Filled with empty calories, sugar is the bane of those of us trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and lose belly fat. How can you beat your sugar cravings once and for all?
The Symptoms of Sugar Addiction
Sure, sugar cravings aren't as serious as a drug problem, but there is definitely a mental aspect to this addiction. Sugar tastes great and when you eat it, you want more. Which brings to mind the old saying, what we want is not always good for us.
Inside our bodies, the sugar cravings battle is going on. The body breaks down the food we eat into many different nutrients, including glucose, as sugar. The pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin in response to the sugar in our blood. When we consume too much sugar there is a spike of insulin. Unfortunately there is also a spike of energy which we love. But within too short a time, our body uses up the energy and crashes and burns. So we crave more sugar and the cycle begins anew.
How to Beat Sugar Addiction
Not only will eating too much sugar cause your body's energy to crash and burn, too much insulin is also a bad thing as it can lead up to conditions like diabetes. Add in the fact that sugar is a calories dense, nutritionally empty food and you have serious problem. The more we crave sugar, the more harm its going to do our body, from the empty calories that will pack on the extra pounds, to the damage to your body's natural functions.
You can beat your sugar cravings by following a few simple strategies.
Drink Water We reach for sugary snacks when we feel hungry or tired. Sometimes our body is just dehydrated. Water would provide us with that needed pick me up instead of food. So before you reach for the sugar, drink some water instead.
Read Your Labels - You can also limit the sugar you do eat by being vigilant about the amount of it in the foods you eat on a regular basis. Things like rice, bread and prepackaged foods often contain much higher amounts of sugar than you thought. So compare labels
Prepare Your Own Food - Yes this means cooking, but one of the best ways to control how much sugar you eat and beat the sugar addiction is to know exactly how much of it you're eating - which comes from being in charge of your menu.
Eat Nature's Sweetness - There are plenty of naturally sweet foods like fruit, both fresh and dehydrated. Learn to sideline your sugar cravings with dried apricots instead of chocolate candies.
Using these simple tricks will help you manage your sugar cravings and keep you satisfied and healthy. By beating your addiction to sugar you will lose weight, be healthier and have more energy, over the long haul.
Andrea Stein is the founder of HotMamaSecrets.com, a beauty, health and wellness resource for moms. Unleash your Inner HotMama today.
