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.[]
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?
Sugar in wheat bread was a big surprise to me. If you look at regular wheat bread, you might find that it contains high fructose corn syrup in its ingredients. Why in bread? High fructose corn syrup helps to preserve it longer and gives it a better taste, and its addictive.The consequences of eating dozens of pounds of sugar a year are obesity, stress, cardiovascular disease, cancer and death. What's worse is that all this sugar is getting in the way of the messages that the body is trying to send to our brain. Those "I'm full" messages are drowned out by the over consumption of sugar.
Anything that is canned, jarred, bagged, boxed, or stuffed in plastic tubing is processed and contains an insane amount of sugar. Nothing is sacred anymore! Even a cup of my child's breakfast cereal contains 17g of sugar! One cup! Pour some milk on that cereal and the poor child just ingested about 30g of sugar in one meal! That's assuming that the portion size is correct! Most people double-even triple-portion sizes without knowing it which means the amount of sugar consumption doubles or triples as well.
Keep notes on your sugar intake in your journal or Daytimer. How does decreasing your sugar levels impact your energy levels? Your mood during the day? Your ability to fall asleep at night? When do sugar cravings hit? It might be helpful to start with a Sugar Fast for a day or two. See how one day without added sugars affects you.Make easy substitutions. Buy brown rice instead of white rice, for example. Brown rice has a nice, nutty flavor, and takes just a bit longer to cook. The next time you go to the store, experiment with all kinds of whole grain alternatives. You might find some new family favorites.Keep healthy snacks readily available, and rely on a bit of protein in your snacks to keep your energy levels high. Keep a small bowl of nuts on the table, along with fresh fruits. When you are hungry for a mid afternoon snack, opt for lean protein and complex carbs.
But it is. Dramatically. There have been oodles of studies done and the overall message is that diet soda can and does contribute to sugar cravings and to weight gain. As much as if you drank a regular soda! Why you ask? The studies are showing that it will trigger you to eat more calories when you have a diet soda. Here is a typical scenario of what happens:When I use to go through Burger King I would buy a Whopper, french fries, and to cut back on calories, a diet soda. Pretty typical of how we all start to drink the diet rather than the regular. Your body becomes conditioned to look for calories when it gets that sweet taste ( as it does when it gets regular soda or a sweet). So now it triggers you to crave additional calories ( energy) when it has a diet beverage. And thus the vicious cycle begins.Put another way: Your body needs energy to burn, so now it is suddenly not getting it when you drink the diet soda. So your body starts to crave more food, more energy and more calories. And that 0 calorie beverage is creating cravings that cost you more calories in the long run. It's like a furniture store that charges you no interest for the first year but get you big time on the back end and you wind up paying more.
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.
Diabetics should consult their physicians. For others, refined sugar is so harmful that it is worth eating "too much" fruit in order to eat less refined sugar.Don't allow your blood sugar to fluctuate. Low blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia, provokes uncontrollable sugar cravings.Don't skip meals. Eat frequently. Eat enough food. Get enough protein.Healthy exercise that gives you a good appetite will help. However, over-exercising will deplete you and cause hypoglycemia and cravings.Healthy fats, especially unrefined coconut oil, help prevent blood sugar fluctuations. Fats slow the absorption of carbohydrates, increase the absorption of vitamins and minerals, and make you feel full.
Water is an important factor in total wellness; it contains many minerals and is needed for good nutrition. Water can help in controlling sugar cravings. Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.Begin your day by eating a balanced breakfast. Make sure you have protein and complex carbohydrates. This will keep up your blood sugar level and lessen your cravings later on in the day. Replace your caffeinated drink with juice or herbal tea. Caffeine will cause your blood sugar to go down.Eat small portions of complex carbohydrates during the day. This will keep your stomach satisfied. Fruits, vegetables, wheat, grains and rice are full of nutrients. You will feel fuller longer because they are assimilated at a slower rate.Think of an enjoyable option when you feel a strong craving for sugar coming on. Listen to your favorite music, work on a craft or do some exercise. It's impossible to give up sugar overnight. Take one step at a time and you will reach your goal.
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?
Sugar in wheat bread was a big surprise to me. If you look at regular wheat bread, you might find that it contains high fructose corn syrup in its ingredients. Why in bread? High fructose corn syrup helps to preserve it longer and gives it a better taste, and its addictive.The consequences of eating dozens of pounds of sugar a year are obesity, stress, cardiovascular disease, cancer and death. What's worse is that all this sugar is getting in the way of the messages that the body is trying to send to our brain. Those "I'm full" messages are drowned out by the over consumption of sugar.
Anything that is canned, jarred, bagged, boxed, or stuffed in plastic tubing is processed and contains an insane amount of sugar. Nothing is sacred anymore! Even a cup of my child's breakfast cereal contains 17g of sugar! One cup! Pour some milk on that cereal and the poor child just ingested about 30g of sugar in one meal! That's assuming that the portion size is correct! Most people double-even triple-portion sizes without knowing it which means the amount of sugar consumption doubles or triples as well.
Keep notes on your sugar intake in your journal or Daytimer. How does decreasing your sugar levels impact your energy levels? Your mood during the day? Your ability to fall asleep at night? When do sugar cravings hit? It might be helpful to start with a Sugar Fast for a day or two. See how one day without added sugars affects you.Make easy substitutions. Buy brown rice instead of white rice, for example. Brown rice has a nice, nutty flavor, and takes just a bit longer to cook. The next time you go to the store, experiment with all kinds of whole grain alternatives. You might find some new family favorites.Keep healthy snacks readily available, and rely on a bit of protein in your snacks to keep your energy levels high. Keep a small bowl of nuts on the table, along with fresh fruits. When you are hungry for a mid afternoon snack, opt for lean protein and complex carbs.
But it is. Dramatically. There have been oodles of studies done and the overall message is that diet soda can and does contribute to sugar cravings and to weight gain. As much as if you drank a regular soda! Why you ask? The studies are showing that it will trigger you to eat more calories when you have a diet soda. Here is a typical scenario of what happens:When I use to go through Burger King I would buy a Whopper, french fries, and to cut back on calories, a diet soda. Pretty typical of how we all start to drink the diet rather than the regular. Your body becomes conditioned to look for calories when it gets that sweet taste ( as it does when it gets regular soda or a sweet). So now it triggers you to crave additional calories ( energy) when it has a diet beverage. And thus the vicious cycle begins.Put another way: Your body needs energy to burn, so now it is suddenly not getting it when you drink the diet soda. So your body starts to crave more food, more energy and more calories. And that 0 calorie beverage is creating cravings that cost you more calories in the long run. It's like a furniture store that charges you no interest for the first year but get you big time on the back end and you wind up paying more.
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.
Diabetics should consult their physicians. For others, refined sugar is so harmful that it is worth eating "too much" fruit in order to eat less refined sugar.Don't allow your blood sugar to fluctuate. Low blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia, provokes uncontrollable sugar cravings.Don't skip meals. Eat frequently. Eat enough food. Get enough protein.Healthy exercise that gives you a good appetite will help. However, over-exercising will deplete you and cause hypoglycemia and cravings.Healthy fats, especially unrefined coconut oil, help prevent blood sugar fluctuations. Fats slow the absorption of carbohydrates, increase the absorption of vitamins and minerals, and make you feel full.
Water is an important factor in total wellness; it contains many minerals and is needed for good nutrition. Water can help in controlling sugar cravings. Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.Begin your day by eating a balanced breakfast. Make sure you have protein and complex carbohydrates. This will keep up your blood sugar level and lessen your cravings later on in the day. Replace your caffeinated drink with juice or herbal tea. Caffeine will cause your blood sugar to go down.Eat small portions of complex carbohydrates during the day. This will keep your stomach satisfied. Fruits, vegetables, wheat, grains and rice are full of nutrients. You will feel fuller longer because they are assimilated at a slower rate.Think of an enjoyable option when you feel a strong craving for sugar coming on. Listen to your favorite music, work on a craft or do some exercise. It's impossible to give up sugar overnight. Take one step at a time and you will reach your goal.
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