Sugar Cravings? Why & How To Fix It
You are an intelligent and logical person, and you know you’re gonna feel worst after eating sweets, but you feel like you have no control.
Once it’s in your head, that’s all you can think about, and the internal battle lasts until you just give in.
Maybe you’ve even tried a no sugar diet, and for a while, it may have worked, but eventually, the cycle begins again.
your brain needs sugar (glucose), mineral salts, oxygen to function
When you are craving sugar, it’s your brain’s way of asking for glucose; it’s not asking for bread, cookies and cakes…sorry 🙁 it’s asking for bioavailable glucose, such as in fruits, dates and raw honey.
If you try to stay away from all sugars, eventually, when you get near a bad sugar, your adrenaline will rise, and you will feel a kind of high, like when you’re about to do something you know you’re not supposed to. This adrenaline will get you so high that it will be impossible to control yourself.
Once the adrenaline surges throughout your body, the next day at the same time, it will happen again even if you are not near any sweets. This actually becomes an adrenaline addiction, not a sugar addiction.
The powerlessness you feel is actually an adrenaline addiction.
Solution: Step 1:
Consume glucose throughout the day to prevent adrenaline rushes. If no glucose is found, the body relies on addictive adrenaline surges to get through the day, and we then find ourselves in an addictive pattern.
Details:
Eat the right sugars to shut down the adrenaline surges and stop the addiction
The best sugars for your brain are from fruits. Dried fruits, raw honey, sweet potatoes, winter squashes and potatoes are great too.
It’s a few years now that I only eat fruits till late afternoon, and since I’ve replaced my breakfast with fruits I no longer crave sugar, my mind, my mood and my energy levels feel more balanced and there’s a greater sense of peace in my body. This is not to say that I never enjoy sweet treats, but it’s more of a conscious choice than a craving that I can’t control and then later feel guilty about.
Reduce fat so the body can replenish glucose reserves in the brain
When you reach for something like cake, donuts or cheese (cheese has lactose, lactose is sugar), there is also fat, and fat doesn’t allow the glucose to go where it is needed.
Too much fat in the diet doesn’t allow the glucose to get to the brain, causing sugar cravings
Think of fat as a big city bus in front of a sexy Ferrari in traffic 🙁 The bus has a purpose and is useful, but it still gets in the way of the Ferrari.
Your liver must break down fats, but if you are consuming too many fats, the liver will tire, and the blood will end up getting thicker. Even if you do end up eating glucose, the sugar won’t make it to the brain.
Eating good fats is essential, but it’s not all about good fats vs bad fats, it’s also about the total amount of fat in the diet, and even if you’re thin and exercise regularly, you can still have a diet too high in fats for the liver.
Solution Step 2:
Eat more mineral salts to feed neurotransmitters, support and restore overall brain health.
Details:
Restore your brain’s mineral salts.
Your brain also needs mineral salts that come from such foods as lemons, limes, leafy greens, celery, certain fruits, etc. Even if you eat healthily, your brain won’t function correctly and crave sugar if your diet lacks fruits and vegetables.
SIDE NOTE ON STRESS: It’s common for someone under a lot of stress and pressure to become addicted to sugar since stress also causes adrenaline to flood and damage brain chemicals, leading to an increased need for brain glucose and mineral salts.
Even if your eating patterns stem from emotional trauma or abuse, you will never heal if you’re not giving your body glucose and mineral salts.
Action Plan
1. Add more fresh fruits to your diet, such as berries, bananas, papayas, mangoes, melons and apples. If you’re afraid of fruit, start slowly.
2. When a sugar craving comes on, eat as many dates, fruits, dried fruits and raw honey as you want; this will feed your brain. DON’T WORRY. This won’t last forever; before you know it, you’ll need less and less to cut the cravings.
3. Make sure to eat raw vegetables and leafy greens DAILY!!! Even if you are going to have something unhealthy like a pizza, just ADD veggies like spinach, kale, butter leaf lettuce, arugula, celery etc…
4. Replace regular water with lemon or lime water.
5. Reduce your fat intake, and replace it with more fruits and vegetables. High-fat foods are anything from an animal, like dairy, cheese, eggs, and even lean meats, which are considered high fat for the liver—also nuts and seeds.
SHARE YOUR JOURNEY WITH ME in the comments or on social media. I’m here for you, and remember that the process is so much easier when you have a tribe:)
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