8 Signs You’re Addicted to Sugar-How to Stop Sugar Craving
Are you craving a sweet treat after every meal? Or at the same time every day? Sugar craving is a common fact, especially among women. Those with a craving for sugar feel a craving for something sweet and can find it difficult to control themselves around food.
Want to know the truth about sugar? Well, the fact is, our bodies are not intended to handle these very high levels of sugar in our diets. In fact, we kill ourselves with an addiction – named sugar addiction. Here are eight hidden signs that your body is secretly addicted to sugar, plus eight things you can do to stop the sugar craving before it kills you!
How Does Sugar Affect Our Body and Mind?
More than 50 years ago, Americans were brainwashed to believe fats are villains, while this is the sweet devil we call sugar. It’s sugar, not fat, that makes you sick, overweight, and annoying.
In fact, sugar (in its many forms) is the main cause of most chronic diseases in this country and the rest of the world. Think about an annoying or life-threatening condition/disease.
Chances of sugar are the culprits. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, acne, infertility, impotence – all those diseases are linked to sugar.
Besides having sugar constantly shown in your face and easily available to overburden your system, it also causes significant addiction. 8 times more addictive than cocaine, one study reports.
Dr. Nicole Avene conducted an extensive study on the addictive properties of sugar and found some surprising results. The subjects of the test were given sugar on a discontinuous feeding schedule for one month and began to demonstrate behavioral features associated with drug use.
Sugar acts like an opiate inside the brain. When test subjects stopped eating the sugar they were craving for, they experienced the same effects as those who stopped drug addiction causing them.
Clouds, depression, and anxiety are just a few of the responses that were noticed by removing sugar from those daily intakes.
What is Sugar Craving
The author, Amelie B, said in her article published in the French magazine “Santi Plus”, that eating large amounts of natural or refined sugar can cause many problems in the body.
In addition, this ingredient is found in almost all industrial products, soft drinks, frozen dishes, juices, sauces, and pastries, as well as chocolate and other sweet foods.
produce a neurotransmitter known as “dopamine”, which is responsible for activating the reward system in the brain. Additionally, blood sugar consumed activates dopaminergic neurons.
The author has shown that the excessive production of these neurotransmitters generates over-activation of the reward systems. In this context, a scientific study indicates that sugar causes a neurological reaction similar to that caused by the consumption of some psychoactive stimulants.
This conclusion explains why people who regularly consume sweet products cannot develop true dependence on this substance, which many agree is a white poison.
Problem with Artificial sweeteners
Unfortunately, many sugar-free alternatives are made to taste sweet by using chemicals that come with a host of health concerns that can perpetuate sugar addiction.
It may not lead to high blood sugar, but its sweet taste still stimulates the insulin response. (1) Not only do artificial sugars cause direct damage to the liver, but they are also easily stored as fat in the body because our bodies are simply not designed to metabolize these foreign chemicals and we don’t know what to do with them. (2)
Problem with Refined sugars
Processed and refined sugar causes blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. This leads to damage to blood vessels and can lead to inflammation, dysbiosis (bacterial overgrowth), insulin resistance, and a long list of unfavorable results. (3)
Since refined sugars have no real nutritional value, when we eat them, our body craves them more because we do not receive the nutrients we need from the food we eat. (4) This puts a vicious cycle where we eat more and more of these foods in an unconscious effort to meet our nutritional needs.
Symptoms of sugar addiction-8 Signs You’re Addicted to Sugar
For some, the idea of going home or going out to dinner with friends and enjoying a large bowl of pasta, bread, or other foods rich in simple carbohydrates can be attractive, especially if a person suffers from sugar cravings.
Carbohydrates are not necessarily responsible for sugar addiction, but the addict’s brain may be craving for the glucose being processed from the carbohydrates you eat.
Addiction may also be evident when a person craves salty and fatty foods.
1. Savoring soft drinks and other sweet drinks
Soft drinks often contain large amounts of sugar (in the form of high-fructose corn syrup).
Sweetened soft drinks that you consume throughout the day contain large amounts of artificial sweeteners that are estimated to be about 600 times the regular sugar (sometimes even sweeter). At this stage, eating a sugar-rich drink can deceive the mind and think about eating sugar, but in, fact, this leads to a longing for more sugar.
Soft drinks are not the only type of beverage that contains sweeteners and high sugar content. Most cafes offer sweeteners and sugar to drinks as a way to enhance the flavor, and many flavored teas and calorie-free products contain sweeteners.
2. Making excuses for eating sugar
This is among the obvious symptoms of addiction to sugar-addicted to justify eating some foods by saying “it is calorie-free” or “it is organic”, excuses you make for sugar consumption may be your way to try to ignore how much Your brain wants it from sugars. No matter what excuses it may be, it may be a symptom of a sugar addiction problem.
3. Rewarding oneself with sugary foods
one of the obvious signs of sugar addiction is that it is like making a deal with yourself to reward yourself with sugar to complete something.
4. Sugar cravings can present themselves to many when others are absent
And this symptom is somewhat similar to what drug addicts do, where addicts resort to eating sugars and sweets significantly hidden away from the attention of others.
5. You crave carbohydrates in the morning (or late at night)
Eating a breakfast rich in carbohydrates can send you a blood sugar roller coaster ride for the rest of the day, leading to cravings for hunger and sugar.
Your passion for something sweet may be the first thing in the morning or at midnight, or when you wake up from a nap, a symptom of umbilical addiction, hypoglycemia, or low adrenal function.
6. Your Cravings For Sugar Increase The Longer You Go Without It
Freedom from sugar is a great way to quickly adapt to how addictive you really are. Try to give up sugar for a few days and see how you feel – the more craving and cravings, the more addicted you will be.
7. Hunger beats you like a brick wall
If your hunger begins suddenly and urges you to eat immediately or another, you may be suffering from hypoglycemia or episodes of hypoglycemia.
Riding a blood sugar roller coaster makes us eager to eat sugary foods when blood sugar levels drop, and hypoglycemia becomes a health hazard when blood sugar levels drop.
8. You crave sugar during or after your meals
If you can’t dine without thinking about sweets, there is a good chance that you are addicted to sugar! Passion for sweets during or immediately after a meal can be symptoms of adrenal fatigue, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), and sugar addiction.
The solution: If you think you may have adrenal fatigue, there are saliva tests that can confirm this. If you suspect that you have SIBO or any other form of dysbiosis, there are tests for breathing, urine, and stools that can reveal the hidden causes of infection that can contribute to cravings for sugar.
Health risk of sugar addiction
A recent study pointed to the negative effects of sugar on health and its relationship to premature death. This study found that individuals who consume 25% or more calories every day from sugar are twice as likely to develop heart disease than those who get less than 10% of calories from Sugar.
Sugar can have a detrimental effect on health, and although it may not cause a heart attack directly, it is associated with heart disease and other conditions.
Excess sugar can increase the amount of fat your body stores, although sugar is not in itself fat, the excess you eat is converted to fat and stored for future energy needs.
Excess body fat is associated with cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other health conditions, so regulating the accumulation of body fat is important.
Sugar cravings can contribute to depression and affect mental health significantly
Consuming regular amounts of sugar due to addiction can cause large fluctuations in blood sugar throughout the day. Additionally, the highs and lows associated with this fluctuation can cause mood swings.
Recent studies have shown that consuming large amounts of sugar can lead to an increase in depression, and the effects may be worse among individuals with schizophrenia, this effect of depression has to do with certain hormones in the blood, and it appears that the suppression of a hormone known as BDNF is affected by large amounts of sugar in the diet.
Sugar cravings also cause inflammation
This is a natural process that occurs due to the reaction of the body when fighting infection or during the healing process. Some foods, including sugar, can make the body in a permanent state of inflammation which can cause the entire body to act as if it is sick.
It can affect arterial walls, heart function, stroke risk, and cancer risk, as well as contribute to arthritis, inflammation is not something that can be seen with the naked eye, but it is a major consequence of sugar addiction.
Sugar craving/addiction affects the function of the immune system
as it is known the immune system is the main line of defense against invasive organisms in the body, and it works always hard to maintain health, however, there is a link between sugar addiction and decreased immune system functions.
High sugar intake can have multiple effects on the immune system; it can prevent adequate sleep at night as well as increase inflammation (which can adversely affect the immune system).
Sugar craving may have other consequences related to diabetes
The body secretes insulin in response to sugar in the blood that occurs shortly after eating the meal with the passage of the day, the body becomes less sensitive to insulin released by the body and this occurs even with people who are not diabetic.
Well, now you have understood how dangerous is sugar for your brain and your health. But how can you remove sugar from your diet without experiencing these terrible negative effects?
18 Ways to Stop Sugar Cravings- How to Get Rid of Sugar Addiction
Fortunately, getting rid of sugar addiction is possible easily and quickly, just follow these steps
18. Start your day with protein
Eat protein at every meal, and do not skip breakfast. The key to abolishing that craving and balancing blood sugar levels and insulin in the body is eating a protein-rich breakfast and incorporating protein into all of your meals.
Start your day with fresh eggs, then use nuts, seeds, eggs, broccoli, fish, chicken, or herbal meat with other meals. Find protein-rich foods and find fun ways to add them to your diet.
17. Fight sugar with fat (good)
Fat is not your enemy and sugar. Fat does not make you fat, despite what you have been led to believe, sugar makes you fat. What fats make you full, it balances the sugar in your blood and is an essential part of your diet to give energy to your cells.
In addition to protein at every meal, adding healthy fats will boost your body’s metabolism and reduce these cravings! What are healthy fats? Extra virgin olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, coconut butter, nuts and seeds, and fish with high omega-3 content.
16. See pictures of sweets on the Internet
You can overcome the unbridled desire to eat sugar by watching pictures of food and delicious dishes on the Internet.
Once you see these foods, the brain secretes the hormone of happiness as if you had actually consumed it, which in turn will reduce your need to eat such sugars, in addition to that it is a way to empty anger It works to give you positive energy.
15. Avoid soft drinks and juices
Soft drinks are among the drinks and foods that should not be consumed. They contain huge amounts of sugar.
Even the “diet” types of them are true because they do not contain many calories, but in contrast, they contain high artificial sweeteners.
The juices contain a lot of sugar, either Naturally, it contains the sugars in the fruit, but without the fiber, it has lost a large part of the benefit.
14. Never add sugar
Sugar is present in everything that is eaten secretly. Fruits and vegetables, main dishes, fast or light meals, and this amount are within the permissible limits per day or increases by a small amount.
But with the addition of more sugar, the amount of it will exceed the allowed range. So you should not add any amount of Sugar, preferably not bringing the sugar container to the table so that it is not within reach.
13. Go cold turkey
As with any other type of addiction, the most effective way to give up something is to stop completely. There is little “cheating” here and there. You should remove all sugar from your daily intake. The idea is to reset the neurotransmitters and hormones in the body by getting rid of the thing that controls it.
“Stop all forms of sugar, all flour products, and all artificial sweeteners – which cause increased cravings and slow metabolism, and lead to fat storage. Also, get rid of anything with unsaturated or hydrogenated fats and MSG,” Dr. Hayman recommends.
12. Read the content of foods and products
In general, the five ingredients that are written first in the list of content are those that are found in higher proportions than others in this product, you should read the content and in the event of sugar in these first ingredients, it is preferable not to buy this type, in addition to avoiding cans in general.
11. Sugars with secret names
There are many names that sugar is hidden behind and a pseudonym is taken from, which you cannot know when reading the content.
So you end up buying products that contain large amounts of sugar without your knowledge, and among these names that you should pay attention to and beware of: “Nectar of rice syrup Brown high fructose – grape syrup – dextrose – corn syrup – barley syrup – cane sugar – lactose glucose.
10. Eat Fruit every time you desire sugar
Each time you crave sweets and get some sugar, you should go to the refrigerator and get a piece of fruit, as this guarantees you sugar in addition to other important elements and fibers, which means activating the process of burning fat, not obtaining it and then accumulating it in contrast to sweets.
9. Exercise regularly to overcome Sugar Craving
Studies have proven that exercise helps reduce the body’s desire to eat sweets, that is, a treatment that relieves you of Sugar cravings in addition to giving it a large part of what sugars give you.
It helps to improve mood and get out of depression while providing you with activity and strength as well as its role in maintaining an ideal weight.
8. Not depriving oneself
When depriving the body of sugars quickly and sharply, you are likely to suffer from withdrawal syndrome symptoms. This is what characterizes the state of sugar addiction.
These symptoms may be manifested by anxiety, anger, or fear. So you should gradually reduce the number of sugars until you reach the permissible limit without any effects Sideways for that.
7. Change your outlook toward sugar
Sugar addiction is not a biochemical addiction it is a psychological addiction. You can get rid of it permanently by changing your perception of sugar and seeing it as not necessary for you and you can give it up.
It can be linked to your memory of foods you do not like. That plays a very important role in treating this addiction as it will automatically be hated by the brain.
6. Prepare your food as an innovative
Ready foods, fast food, and canned products, in addition to delicious recipes, all contain large amounts of sugar. Therefore, in order to treat and prevent sugar addiction, you must avoid getting ready-made food and preparing it at home.
Without following the recipe completely you must innovate and create with natural sweeteners such as fruit And honey instead of sugar.
5. Take notes about the sugar you ate
Because sugar craving drives you to eat a lot of it and to ask for more you must determine and know the amount of sugar that is consumed on a daily basis.
You should have a clearer idea by setting this amount and writing notes in a small notebook every time you eat anything.
Now you can calculate what your body got from Sugars and then know the most appropriate plan for treating the matter.
4. Do not keep sweet foods at home to stop Sugar addiction
The presence of sweet foods and light foods that contain a lot of sugar at home and are under reach will make it difficult to restrain the soul and not eat it.
Then you will find yourself in the end, and if you did not eat all the quantity, it will be a good amount. You should avoid buying and keeping such foods.
3. Avoid shopping while feeling hungry
Feeling hungry while shopping will allow you to buy a lot and will motivate you to choose the most foods that contain sugar and fat. Which means that you will keep more of them in your home.
They will weaken you to eat them, and this means canceling the previous step and skipping it in stages. So from now, you are not shopping with hunger even if you are not going to the Division of foods will be difficult to resist the steps in this direction!
2. Do not allow hunger to infiltrate
Treating sugar cravings does not mean never stopping eating it, nor does it mean following a harsh diet that leads you to feel hungry.
Because eventually, you will explode with an overwhelming desire to eat everything to satisfy the dreadful hunger that you felt. You will eat a greater amount of sugar than you were working to reduce.
So you have to eat healthy small meals throughout the day in order to ensure a continuous feeling of satiety. You can also rely on popcorn as it is one of the meals that provide you with a long time.
1. All you need is 14 – 21 days to beat Sugar Craving
Based on psychology, it was found that a person needs a period of at least 14 times and a maximum of 21 times from successfully repeating something until it is usual.
With regard to getting rid of sugar addiction, you must repeat the reduction of its 14 or 21 successful days, until the reduction of it is a permanent habit for you.
But every time you spoil the plan you have to repeat the order from start and repeat until you have 14 days continuously correctly.
Sugar craving is perhaps the most delicious type of addiction, but it remains an addiction that leads to health problems. It needs persistence, perseverance, and patience to succeed in getting rid of it and treating it, and all you have to do is pay attention to the previous steps.
Some Quick Tips to Stop Sugar Addiction
Consider these seven quick tips for success while planning long-term behavior changes to minimize cravings:
- Test cortisol and melatonin fluctuations with a home sleep test.
- Learn bad habits. Get a replacement the moment you get a craving; 10 jumping jacks or crances or can drink a glass of water. Start a new healthy habit.
- Eat more proteins or fats into your diet. Avoid snacks/meals that are all carbohydrates. And reduce industrial sweetening.
- Get enough sleep. Make sure to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Search for Serotonin from other sources. Try green tea, nuts, eggs, and cheese, or increase your exercise routine to increase your Serotonin level.
- Access to foods or supplements that contain highly absorbed forms of magnesium, zinc, iron, and calcium.
- Try a chrome supplement. This mineral often lacks in our modern diet, because flour and refined sugars are often stripped from chromium (in addition to other nutrients). High-quality supplements, such as Thorne’s Chromium Picolinate, help support healthy blood sugar levels and help reduce cravings for carbohydrates.
The Bottom Line:
Having a huge plate full of vegetables, wild rice, fish, seeds, and nuts was more enjoyable and beneficial to health. After the first week, You will notice that your thoughts are clearer (not as much fog in the brain), You became more aware of the flavors, your reactions are improved, and the best part is your clothes that fit a lot better.
The next time you think you need a sweet treat, or a sugar drink, think about what you are doing to your mind and body, instead.