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How To Stop Sugar Cravings
You can take steps to learn how to stop sugar cravings.
Read through our list.
We are confident that you will find some tips that will help
you beat sugar cravings for good.
If you are just starting on your anti-candida diet, you will be cutting out sugar for sure.
Or, if you want to start your eating off to a good
start in a more healthy direction, this page will help you too.
Track and Change
Avoid Temptation
Test Your Signals
Get A Little Fruity
Alter Your Tastebuds
Go For Quality, Not Quantity
Get Off The Seesaw
Don't Fake It
Get Moving
Don't Beat Yourself Up
Fatten' Up
Stay Neutral
Become A Drinker
Reward Yourself
How To Stop Sugar Cravings
1. Track and Change
Track your eating so that you can identify bad habits and replace them
This will also help you avoid triggers and unhealthy routines - like going through the drive through at the local coffee and donut shop
Keep a
daily food diary
writing down everything you put in your mouth - sweet or not - AND make a note of when you eat
Examine your diary - look for bad habits and identify your triggers - look for when you eat sugar - is it when you are driving? Watching TV? Is it on your cereal? In your coffee? When you feel stressed, depressed, bored or tired?
Make some changes and keep tracking your eating - you will be encouraged by your steps towards cutting out the sugar
Instead of reaching for a brownie - listen to your favorite song
Instead of having that candy - call a friend
Instead of...you get the idea of how to stop sugar cravings with tracking and changing what you eat and do!
2. Avoid temptation
Go through your kitchen, cupboards, pantry, cars, purses, pockets, anywhere you might have stashed sugary sweets and get rid of
cakes, ice creams, cookies, baking, sweet sauces, candy, chocolate bars etc.
Plan ahead and pack non-sugary snacks and have them easily accessible
Eat a filling, healthy meal before you go shopping, this will help with how to stop sugar cravings
When shopping, don't buy sweets - read labels for hidden sugars (especially in the first or second ingredient spot) like:
- Brown sugar
- Corn sweetener
- Corn syrup
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Fruit-juice concentrate
- Glucose
- High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- Honey
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Malt syrup
- Maltose
- Molasses
- Raw sugar
- Sucrose
- Syrup
3. Test Your Signals
Sometimes we misread our bodies' cues and signals
We think that our body is craving sweets, but really we may just need some protein instead
Protein sources like: chicken, beef, eggs, tofu, soy products, dairy products
Research has shown that adequate protein intake can curb food cravings and how to stop sugar cravings
4. Get a Little Fruity
Fruit sugars are digested differently than white sugar
Although fruit tends to be a higher glycemic food, it is still digested and converted to sugar slower than straight, white sugar
Choose lower glycemic fruits such as apple, berries, cantaloupe, grapefruit, honeydew, oranges, pears, grapes, peaches, cherries,
plums and grapefruit - by eating the whole fruit, the fruit fibre slows your bodies absorption of sugars
Whole fruit is a much better choice than juice when trying how to stop sugar cravings
5. Alter Your Tastebuds
When you feel a craving...
Gargle with antiseptic mouthwash
Brush your teeth
Chew some gum like 'Spry' gum - it has fewer calories and less effect on blood sugar than sucrose (sugar).
Xylitol has a low glycemic index of 7, compared to sugar's level of 83.
It can be found at most health food stores. It is also much better than artificially sweetened gum for how to stop sugar cravings.
Chew Gymnema Sylvestre leaves (a herb native to the tropical forests of southern and central
India where it has been used as a naturopathic treatment for diabetes for nearly two million years) -
check your local health food store - these leaves can change your tastebuds so that any unsweetened foods
taste better than sweetened - this we've got to see!
6. Go For Quality, Not Quantity
If you are going to have sweets, make the choice to have high quality
For example, a piece of 70% dark chocolate will satisfy you more than a cheap corner store candy bar
This should make you crave less and consume less sugar and is one more way for how to stop sugar cravings
7. Get Off The Seesaw
Often our blood sugar levels fluctuate hugely throughout the day.
There are things you can do to even out your blood sugar, which will mean fewer sugar cravings
Eat a non-sweet breakfast - try having brown rice and steamed veggies instead or eggs and hashbrowns without
the ketchup which has sugar in it
Don't eat sweets, not even fruit, and no refined carbohydrates, until after 3 pm - this avoids stimulating
sweet cravings throughout the day
After 3 pm - satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit or drink sweet veggie juice
Learn how to stop sugar cravings and satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit or sweet veggies in the morning and afternoon lull times too
Eat whole grains, more veggies, and
lower glycemic foods -
these help the body process the sugar and allows a steady
release of energy to our system
Regular meals with snacks with help your blood sugar remain steady - eat even if you don't feel hungry, train your body to
want 3 meals and 2 snacks a day - this helps you not wait too long between eating and stops you have reaching for the
junk food quick snacks - healthy grazing
8. Don't Fake It
Did you know that some people claim that artificial sweeteners can make us crave sugar? They sat our bodies still get used to having sweets
and crave it - artificial or not
But, gum companies have convinced us that their artificially sweetened gum is good for us - even some dentists hand
it out! - a popular weight loss show ("The Biggest Loser") did product placement ads all season for artificially
sweetened gum as a way to deal with sugar craving...but the truth of it is the invention of nonnutritive sweeteners
was to help people with diabetes...companies quickly realized the market was larger and they started mass marketing to all the weight
conscious consumers out there
The controversy is the claim that artificial sweeteners are a good way to stop sugar cravings.
Critics of this claim say that artificial sweeteners do not usually satisfy a body that is craving sweets or carbohydrates.
In fact, our bodies still think that the artificial sweetener is sugar, so we continue to become used to sweet flavors
and our bodies end up wanting more sugar rather than less.
If you are trying to cut out sugar, you may want to consider avoiding all artificial sweeteners until you have a
handle on your sugar intake.
Just remember, that some feel that atificial sweeteners fool the body into thinking the sweetener was sugar, so the body produces a boost of insulin
"Splenda should not be used on the CRC diet (anti-candida diet). Splenda, also known as sucralose, is an artificial
sweetener which is a chlorinated sucrose derivative. It's important to eliminate all sugar (in all forms - fructose, honey,
maple syrup, rice syrup, etc) and also eliminate artificial sweeteners.
Allowed sweeteners: Stevia, Vegetable glycerine." this is quoted from the source: WholeApproachForums.com as one perspective of the role of
artifical sweeteners and candida diets
As you can see, artificial sweeteners bring up many different views - you decide - if may be best to just avoid
Don't be tricked by natural sweeteners - they aren't all created equally. Learn more about
agave sweetener and its' role with Candida.
9. Get Moving
Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise improves blood sugar control
Exercise makes you healthy, strong, and energized
This helps empower you to control sugar cravings
Exercise also helps you fight stress and boredom which are often triggers
10. Don't Beat Yourself Up
Be kind to yourself, cutting out sugar may not happen overnight - our bodies are very used to the steady stream of sweets
Think how people struggle with giving up smoking - sugar cravings can be just as powerful
Keep focused, you can do it, you can learn how to stop sugar cravings
Make a plan - you can go 'cold turkey' or you can go bit by bit
Ease yourself into it - refer to your food diary and set attainable goals - if you used to eat sugar 10 times a day - try eating
sugar 7 times a day, then 5, then 3 and so on
Some people do best that once they have their sugar consumption in control, they still allow themselves something sweet
on weekends or once a day
Other people need the all or nothing approach...it can be very hard to control the sugar intake so even with the
best of intentions, sugar only on weekends may eventually become sugar everyday again - you will have to decide and be
honest with what works best for you. It can sometimes come down to personality.
11. Fatten' Up
Coconut oil, olive oil and even butter can help sugar cravings
Often sugar cravings are caused by a lack of certain nutrients and fat soluble vitamins
Getting proper amounts of fat in our diet can help us with how to stop sugar cravings
12. Stay Neutral - Alkalize
An acidic body feeds unfriendly bacteria, yeast, fungus within your digestive tract
AND, and acidic body craves sugar!!
You can alkalize your body by having lemon water in the morning, drinking 'green' juices, drinking wheatgrass, barley grass, green salads, deep breathing
13. Become A Drinker
In the United States, the number-one source of added sugars is non-diet soft drinks (soda or pop)
Regular, clear water helps flush and detox your body and acts to fill you up by giving you that full feeling
Stay properly hydrated so you don't misread thirst for sugar cravings
Drink water, not juice, pop, coffee, lattes, or even sweetened water
Cutting back on coffee will also help your blood sugar levels stay even and help you avoid the cravings
14. Reward Yourself
We all like to have something to look forward to, but instead of rewarding ourselves with a good cookie - why not reward
yourself with good health?
Switch your rewards to healthy rewards like eating
healthy sugar free snacks.
This is especially true for our kids - helping them avoid the sweet tooth trap and sugar cravings is a huge thing - don't reward
good behaviour with food - especially junk food
Brainstorm a list of things you like to do - then use these to pat yourself on the back - not sweets - these steps will all help with
how to stop sugar cravings
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Return to Dangers of Stevia and Other Sweeteners page.
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