5 Signs Your Addicted to Sugar & What to do About It
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I can remember back in my Virginia days fresh out of college new nursing job I was working night shift and on my days off I’d wake up and grab a handful of Gobstoppers for breakfast. At the time I didn’t see anything wrong with it, I had the attitude of “ I’m 21 and adulting so I can pretty much eat what I want….so there!”.
Unfortunately, it didn’t help with my energy at all and I was tired all the time…this extended well into my late 20s. Because of this, along the way I’ve learned some tips and tricks on how to help soothe that sweet tooth baby… but first let’s jump into the 5 Signs You’re Totally Addicted to Sugar!
1. Your Taste Buds are Desensitized to Sweet Foods
When we’re eating a lot of sugar i.e. candies, sodas, cookies or from pastas, croissants or breads (because this turns directly into sugar in the body) your taste buds become over stimulated. This puts them on heighten alert which eventually leads to them becoming used to a certain sweeter taste. Food companies pay big bucks for chemist to work in their labs and figure out what’s the bliss point for our taste buds so we get addicted to their food and come back wanting more. And what happens? We actually keep coming back… in the process our taste buds become so over hyped that they eventually require the same level or higher amounts of sugar to get that same level of tastiness. Over time real food just can’t compete and ends up tasting super bland.
2. You Can’t Just Have the Amount You Intended
Do you end up eating more then you intend or lose track of the amount of food you’re eating? Well, sure sign you’re addicted my friend!
3.You’re Eating Sugary or Carby Food When You Don’t Want To
Have you ever been in a situation when you aren’t even thinking about eating but all of a sudden you see this delicious looking cookie in front of your face and now you absolutely have to have it? But, once you finished eating it you’re like I didn’t even want this.. I don’t know why I ate this! Straight addict tendencies… an addict will do things even when they don’t want to and feel like they can’t help it.
3. You’re Irritable or Stressed Out
Now of course minor amounts of stress are normal especially with the world we live in. But if you’re feeling irritable especially before you have your sugary treat or carby food and then after all is right with the world then you’re probably addicted to sugar.
4. You Have Highs and Lows of Energy that Correlate with the Food You’re Eating
Your highs and lows of energy can be exhausting, wouldn’t it be nice to have a stable form on energy throughout the day? Most people will dismiss this and state they’ve been eating like this forever and it does nothing to them or nothing is wrong with them… “I feel fine”, they say. But the thing is people don’t realize how they feel now is not how they’re suppose to feel. You aren’t suppose to feel irritable or on edge all the time or these highs and lows of energy that correlate with you eating certain types of food.
Pay attention next time you have that sweet snack, notice the surge of energy you get, then about 30 minutes to 1 hours later notice the crash that comes after. This causes an imbalance of hormones that doesn’t just keep you addict but also helps you store fat.
So now that we have these 5 signs you could be addicted to sugar, what can you do to help with your cravings?
My favorite is doing a detox! How I personally was able to get a handle on my sugar cravings was doing a full on detox so that my body was able to let go of that addiction. When you detox it allows your body to release toxins along with addictions so you can feel how it feels without the effects of sugar.
Energized
Upbeat and stable mood
Less belly fat
Not always thinking about what’s your next meal
Or always feeling hungry
Check out the Mini Detox Bundle HERE.
Another thing you can do is to start incorporating sweeter vegetables like sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, Napa cabbage, and daikon; especially during the fall season. The longer you cook them the sweeter they get. This is something that helped me tons during this process.
Now of course if you get a full on craving popping a sweet potato may not help. This is more of a long term strategy that helps decrease cravings overtime as your body get’s used to incorporating more natural sugars.
Using seasoning like cinnamon or nutmeg helps as well. When adding these to food you’ll notice it gives a sweeter savory taste where you won’t require as much sugar in your food. Try it with sweet potatoes, oatmeal, or smoothies!
Using coconut oil in this way also helps!
So your homework… start incorporating some of these things in your diet and see how it makes you feel!