Sugar addiction: 5 ways to fight it!
Sugar is one of those foods that you would never do without, and sadly, for many people this is not just a saying. It has been seen how many feel a constant desire and a constant desire for this food. The problem is that the more you eat, the more this impulse, instead of decreasing, increases. Erwann Menthéour, sports coach and founder of Fitnext, explained why refined sugar is an enemy to our health that is as addicting as a drug. First of all, it is important to understand why you have these cravings in order to be able to better manage these "sweet cravings".
In any case, it is important to keep in mind that refined sugar is now the main cause of many lifestyle-related diseases, such as diabetes, rising cholesterol or obesity. What is not known is that sugar is hidden in many foods and recipes that they would never disregard.
Sugar calls other sugar
The first thing to know is that our bodies would not be suitable for eating refined sugars. When you ingest something sweet, your blood sugar, which is your blood sugar level, rises and becomes abnormally high. If the blood sugar level rises too much it becomes very dangerous.
Our body, this highly sophisticated "machine", will produce a hormone called insulin, which lowers the blood sugar level.
The more sweet foods you eat, the higher your insulin dose and the lower your blood sugar level will become. The consequence of all this is what is called reactive hypoglycemia: a few hours after eating sugar, there is a sudden surge of energy and desire, a compulsive craving of always and only sugar.
So remember this sentence: sugar calls other sugar!
Little reminder: where is sugar found?
For some foods, this is easy to say. Sugar is found in candy, confectionery, cakes and related products.
It is also present in fizzy drinks, alcoholic beverages and fruit juices, because the latter naturally contains sugar, which is not to be forgotten.
Also, in varying quantities, we find it in puffed rice cakes, dark chocolate, fruit yogurt, dessert creams, ice cream or breakfast cereals and even cocoa powder.
Nor should we forget the wide range of industrial foods, such as fast-food steaks or sandwiches and ready meals. For example, in a hamburger not prepared directly by you you will find sugar in the composition of the bread, in the sauce (ketchup, sweet mustard, barbecue sauce) and, sometimes, even in the meat if it does not come from a real butcher.
The 5 best ways to reduce your sugar intake
As you may have understood, it is important to stay away from refined and processed products. The "detox" will be a difficult path that will have to be done in stages in order not to feel too much pressure psychologically.
Here are Erwann Menthéour's personal tips to eliminate excess sugar consumption:
- Gradually reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates found in sodas, candy, or refined grains.
- Identify the right intakes of complex carbohydrates and fiber (whole grains, legumes, fruit).
- Take a detox period which will help you enormously in the detoxification process.
- If you really feel the need, prefer to eat a fruit at the end of a meal or a little dark chocolate. Try to avoid other foods containing sugars because they are definitely unhealthy and harmful to health if taken regularly.
- We often hear about sugar substitutes, especially sweeteners. Erwann Menthéour's advice is to stay as far away as possible, especially from aspartame, which, despite the claims of some American authorities, is harmful to health.
Beware of diet products!
Some people often complain of not being able to lose or stabilize their weight. After a thorough study of their cases, Erwann Menthéour realized that these same people were big consumers of sweeteners and so-called "light" products.
If these products contain no calories or contain very few calories, they send the same signals to the body as sugar. For this reason, instead of appeasing that "desire" for sweet foods, they favor it, thus obtaining the same effect as sugary foods.
So make sure you reduce them considerably and if you can't, opt for natural sweeteners such as stevia or agave syrup.
