Get off the sugar rollercoaster
Do you feel you are addicted to sugar, out of control and can’t stop eating it?
Here are a few tips that can help:
Eat breakfast- according to multiple studies, those who eat breakfast will have more stable blood sugar all day than those who don’t.
Have a savoury breakfast with protein foods and fibre, or at least avoid sugary cereals.
Eat enough- if you are snacking all day and not sitting down and eating regular meals, reaching for sugary snacks is inevitable when hunger strikes and your blood sugar crashes. Regular proper sit down meals is more balancing and gives you inner stability. If you are bingeing in the afternoon or after dinner, you almost certainly did not eat enough throughout the day.
Eat enough protein foods (plant or animal). If you are eating mostly white carbs eg toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta or potato for dinner- you also might not be getting enough protein. Protein foods are satiating and will quell your appetite for longer.
Eat fruit. Fruit satisfies that sweet tooth. So many people don’t eat much fruit, thinking it is the same as eating sugar. It isn’t- it is full of fibre and many other nutrients. It is a whole food. Yes, even modern fruit. If you find it spikes your blood sugar, eat at the end of meals, with some cheese or nuts, or go for the less sweet fruit like apples and berries.
Make some homemade treats, with whatever sweetener you like, or use dates or sultanas. Make wholefood versions of desserts like apple crumble, a date slice or a pudding. As part of a balanced wholefood diet, there is nothing wrong with some sweetness. Sugar is just a concentrated form of calories and energy, relatively devoid of other nutrients. Instead of denying yourself, you can feel satiated by including a little in a wholefood homemade high-fibre low-sugar treat. But only if you are also eating proper meals and a balanced diet, breakfast etc, or you will likely binge on them.
Fat, sugar and salt quell stress hormones, so when we are stressed we often instinctively reach for the sugary and/or fatty and/or salty snacks as a coping mechanism. Having healthier versions on hand and ensuring you have eaten enough good food already will help minimise this ‘addictive’ tendency.
Check if there is enough sweetness in your life. This one often gets people. Is your life lacking joy and sweetness? Craving sugar can be a way of reaching for joy, since sugar causes that little bit of a high, when it is missing in life. What other ways could you allow yourself to find joy, access the sweetness of life?
So there are a few ideas….perhaps there are one or two that resonate that you could work with.
