Kick the Sugar Habit

Kicking the sugar habit is essential for numerous health and wellness reasons. While sugar may offer a quick energy boost, its long-term effects can be harmful to both physical and mental health. Here's why it's important to reduce or eliminate excess sugar from your diet:

1. Prevents Weight Gain and Obesity
2. Reduces Risk of Chronic Diseases
3. Balances Blood Sugar Levels
4. Improves Skin Health
5. Boosts Mental Clarity and Mood Stability
6. Supports Better Sleep
7. Promotes Dental Health
8. Reduces Cravings and Improves Appetite Control

Now let’s take the next steps to licking this sugar habit. 

Do you realize how much sugar is added to our food? 

Meat packers feed sugar to animals prior to slaughter to improve the flavor and color of cured meat. Sugar in the form of corn syrup and dehydrated molasses is often added to hamburgers sold in restaurants to reduce shrinkage. Have you seen the lines at Chick-fil-a? Their chicken is injected with a flavorful honey solution. No wonder I love it so much! And McDonald’s fries have 19 ingredients – sugar being the main ones.

Other foods filled with sugar include lunch meats, bacon, canned meats, bouillon cubes, dry-roasted nuts, alcoholic beverages, peanut butter, dry cereals, ketchup, fruit juices and the list goes on and on. 

Have you ever noticed how one taste of sugar leads to wanting more and more? Food can change how you function, how you think and how you feel.

Here are some suggestions for curbing your sweet tooth.

1. Throw out foods that contain sugar. I have no problem throwing out left over Halloween candy or Christmas candy.
2. Remove corn from your diet. So much sugar is processed with a corn base. Eliminate cornstarch, corn sweetener, corn bread, corn on the cob. Corn can actually bring on sugar cravings.
3. Choose whole foods that are high in fiber such as lentils, black beans, bananas, blackberries etc.
4. Always read labels. If you can’t pronounce the word then it obviously has a chemical origin so try to avoid it. Ingredients are listed on labels according to their predominance. Sometime the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ingredients are some types of sugar. It’s a deceptive method of dealing with a lot of sugar in a product.
5. Eat protein with each meal. This one really helps me with cravings. If you finish a meal and crave something sweet, you might not have eaten enough protein.
6. Exercise. It shuts down the part of the brain that controls your appetite.
7. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Stevia is the only sweetener that will not cause an insulin reaction like sugar. Stevia has effects that are anti- diabetic, and anti-inflammatory. 
8. Avoid soft drinks – especially diet ones. Try a glass of mineral water flavored with lemon or lime or other fruits.
9. When caving into sugar, think about your stressors. Is there something making you anxious? Are you trying to soothe yourself? Sometimes it’s not what you’re eating but what’s eating you.
10. Set realistic goals for yourself. Take small steps. 1% better each day.

Kicking the sugar habit is an investment in your overall health, energy, and well-being. By reducing your intake of added sugars, you can improve your body’s function, reduce the risk of disease, and lead a more vibrant and balanced life. Please reach out to me if you have any questions.