It’s not just youths who have to be reprimanded for eating too much sugar but adults as well. They’re not to blame since sweeteners are the most common of all ingredients in America. They might not be aware of it, but they might even be eating plenty of desserts just in a day.
According to CDC, from 2011 to 2014, 63% of American youths drank sugar-sweetened beverages in a day, while there were 49% adult consumers. High sugar consumption per day made the medical experts alarmed.
Why Do We Crave Sugar So Much?
Sugar can be likened to an addictive drug that when you turn cold turkey, you’re even going to experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, and depression. With all these, it’s not surprising why for some people, it’s difficult to quit.
For the most part, it might be because of the sugar imbalance in your blood. When you consume too many sugary foods and beverages, your body’s insulin lowers the sugar to a safe level, and most of the time, it brings the sugar levels extremely low instead.
As a result, your body craves more sugar to increase your sugar levels back and give you energy. By this time, your sugar levels are on a roller coaster, and you might not be able to help but give in to what you think your body needs at the moment.
How Being a Sweet Tooth Can Give You Bad Teeth and Health Overall
Your mouth has both good and bad bacteria. Sugar invites harmful bacteria. A group of these bacteria generates acid in your mouth when you eat sugar. Consequently, they can demineralize or remove the minerals from your tooth enamel.
While your mouth has the ability to remineralize naturally to strengthen your teeth, too many cycles of acid attacks can ultimately lead to the loss of the minerals from your enamel, then to cavity buildup. Before this happens, make sure to visit your dentist regularly.
Sugars aren’t just bad for your teeth and gums but also your health overall. Eating too many sugars is linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, poor immune function, chromium deficiency, accelerated aging, stress, and anxiety.
Tame Your Sweet Tooth Now: Here Are Tips for You
The good thing is that you can have the upper hand when on a quandary whether to eat sweets or not. Train yourself to reduce your sugar cravings and consumption to avoid any of the detrimental effects above. Here are some ways you can lessen your sugar intake and make it a habit:
Don’t skip your breakfast
When you eat a solid breakfast rich in protein or fiber, you would feel fewer cravings for sugar throughout the day. You can opt for oats since they are rich in soluble fiber.
Taking oats for breakfast can help reduce your glucose levels, lower your cravings for sugar, and stave off your hunger. Quinoa is rich in protein and fiber, so it can be great at fighting off sugar cravings. Hence, it is good for breakfast.
Just make sure to avoid instant oatmeal packets or sugary breakfast cereals since they can be very high in added sugars and are mostly processed.
Drink plenty of water
When you’re dehydrated, your body sometimes mistakes it as hunger, so you crave food, and most likely, sugary foods. Make sure to drink plenty of water every day. If you want to make it more flavorful, add fruits like berries or lemon.
Just don’t resort to sugary drinks, such as energy drinks, sodas, sweetened teas, sports drinks, and many other beverages rich in sugar.
Beware of drinks that you think are healthy but actually have lots of sugar than you think. They include fruit juices and smoothies. If you aren’t much of a water drinker, you can drink herbal teas or unsweetened sparkling water.
Get enough sleep
Poor sleep is linked to many health implications such as obesity, poor concentration, depression, and reduced immunity functions. Aside from these, when you’re sleep-deprived, you’d be more inclined to choose foods and beverages that are high in salt, sugar, calories, and fat content.
Satisfy sugar cravings in healthier ways
Once you start craving sweets, eat healthy foods instead, such as vegetables. Fruits can be healthy snacks as well if taken moderately. Choose high-fiber foods such as kale, cauliflower, and broccoli since they can make you feel fuller.
Eat Healthier
As much as possible, avoid artificial sweeteners like sucralose, aspartame, and saccharin. Aside from healthier options, you can divert your cravings to sour foods so that you don’t dive into a sugar spree.
