Learn how to beat your sweet tooth cravings, especially if you need to follow a low-carb diet. Doctors believe that sugar addiction is an extremely insidious temptation. Not every girl can safely walk past the counters with sweets without buying a couple of sweets for evening tea. Unfortunately, addiction to sweets can make your life very difficult. Today we are going to talk about how to get rid of sugar cravings.
Why does addiction to sweets appear?
Scientists believe that the reason for the development of dependence on sweets are biochemical processes in the body. Sharp increases in glucose concentration lead to the fact that the body begins to demand the next portion of sugar. It should be noted that with an excessive passion for sweets, not only sugar itself (fast carbohydrate), but also other ingredients of sweets, for example, white flour, fats, etc., negatively affects your figure.
As a result, a small and mouth-watering cake becomes a real high-calorie bomb that can negate all your efforts to create the figure of your dreams. It is quite obvious that in such a situation, many are interested in the question of how to get rid of cravings for sweets.
Today, the problem of sugar addiction is being discussed very vigorously not only by ordinary people, but also by scientists. Moreover, the results of scientific research turned out to be quite frightening. Scientists often equate dependence on sweets with narcotic. In their opinion, these products can bring a person short-term joy, but at the same time they can cause serious addiction.
It should be admitted that sugar quickly conquered the hearts and stomachs of people. The history of this substance is only two hundred years old. On the territory of Russia, sugar production was organized at the very beginning of the 19th century. Sugar quickly became one of the most actively consumed foods. To clearly illustrate this statement, it suffices to cite a few numbers. In the middle of the 19th century in Europe, no more than 17 kilograms of sugar was consumed by one person throughout the year. At the beginning of this century, this figure has already exceeded 40 kilos.
Several varieties of sugar can be found in supermarkets now, and the most condemned of them is refined white. There is nothing to be surprised at, because it was he who received the maximum distribution in the world. The sugar that we buy in the store does not carry any nutritional value for the body and negatively affects the work of almost all systems of our body. It should be noted that very often, under the guise of brown cane sugar, everything is sold, too, refined sugar, which is covered with molasses (cork product of sugar production). It is quite understandable that such sugar does not differ at all from white, since, in fact, it is. But a real cane product, which has not undergone additional processing, contains in its composition, along with sucrose, a large amount of other nutrients. However, the uncontrolled consumption of even this "ecological" cane sugar does not guarantee that the addiction will not manifest itself.
Craving for sweets in humans arises largely due to the rapid assimilation of sucrose. After consuming this substance and increasing the glucose concentration, the body responds with an instant release of insulin into the bloodstream. This hormone removes glucose from the bloodstream, resulting in what is known as carbohydrate starvation. We have already said that sugar began to be used only a couple of centuries ago and our body does not yet have the mechanisms of defense against a large amount of simple carbohydrates. Simply put, he cannot understand that energy is no longer required.
If at the time of carbohydrate fasting you go on about your body and continue to consume sweets, this will only aggravate the situation. It might seem that the brain should be the main regulator of simple carbohydrate intake. However, sugar provokes the synthesis of happiness hormones. Scientists claim that when we consume sugar, our brains behave in the same way as when using opiates.
Does the body need sweets?
Sucrose is a simple carbohydrate and, once ingested, this substance is quickly broken down into fructose and glucose. Many people know the statement that it is enough to eat a small candy to activate the work of the brain. Glucose for the human body is the main and, perhaps, an irreplaceable source of energy.
In this case, any carbohydrates as a result will be broken down to the state of glucose. The main difference between simple and complex carbohydrates is the speed at which they are processed by the body. The same sugar, as we have already said, is processed in a short time and this leads to a sharp release of insulin.
One of the main recipients of glucose as a source of energy is the brain. After that, the substance is delivered to other organs. Thanks to insulin, glucose quickly enters the cells of the organs. If the brain immediately uses all the glucose for energy, then other organs can go one of two paths. First, cellular structures can create glycogen from glucose, which is then used for energy when the supply of a new portion of glucose is interrupted. Secondly, it is consumed to obtain energy. If the concentration of glucose is high and the cells do not need energy, then the substance is converted into fat. Thus, we can state the fact. That a person can easily do without sugar. Actually, this is exactly what happened for many centuries. All the energy you need can be fully obtained from complex carbohydrates. If you do not want to think about how to get rid of cravings for sweets in the future, then you should give up this product. As a last resort, minimize its use.
How to get rid of strong sugar cravings?
You have probably already understood that sugar cravings are, to a certain extent, a psychological addiction. This suggests that you need to work on yourself. However, this is not as easy as it seems, and in such a situation, the following tips can help you:
- Introduce additional sources of protein compounds into the nutrition program to reduce appetite.
- Consult your doctor for advice, because cravings for sweets can be caused by abnormalities in the thyroid gland or a consequence of candidiasis.
- B vitamins can help cope with high sugar cravings.
- Do not use sugar substitutes, as they can only make the situation worse.
- If it becomes very difficult to resist sugar addiction, use dark chocolate containing at least 70 percent cocoa.
- Don't buy sweets or keep them at home.
- Try not to use low-fat foods, as they often add the same sugar to improve the taste.
You can overcome your sugar cravings with the help of dietary supplements or medications, but you should be careful with them. In any case, you should first consult a doctor and start taking medications only with his consent. Chromium-based dietary supplements are the most popular.
Note that pure chromium is a strong toxin, and the hexavalent compounds of this metal, in addition to everything else, are also carcinogenic. However, the body needs minimal amounts of chromium, since the substance is necessary for the production of blood, and also participates in the metabolism of basic nutrients. The effectiveness of preparations based on chromium for eliminating sugar dependence is explained by the fact that these substances "wash" each other out of the body. Thus, the higher the concentration of chromium in the body, the less sugar you need and vice versa.
Chromium picolinate is most commonly used to treat sugar addiction. Moreover, this property of the substance was proved in the course of two large-scale studies carried out in the United States. However, the mechanism of its operation used to solve this problem has not yet been established.
Another supplement that can help those people who want to know how to get rid of sugar cravings is glutamine. It is an amine that is quite actively used by athletes. Moreover, the additive has been used in medicine for more than four decades. At first, glutamine was used to treat various diseases of the digestive system, but in the course of further research, amines were discovered new properties, some of which turned out to be quite unexpected.
If we return to the question of how to get rid of sugar cravings using glutamine, then the mechanism of the supplement is based on the ability to stabilize muscle tissue. And also to accelerate the processes of removing metabolites from the body of fat metabolism. Do not forget that amine is a source of energy and, if necessary, the body uses it to solve this problem.
Glutamine also takes part in the synthesis of the main neurotransmitters, thereby allowing to fix the average state between arousal and rest. In conclusion, we also note one more ability of the supplement - to enhance immunity. Of all the drugs that are used to suppress cravings for sweets, glutamine is perhaps the safest and at the same time quite effective. We recommend that you try first of all to cope with this addiction on your own, and if it is difficult to do this, then try glutamine.
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