How to Stop Having Sugar Cravings

Obesity has become commonplace in many countries in the western society because of poor diet and over-processing of food. According to the Center For Disease Control, obesity often leads to serious medical conditions which ultimately can prove fatal. Consumption of an abundence of sugar and over-processed sugar products becomes a cycle, resulting in cravings for more sugar and can present a huge problem for most people. Sugar acts as a drug in that regular consumption of it and its products produce cravings for it, thus, making it quite difficult if not impossible for many people to eat a healthy balanced diet and lose or control their weight. By gaining an understanding of how our bodies process sugars and other processed foods, will aid in losing and controlling our body's weight.

Different types of carbohydrates are broken down into two different substances; starches and simple sugars. Starches, also known as complex carbohydrates, exist in foods such as vegetables, whole grains and cereals. These substances are very slow to break down, thus allowing the body to process the food naturally which keeps the blood sugar normal and working as it should. Additionally, these foods act as suppressants for sugar cravings. On the other hand, sugars which are known as simple carbohydrates consist of things such as glucose, lactose, fructose and fruits. In the case of most fruits the body can process these okay as long as they are not processed, however in the case of the processed sugars like the glucose and lactose, because they have been artificially processed by humans before consumption, this dis-allows the body from doing the work to process the foods that is normal in our digestive systems and can cause an unnatural rise in blood sugar as well as an increase in weight.

In avoiding processed sugar in the foods and the drinks that you consume will ensure that your body will do the work that nature intends for it to do for proper digestion and healthy blood sugar levels. The longer you go without sugar, the less you will find that you crave sugar. Using natural sweeteners such as stevia and xylitol to sweeten drinks will help limit your sweet cravings during the sugar weaning process. Knowing a few key words to look for when reading food labels can assist you in making wise choices. Things to look out for and avoid are high fructose corn syrup, lactose, corn syrup, glucose and dextrose; all common offenders.

Avoid processed grains and products made with white rice and white wheat flour such as white bread and white rice flour. As a rule of thumb, if a label says "bleached" it is over processed and should not be consumed. Once again, the reason for this is that when a food is processed before you eat it, your body does not have the opportunity to do the processing itself. This in effect disrupts the natural production and use of insulin and is one of the top contributing factors in diabetes, heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Be a grazer. Eating small frequent meals as opposed to a couple of huge ones will help keep your blood sugar at an even level as well as your insulin production. It also helps your body to burn calories more evenly throughout the day.

Be sure to include a good balance and variety of food types in your daily consumption. Eating three times more vegetables than fruits will help ensure a healthy ratio balance of "good" carbohydrates. Whole foods as opposed to processed will also keep your body working to digest longer and that will also curb your appetite.

References:

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm

http://www.indoorclimbing.com/carbohydrates.html