Enjoy Optimum Health

The best way to address sugar cravings is.. one moment, I shall get back to this soon.

You have probably heard at one time or another that sugar will prolong the life of cut flowers. I certainly have, and being curious about whether or not it is true, I decided to run a few unscientific tests. I was quite sure that this was just another one of those myths we all hear, so imagine my surprise when I found that a little bit of sugar does indeed seem to prolong the life of cut flowers. However, I learned later that if you add too much sugar, the flowers will actually die earlier.

So how about us humans? Does sugar intake have such effects on people? You must be asking yourself what this has to do with ‘best way to stop sugar cravings’. Hiding in your foods in many forms and names sugar proves to be quite tricky. Sure, it is possible to use techniques to better control sugar cravings, but what difference does it make if we do not know sugar exists in a given food?

The estimates on how much sugar we consume vary widely. For example, some say that the typical American eats 74 pounds of sugar per year. This amounts to a staggering 23 tablespoons of sugar each day! Others say that the average American eats a whopping 150 pounds of sugar each year. Although there is a huge difference between these estimates, both amounts are a great dealer higher than what we should be eating, as the human body only needs about 2 teaspoons of sugar a day. It’s not surprising at all that the numbers of overweight and even obese people are at such high levels in the U.S. It’s extremely difficult for the average person to remember all of the names for sugar: Cane juice, caramel, corn syrup, dextran, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, molasses, raw sugar, refiners syrup, sorbitol, sorghum syrup, sucrose, and yellow sugar are all just some of the many names used for sugar.

Taste for Life magazine explains that the control of sugar cravings can be achieved by following these simple guidelines: Don’t put sugar on your cereal or in drinks. If you must sweeten your food, try adding a small amount of the sweet herb Stevia. Stay away from things like white bread, white pasta and white rice since these contain processed carbohydrates which are rapidly converted to blood sugar, which disrupts the body’s metabolic balance and fat-control systems. Eat whole foods.

Whole grains, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes all have some naturally occurring sugars, however they offer important nutrients and fiber which serves to help balance blood sugar. You should strive to eat natural foods. As opposed to orange juice, eat an orange. You will consume less sugar while at the same time you benefit from a greater amount of nutrients. Natural sweets, like juice, can be diluted with pure water.

If you love granola, add unsweetened whole-grain cereal and nuts to reduce your sugar intake. Beware Of Fat-Free Labels. These foods actually contribute to health and weight problems. What the labels don’t tell you is that these products contain more sugar - sometimes two or more time that found in the “regular” versions.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!