How Can You Stop Craving Sugar? Experts Offer Advice
Do you struggle with sugar cravings all the time and ever wonder why they come on? Look nowhere else. Learn the causes of those excessive sugar cravings and how to stop them for good. These appetites may be influenced by variables such as stress, an unbalanced diet, and even insufficient sleep. You may escape the sugar trap by embracing healthier options, engaging in mindful eating, and dealing with underlying emotional causes. Conquer your urges to start living a healthy lifestyle.
According to Mugdha Pradhan, a functional nutritionist, CEO, and founder of iThrive, “Eating sugar raises our blood insulin levels, which in turn triggers the pathways in our brains that produce serotonin, giving us a feeling of comfort. The reward neurotransmitter dopamine is also stimulated by sugar. These effects are more prominent with more refined sugar (higher glycemic index) and greater amounts. Because of this, processed carbohydrates are becoming more desirable. Due to these processes, sugar becomes extremely addictive and acts as a feel-good drug. Sugar has these effects, which enable individuals to deal with stress, unpleasant emotions, problems with their mental health, and even physical pain.
However, it is definitely not a solution since doing so causes your blood sugar to spike and fall more quickly, making you feel worse than before. After then, you start to want sugar once again, and over time, blood sugar imbalances result, leading to further addiction.desires for sugar include:
Sugar cravings are normal, according to Aman Puri, founder of Steadfast Nutrition, India’s biggest sports nutrition company. However, if they occur often, it may be cause for worry. Numerous factors, including very low calorie diets, poor gut health, irregular sleep patterns, a diet lacking in protein, water, vitamin B12, and chromium, persistently high stress levels, uncontrolled blood sugar levels, and others, might cause sugar cravings.
According to Pradhan, “The underlying cause of your sugar addiction could be directly due to issues like insulin resistance and diabetes which negatively affect blood sugar levels.”
Blood sugar abnormalities and sugar addiction are also influenced by hormonal problems and micronutrient shortages. Puri continues, “Foods like pumpkin seeds, almonds, spinach, peanuts, and bananas may help maintain magnesium levels under control. Magnesium insufficiency can cause sugar cravings.
You may identify the source of your sugar addiction with the aid of a thorough health examination conducted by a functional medicine practitioner.
effects of consuming too much sugar
Sugar consumption raises the risk of obesity, inflammation, and lifestyle illnesses including diabetes, PCOD, thyroid, and heart conditions, as well as chronic tiredness, weakened immunity, slow metabolism, and gastrointestinal problems.
How can sugar cravings be avoided?
Puri offers some advice for preventing sugar cravings:
Avoid having extended stretches between meals since this might cause your body to enter a state of fasting, which can make you seek sugary carbs for immediate gratification.
To stay well-hydrated and stave off sugar cravings, increase your intake of fluids like coconut water, buttermilk, lemon water, fruit-infused water, and vegetable juices.
Consume fermented foods on a daily basis to maintain gut health, such as homemade pickles, murabba, rice or carrot kanji, idli, dosa, and dhokla.
Have 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night and manage your stress to prevent hormonal imbalance, which may further fuel sugar cravings.
Increase satiety to lessen sugar cravings by including more complex carbs in the diet, such as whole grains, millet, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.
Choose jaggery, figs, prunes, dates, apricots, black raisins, and stevia as healthier substitutes for white sugar.
