I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone saying they wish to have more WILL POWER to quit sugar and sweet cravings.
Sweet Cravings are the major hurdles on WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY. They are like army soldiers who will catch hold of you and will not leave until you feed them.
Most of the people when they first visit me, their first concern is “Aur to sab ho jayega, what to do for the sweet cravings, as I can’t control them.”
And the answer to them is let's first understand why your body is craving for sweet things. Let me tell you cravings are not natural to our body.
To some extent, we are hard-wired to want sugar. Our bodies need glucose as a primary fuel source, so our brains have evolved to like sweet foods.
Consuming sugar activates the MESOLIMBIC dopamine system aka the brain’s reward system. When we frequently eat sugary foods, our brain adapts to require more sugar to reap the same rewarding feeling.
We are designed to enjoy sweets, any celebrations need kuch metha .
But why do we crave SUGAR???
1. Your body is malnourished.
When you do not eat enough calories or you do not nourish with nutrients and it’s malnourished your body starts looking for fast fuel as a way to catch up. So, what happens? You start craving for quick energy, even though it's not necessarily quality energy.
If YOU crave, look into your diet. It should be a balance of carbohydrates, fat, protein and fibre to nourish with nutrients.
2. You picked up as a bad habit
When something becomes a habit, especially comes to food, you have to ask yourself.
Are you aware you are doing it?
Do you really want to do it?
Are you truly caving what you are eating?
And if you have not fed yourself properly it will be difficult to stop.
When you start eating more consistently throughout the day and eat the right type of calories, your defences are up and it will be easy to change that habit.
3. Eating too many Carbs and starch, not eating enough fat and proteins.
If you are eating a lot of carbs rich diet with no protein and fibre, you are setting yourself for those cravings. This spikes sugar and crash, leaving you to yearn for more sugar.
4. You chewed down on salty foods or dining out more frequently
Eating more processed foods high in sodium will increase cravings.
5. Sugar Cravings are a sign of Poor Gut Microbiome
You feed your gut bacteria every time you eat, it's your choice what you feed. Your gut has a colony of both good and bad bacteria. Bad start colonizing fast as they thrive on sugar, processed and high carb diet. Poor Gut flora will change your taste receptors and you crave for more sugar.
5 Ways to cut sugar and stop Cravings
1. Replenish your GUT
Your GUT flora will have more good bacteria if you eat a well-balanced diet comprising of Carb, fat, protein and fibre. A diet full of fibre which is prebiotics and food for good bacteria to flourish.
2. Understand your Cravings
Any strong desire to eat something is called Craving. Are you craving when you are stressed out? a lot of work or pressure and you feel worked out, if then these cravings slip in it's because of stress and emotional eating.
Is your Environment at home is Healthy?
Lots of junk, packet foods easily available on your kitchen shelves will increase your cravings. If you replace them with healthier options, you will not fall off.
A poor diet will surely increase your cravings for sweets and sugary foods as trillions of your cells are deprived of energy and need fuel.
3. Plenty of sleep
The body of the sleep-deprived person is signalling that it wants a pick me up and the body memory cleverly remembers that sugar provides a high. It will reach out for sugary and sweet foods.
4. Plan your Indulgences
If you plan that when and what you want to eat .it helps you to make a better decision of choosing alternatives that are sweet and nutrient-dense too. It won’t be an abrupt response but a well-planned indulgence for which you will not feel guilty as well.
5. Read food labels for Hidden sugar
Food industries very cleverly add sugar with a whole lot of different names in most of the packaged foods to make us addict and thereby buy more and more of it. Always look for the labels. Do not pick food items with more ingredients. The longer the list, the unhealthier it will be.
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