Can You Be Addicted To Sugar? Part 5
This is the fifth in a five part series
Sugar Cravings
Synopsis
Cravings occur. Some of the times they appear to pop out of nowhere. Some of the times they’re emotional. And some of the times they exist merely because I’m becoming hungry! My feelings towards cravings have constantly been the same, irrespective of the state of affairs: I don’t like them!
Stand Your Ground
What we need is to get hold of a plan that will help in handling cravings the best way imaginable. In my experience, making little shifts over time is simpler to adopt and is better than attempting to switch everything in one fell pounce.
I am likewise certain that as I learn more, my fight plan might alter. The one I will center on today is:
A select breakfast: The opening move to combating sugar cravings
How come breakfast? Breakfast presents the body fuel and keeps blood glucose levels steadier. I recognize that if I skip breakfast my blood glucose will crash about mid-morning, and then I'll gorge myself silly come lunch period.
Steadfast blood glucose levels means I'll keep away from "crashing" and subsequent gorging. It likewise means I'll feel a lot more awake and industrious, and I need this as I am not a morning individual!
Not all breakfasts are the equivalent, though. A mocha café latte with whipped cream sounds like a savory breakfast, but it's not especially healthy, nor would it carry me all morning! If I say a "select" breakfast, I'm referring to a breakfast with a little protein and complex carbs.
Complex carbs bear fiber and more nutrients than the complicated stuff. Once again, my blood glucose will be a lot less fluctuating, and that means I keep away from the sugar crash.
Protein will hold my hungriness at bay for a longer time period.
Now the difficult part: integrating all of this into a breakfast I'll really eat!
Here are a few breakfast selections I've come up with that I recognize I would love:
- Rich fiber, protein whole grain cereal with skimmed milk or soy milk
- Whole meal toast with scrambled eggs (made with for the most part egg whites)
- Rolled oats with a bit of protein powder, walnuts, and skimmed milk added to it (add don't forget chopped up apples and cinnamon!)
- Breakfast burrito - scrambled eggs, veggies, low fat cheese in a whole grain tortilla.
Wrapping Up
Sugar is a highly refined substance that doesn't appear alone in nature. It appears a lot like cocaine, and sugar behaves a lot like heroin when it arrives at the brain. While the idea that sugar was addictive was controversial amidst scientists for years, they started to take note when a notable was published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2009.
The study demonstrated that sugar impacts the brain chemistry and therefore may be expected to induce addictive behavior. In the study, it was demonstrated that sugar bingeing may cause withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
The behavioral effects are like the neurochemical changes in the brain that likewise happen with addictive drugs. One finding of that study is rarely talked about — both sugar and the taste of sweet activate beta endorphin sensory receptor sites in the brain, the same sensory receptor sites that are set off by heroin and morphine.
The significance of this finding are that sugar substitutes, which have gotten to be a major industry in the U.S. and other nations, might not be the answer for individuals who wish to lick their sugar addiction. Youngsters who are given sweet candies and drinks made with sugar replacements might still become sugar addicts once they grow up, and will discover it just as hard as the rest of us when it comes to discontinuing the sugar and other refined carbs in their diet.
The bottom line – sugar is addictive, and it’s unsafe to one’s health. Because of its habit-forming qualities, it's very hard to give up sugar, but the advantages in improved physical and emotional wellness make it worth the work.