| *** This Article is Written by Sneha Mukkavilli. |
Sugar addiction is a substance addiction in which there is an over-reliance on sugary foods and drinks. Symptoms usually include sugar cravings, loss of control while eating sugary foods, and negative impacts on mental and physical health.
How Do You Know If You’re Addicted to Sugar?
If you are addicted to sugar, you will probably answer “yes” to the following questions:
- Do you feel like you are unable to control how much sugar you eat?
- Do you think about eating sugary foods all day?
- Do you eat sugary foods throughout the day, or do you feel like you are eating more sugar than you should?
- Do you eat so much sugar you start feeling sick to your stomach?
- Do you eat sugary foods you don’t enjoy just to feel energized?
Sometimes, sugar addiction starts because you are trying to break another addiction. For example, if you are trying to break an addiction to alcohol, it may be replaced by an addiction to sugar
Sugar Cravings: Why Do We Get Addicted to Sugar?
Consuming sugar causes the release of Dopamine in the brain, which makes us joyful. Taking sugary foods activates brain circuits that cause us to feel hungry. This makes it tough to stop eating after one bite.
Sugar causes an increase in blood sugar levels, and meals that generate a higher spike in blood sugar levels produce stronger cravings for the same.
Eating sugary foods for long periods of time can alter the brain's reward system. Over time, the number of dopamine receptors in the brain reduces, thus requiring you to eat more sugary foods in order to feel the same amount of satisfaction as you did before. This leads to overeating and a worsening addiction.
How to Break Sugar Addiction? How to Control Sugar Cravings?
1. Have a Balanced Diet:
Getting around 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, protein and high fiber foods will help you feel full for longer and maintain a stable blood sugar level.
[ Read: 4 Best Food Combinations for Healthy Life ]
2. Don’t Skip Meals:
Skipping meals is one of the biggest reasons why you may crave sugar. If you don’t eat because you’re not hungry or busy, by the time you do eat, you’ll end up eating way more than you should. This is because your body is trying to make up for the food you didn’t eat throughout the day and get the sugar it needs quickly [by eating sugary foods].
3. Meal Preparation:
Meal prepping healthy foods at the beginning of the week makes eating healthy for the rest of the week easy.
4. Exercise:
Moving your body for at least 30 minutes a day can help curb sugar cravings. Exercise helps lower stress levels which is directly linked to lower sugar cravings. Movement doesn’t have to be a vigorous workout, it can just be a short walk or some light stretching. Putting in time for exercise can make us more mindful about the things we eat.
[ Read: Top 16 Exercises for Healthy Weight Loss ]
5. Sleep:
Getting proper sleep reduces the levels of ghrelin [hormone that tells us to eat], and increases levels of leptin [signals to the brain that we are full], so we are less likely to eat sugary foods right when we wake up. Also, it’s more difficult to make healthy choices in the morning when we are still tired.
6. Drink Water:
A lot of times, we think we’re hungry but we are actually just thirsty. Drinking water can help dilute the sugar concentration in the blood which reduces sugar peaks and manages cravings.
It’s important not to completely stop taking sugar all at once when you are trying to break the cycle of addiction. While this approach may work for a select few, it will not work for the vast majority of people. Doing a sugar detox like this can make you feel moody, you’ll cope with this by reaching for sweets. You’ll feel ashamed that you couldn’t stop eating sugary foods and get lost in a cycle of trying and failing. Instead, making small lifestyle changes over time will yield the best results.
Reference Links:
- https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-4065218
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-stop-sugar-cravings
