Do you wake up in the morning and crave for cake or any other sweet treat?? Do you love chewing or eating candy often? You are not alone. Many people experience sugar cravings as sweet is the first taste that humans crave for from the moment they are born.
While sugary foods and snacks help fill your stomach, they also make you crave for them more. Short term energy boost brought by sugary foods without support from fats or proteins make you feel hungry even more.
Sugary foods when consumed trigger the body to release endorphins which helps to relax and calm the body and make one have a natural high. Consumption of sugary foods has consequences such as diabetes and tooth decay among others. To prevent this, below are 6 ways to help you fight sugar habits.
Eliminate canned soda from your diet
Many people love to consume canned soda especially when they feel dehydrated. Canned soda is used to replace water especially during a hot day. Soft drinks contain high quantities of sugar for example for a 12 ounce measure of soda, it contains 3.3 tablespoons of sugar.
Consumption of soft drinks with high sugar content usually leads to high glucose levels in the blood which increases risk for cardiovascular diseases. Continued consumption of sugary sodas for a long period of time will result in non-insulin dependent diabetes or what is commonly referred to as type 2 diabetes.
To prevent dependency on canned soda, you need to replace it with diet soda. Diet soda contains less calories and still contains the sweetness one craves for. After a week, you can switch to seltzer and add a slice of citrus.
Eat fruits and vegetables as snacks
Fruits and vegetables contain fiber and other nutrients which are important for the natural growth of the body. Eating fruits such as apples, pears and berries as a whole instead of juicing them provides the body with necessary anti-oxidants which are beneficial when fighting aging.
To eliminate dependency on unhealthy snacks such as energy bars, candy and cookies, you need to eat whole foods, grains, fruits and vegetables.
Sweeten your yogurt naturally
Yogurt is delicious especially when taken as a desert. Many yogurts sold in grocery stores contain too much sugar. Most yogurts contain 11 grams of sugar per a single cup of serving while others contain double the amount.
Many people flavor their yogurt using sugar laden syrups or concentrates instead of natural fruits. Yogurt with high concentration of sugar adds extra calories which increases the triglyceride levels in the body. It also leads to weight gain.
To prevent increase in triglyceride levels, you can purchase plain yogurt and sweeten it using natural berries such as blueberries and others.
Change your cereal
Cereal is eaten during breakfast in many households. Breakfast is an important meal and a good breakfast helps kick start a day with positivity and energy. Frosted flakes are some of the cereals that are common on breakfast tables around the world.
They are known to contain high amounts of sugar which when consumed for a period of time may lead to complications such as high glucose levels in the blood. To prevent this it is important to make a decision early and switch from frosted flakes to steel cut oats.
To add sweetness to your cereal, all you need is a half scoop of vanilla protein powder.
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Dilute you juice with water
Juice is made through a process called juicing where fruits are placed in a juicing machine and juice is extracted from them. The fiber is filtered out as pulp and discarded. Juices contain high concentrations of sugar which if consumed will increase the glucose levels in the blood.
To prevent this you need to reduce the amount of calories in the juice. This can be achieved by simply adding water in the highly concentrated juice. This will lead to reduction of calories by half.
Choose your dessert
After a meal of soup and a main course of your choice, dessert helps to seal the deal of satisfaction. There are many desserts one can choose from and some include cakes, ice cream and yogurt among others.
To reduce intake of sugary desserts it is important to select desserts with less sugar content in them. For example grilled fruits would be a better choice as opposed to store ice cream.
