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Breaking the Sugar Addiction

By Sindy Zoer


It seems as though sugar is in everything these days, from ketchup to salsa to soup. It's in everything, I suppose, because we have come to expect it to be.And it's not just the white stuff we need to worry about. "Refined carbohydrates," such as white bread and white flour products, produce the same reaction in our bodies.Researchers have linked sugar consumption to everything from cavities to wrinkly skin, as well as wide range of much more serious health problems.[
[How To Break A Sugar Addiction]
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Some research has been cited that says sugar has not been proven to be a direct cause to these health problems and may not even be directly linked to them, but when you consider that added sugar is basically non-nutritional calories, the lack of nutrition and obesity can cause health problems in themselves.Sugar, some researchers say, can lead to the damage of healthy cells, and can lessen the effectiveness of white blood cells, leading to a weakening of the immune system. Too much sugar means lots of empty calories, too, which can lead to obesity. As any parent knows, when you fill up on sugar, you simply aren't hungry for nutritious meals. And sugar can make you hyperactive and irritable, too, as it knocks your body out of whack.When you eat sugar, your blood sugar spikes. So your body secretes insulin, which sends your blood sugar crashing. The result? Irritability and fatigue. Plus, you're hungry again and probably craving another hit of sugar, and so the cycle repeats itself anew.One of the nicest things you can do for your body (and your mood) is to reduce your intake of added sugars and refined carbohydrates.What is the Daily Recommended Sugar Intake?

Condiments and Dressings.This is the "Sugar Free" age! There are plenty of alternatives to choose from! The only hiccup? Paying five dollars (or more!) for each bottle of sugar-free ketchup or sugar-free mustard! Again, I may resort to making ketchup and mustard myself if I think it's worth the effort.Checking my cupboards, it seems that my favorite instant oatmeal even has sugar already in it-12g to be exact! I cringe when I think of those unsuspecting people who add a little more sugar for added sweetness! In fact, just about everything in my cupboard contains sugar!

How to Break Your Sugar Addiction.So how do you start to reduce your sugar intake? Here are some tips.Try decreasing your intake of added sugar gradually. It can be difficult to suddenly cut all added sugar and refined carbohydrates. Try taking a week-by-week approach. One week, add less sugar to your morning coffee. Next week, replace your afternoon soda with bottled water. The following week, replace white bread with a whole grain alternative. Before long, you will find that the foods (and drinks) you used to love now taste sickeningly sweet. And you will likely find it easier to keep your moods on an even keel, too.

Also look for the types of sugar in the foods that you purchase and limit their consumption. Lactose, sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup, are some of the popular forms of carbs that are broken down to sugar and stored as fat.In Part 2 we learned how to control the spikes in our blood sugar by eating our sugary treats with other food.Get rid of the diet soda in our lives. Ouch! I know that one is difficult for some of you to swallow. You are saying: it satisfies my sweet tooth and doesn't' have any calories and doesn't add to my waistline. No way you believe that it is fueling your sugar cravings.

People can become addicted to many things. It is called sugar addiction when an individual craves sweet foods. It is a psychological and physical craving.Sugar increases serotonin production in the brain, something like anti-depressants. One of the ways you can tell if you're addicted to sugar is an extreme need to eat it. Once you consume enough of it your anxiety alleviates.

Avoid replacing added sugar with artificial sweeteners. Your best bet is to gradually reduce your taste for sweet foods, not to replace them with chemical alternatives. On ingredients lists, look for sucralose, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K, and neotame.Avoid the center of the supermarket as much as possible. That's where most of the processed foods are shelved. Instead, shop the perimeter for healthy, raw foods. If you have young kids, go to the grocery store by yourself. You may be less apt to come home with sugary treats. Plus, you can take more time to examine the labels for hidden sugar. If your kids are grade school age or older, take them along and enlist their help as Sugar Detectives. Give them each a list of hidden sugars and artificial sweeteners and turn it into a game.

Carefully measure how much honey you put in your tea and how much sugar you put in your coffee. Aim to put in a bit less each day or each week until you are drinking it either unsweetened or with just a bit of sugar.Buy items that are not sweetened, and add sugar only if you find that you need to. This will help you wean off the sugar gradually.Steer clear of sugars for breakfast. When you start your day with a sugar blast and crash, you may find yourself in a vicious cycle for the remainder of the day. Start your day with healthy lean protein and complex carbs. Try natural whole-grain breads and cereals for breakfast, along with a lowfat protein, such as skim milk, cottage cheese, or yogurt.

There is hope for stopping your sugar addiction. First, you need to admit to yourself that you have a problem. Something that tastes so good and makes you feel better will make it hard to for you to think there is anything wrong. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking brown sugar or raw sugar is fine to eat. Brown sugar is only made brown because molasses are added to it. It is still regular sugar. Raw sugar is crystalized and refined white sugar. It has a tiny amount of molasses added to it. These kinds of sugars are also unhealthy for your body.

Be careful not to make sugar taboo in your household. With children, especially, when you swear off something completely, you run the risk of creating a mystique around the forbidden food. Instead of running a completely sugar free household, make sure your children understand the effects that sugar can have on their bodies and their moods, and then help them understand the beauty of moderation. Encourage them to eat low fat protein and help them develop a taste for healthy whole grain carbs. Focus on well balanced, nutritious diet, instead of simply swearing off all sugar. Your cravings will slowly and naturally fade once you gain a better understanding of why they are cropping up in the first place.




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