Tips to Stop Eating Sugar – How to Stave Off Hunger and Sweet Cravings

Many busy people find that dieting is hard, so how about applying these tips to stop eating sugar to make it easier? After all, for many of us, we would very likely lose weight if we could just stave off our hunger and sweet cravings! Read on if you want to stop eating so much sugar!

Why Do We Crave Sugar?

When you are stressed out, your body is flooded with cortisol, a stress hormone, which makes you crave carbohydrates, sugar and fatty foods. Food is soothing due to the chemical changes it creates in your body. Chocolate is an excellent example. Chocolate boosts the “feel good” neurotransmitters and chemicals in your body that make you more alert and excited. So, we live busy stressful lives, is it any wonder that we crave sugar?

If you crave sugar, carbs, processed foods, or struggle with emotional eating, binge eating, or food addiction this post has all of our top tips that can truly help you to stop cravings quickly. Long before I knew anything about nutrition, fitness, or how to improve my health, I struggled with sugar cravings. It is reasonable to say that I was a full-blown food addict!

However, should you really take on-board our tips to stop eating sugar, we would like to issue a warning. One of the most important things to remember when changing your diet is to do so gradually. Going from a diet full of sugar to one without any should be a slow process. It may help to start by eliminating the most obvious sources of sugar but do it gradually. Don’t name a day and make that the day you change. No. Remember what we say here and remove one sugar source at a time. I started by removing sugar from my cup of tea I made at home for example. Once I had done that and found I actually preferred it without sugar, I moved on to another sugary food or sugar addition. You can easily avoid one of the baked goods you regularly enjoy such as cakes, muffins, and brownies, but the most important of all tips to stop eating sugar is do it gently and don’t go without it entirely.

How to Stop Sugar Cravings

Start by replacing a whole muffin, for example, with just one chocolate biscuit and after some weeks replace that chocolate biscuit with a wholemeal only version. Alternatively, removing candy and sugary beverages is also an excellent place to start. A person can also try reducing the amount of sugar and cream they add to their coffee or tea, working up to using none at all. Building up to a no-sugar diet can help a person retrain the palate, meaning that they are less likely to crave the missing sugar.

Are you always craving sweet food, even if you’ve just recently eaten?  If so, you are in the company of most people! When 3 pm rolls around, are you reaching for a snack because you’re hungry again?  Or perhaps you find yourself heading for the fridge in search of something sweet not long after dinner. Cravings can be annoying and hard to ignore, but our tip to gradually reduce sugar use is a great way to actually slowly and gently change your sugar habit. That way, with perseverance, anyone can stop craving sugar naturally without depriving yourself or going on a restrictive diet. You just need to follow the above simple tip and gradually you will reduce your consumption of the foods that create sugar cravings, and believe us when we say that you will regain your feeling of “being in control”. Just the self-belief of “being in control”, once regained, is hugely important and for many people is enough to keep them on the path of weight reduction, plus improved energy and good health, through applying this simple “Tips to Stop Eating Sugar” method.

The keto diet is currently very popular and many people are experiencing success with it. However, after a lifetime of eating high-carb foods, you will be quite likely to experience some sugar craving on keto, at least initially. This is normal, but it’s no reason to quit. With the one tip we have already provided, you can stop sugar cravings on keto in their tracks, produce ketones, and enjoy the many weight, health, metabolism, and brain benefits of keto eating.

But do consider avoiding artificial sweeteners whenever you can. When you stop eating sugar, your brain will more than likely crave something sweet initially, and many people say that consuming artificial sweeteners can increase the cravings.

Seeds and Fibre You Should Be Eating

Eating high fibre foods may help you stave off hunger and cravings. They take longer to digest, causing you to feel fuller for longer. High fibre foods also contribute to healthy blood sugar regulation. Keeping your blood sugar levels stable may help prevent cravings. Aim for high fibre vegetables, beans, and legumes. Pairing high protein and high fibre foods is best for healthy blood sugar control. Examples include mixing high fibre veggies like broccoli into your eggs or spooning some pumpkin seeds over your oatmeal.

Plenty of people say to eat fruit. But, in my opinion, fruit has been given such a high health score generally, that we end up eating too much of it. In fact, there’s nothing inherently great about the fructose in fruit. Sure, fructose is better than glucose because it comes accompanied by fibre and vitamins. But in and of itself, it is not better, and should, in my opinion, be accompanied by seeds or nuts. The effect of that would be to slow down the insulin spike that the fruit brought to the bloodstream. Overall, fruit should be, not limited, but not seen as something you can eat all the time in any quantity. Generally, the higher the water content, the less the sugar hit, so oranges are better than bananas. Oranges are also better than mangoes.

A problem for those who don’t stop eating junk food is that they never feel full for long. These foods are created so they increase your blood sugar level rapidly, but soon after the effect is gone. By preparing meals with products high in fibre (certain fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, grains, etc. ) you will get an energy boost that will last for hours, keeping you full and working for longer.

Tips to Stop Eating Sugar – Foods You Can’t Stop Eating But Should

Another factor that can make your body need extra glucose is if you’ve had a meal with too much salt or animal protein. Since both options can produce small drops in blood sugar, this makes the body feel that it needs glucose to recover. Therefore, you’ll feel like eating a sweet dessert or piece of chocolate after a meal “to compensate”. Avoiding too many fatty, salty or fried foods and foods high in animal protein should be enough to stop this from occurring. Failing this, introduce whole-grain cereals – such as rice – or vegetables to your recipes, which will balance them out. Thus, after eating you won’t feel the need to eat something sweet and you’ll be able to resist the temptation of chocolate.

Remove the large amounts of sugar from your diet and don’t worry about the little bits that make low-fat, high-fibre, foods palatable such as a sprinkle of brown sugar on porridge, a scrape of jam on grainy bread or a drizzle of honey on your unsweetened breakfast cereal. And don’t stop eating fresh fruit – just don’t eat too much of it.

Easy Ways to Stop Eating So Much Sugar

Have you been agonizing and wondering how to stop eating so much sugar? Sugar cravings can sometimes feel impossible to curb and it’s a habit that can super hard to break. As addicting as sugar can be it’s possible to stop your cravings in its track and work your way to healthier habits. “Eat less sugar”, it’s a common phrase you’ll hear (and read) almost everywhere you look when talking about bettering your health and losing weight. If only it were that easy right? If it were, you wouldn’t be reading this post on how to stop eating sugar or searching for ways to help curb the cravings. Here are two tips:

• Wholemeal toast can be a good breakfast choice, as long as you are sensible with your toppings. Toast is so fast and easy to make, yet so effective.
• Peanut butter is perfect. A good source of “healthy fats”, as well as protein and vitamin e among other nutrients, a liberal spreading of peanut butter can set you up for the day.

So we’ve told you why exactly you should quit sugar. No excuse! Now it’s time for you to start your sugar cleanse!

What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Sugar

Stress can lead to the impulse to eat junk food, especially sweets filled with added sugar. Research shows that sugar alters some physiological responses normally produced in the brain and body during stressful situations, creating a feedback loop that encourages stress eating. Managing stress better can help you avoid the habit of grabbing unhealthy food during stressful moments.

The fab four (protein, fat, fibre, and greens) is a lighthearted expression we coined to help you remember what nourishing foods you should eat to elongate your blood-sugar curve. As explained earlier this is the first step to giving you the energy and fuel to easily move toward ditching snacks. This in turn supports balanced hormone production, microbiome proliferation, and healthy body composition. Eating the fab four calms various hunger-related hormones. Protein, fat, and fibre induce cholecystokinin which is known as a “satiety hormone”). Protein and leafy green vegetables increase glucagon-like peptide-1 (glp-1, the “full hormone”), which to you and me means better hormone balance. And finally, a fibre-and-protein-based meal increases concentrations of peptide yy (pyy – “control hormone”), which altogether reduces an excessive appetite.

People do ask though, why it is that your blood sugar levels will rise overnight. This seems to be counter-intuitive. You don’t eat anything, so how can you possibly add any glucose to your system? in fact, it is those who suffer from type ii diabetes who find this is most problematic. You may not be eating but he body still creates glucose throughout the night. It needs to, whether you’ve eaten something or not. This natural process is called gluconeogenesis, and there is nothing you can do to stop it – nor would you want to. In a healthy person, this process doesn’t cause a major problem.

Tips to Stop Eating Sugar – Low-Sugar Alternatives

You probably already know that eating a lot of sugar is not great for your body and that you should seek out and eat alternatives. The problem is that sugar comes in a natural form and in an added form, so often you have no idea that you are consuming it. Also, it is in many foods that you don’t even think to consider. Foods that you think are healthy, such as tomato sauce and protein bars, are packed full of sugar. Many people rely on diet sodas as a “free” sugar substitute, especially when they’re craving something sweet. But in my experience, aspartame, NutraSweet, Splenda, and even low carb sugar products (protein bars that are “low sugar”) don’t quell sugar cravings but increase them. For many people, they also bring unpleasant side effects like headaches and stomach aches. A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio found that a person’s risk of obesity went up a whopping 41% for each daily can of diet soda. If you are sugar sensitive, you may consider including “fake sugars” in the sugar category. You can see this list of hidden sources of sugar for more information.

Don’t confuse me! What are you saying? Well! The message is that everything is good but only in moderation, and some do say that this rings true when it comes to eating sugar with diabetes too.

Foods with More Than Average Sugar Content

Low-fat options of your favourite foods — peanut butter, yoghurt, salad dressing — are everywhere. If you’ve been told that fat is bad, it may feel natural to reach for these alternatives, rather than the full-fat versions, when you’re trying to lose weight. However, the unsettling truth is that they usually contain more sugar and sometimes more calories than their full-fat counterparts. A 4-ounce (113-gram) serving of low-fat vanilla yoghurt contains 4 teaspoons (16 grams) of sugar and 96 calories. The same amount of full-fat plain yoghurt contains just over a teaspoon (5 grams) of naturally occurring milk sugar and only 69 calories ( 16, 17).

When you need to get your blood sugar back up quickly, try one of these items, a small apple, banana, or orange; 15 grapes; half a bagel; half a cup of granola; each of these foods has about 15 grams of carbohydrates — the ideal amount to rebalance blood sugar levels.

How to Stop Eating Sugar

“Eat less sugar. ” it may be a short and sweet suggestion (pun intended) but when it comes to finding low-calorie foods to select is the process of stopping eating added sugar, the choice isn’t simple. The USDA’s most recent dietary guidelines issued added sugar limits, recommending that we cut out sugar and keep our consumption of the stuff to no more than 10 per cent of overall calories. That’s equal to 200 calories or 50 grams of added sugar per day for those following a 2,000-calorie diet. To put things into perspective, the average American eats between 73 grams and 77 grams of added sugar a day! The average American should therefore be thinking very seriously about applying our tips to stop eating sugar.

Ready to learn how to stop eating sugar once and for all? While some people prefer to cut it out cold turkey, making changes step by step and slowly reducing your intake of sugar can also be effective. Here is the makings of a plan that can help you significantly cut down on your added sugar intake in only one month: week 1: start using stevia or other natural sweeteners in your morning cup of coffee along with wherever else you normally use refined sugar. Its the plan that I used to break my sugar addiction and stop eating cookies and sweets and drinking caramel lattes every day. I had so much of the sweet stuff when I was a kid that I’ve developed hypoglycemia. In other words, if I don’t eat at regular hours I  tend to turn into a gremlin. Conversely, if I wait a bit longer I become as pale as a vampire and sluggish like a zombie. That’s not exactly the lively, exciting person that I want to be!

Advantages of Keeping Your Blood Sugar Levels in Check

Since having fewer sweets helps you keep off excess pounds, you’ll also be more protected against type 2 diabetes. But eating less sugar also lowers your risk of the disease in another way: “a diet with lots of fast-digesting carbohydrates, like sugar, requires the pancreas to release lots of insulin, meal after meal, day after day,” is an explanation given by Dr Ludwig. He also notes that excessive demand may overtax insulin-producing cells, causing them to malfunction, eventually leading to diabetes.

Bitter taste receptors aren’t only on your tongue; they’re found throughout your digestive system and on other organs. They largely go unused if you eat a traditional western diet, but stimulating those receptors with bitter foods and herbs positively affects hormones involved in controlling hunger and appetite, which could help keep cravings in check. Bitter herbs and aromatic bitters (bitter herb extracts in an alcohol base) are also commonly used in traditional medicine to help stabilize and maintain healthy blood sugar levels. The pancreas, which makes insulin, actually contains bitter taste receptors.

Sleep deficiency reduces insulin sensitivity and increases stress hormones, which both contribute to imbalanced blood sugar and subsequent sugar cravings. Aim for 8-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. If you are having trouble getting quality sleep, check out my helpful sleep hacks.

Stop Drinking Sugar in Alcoholic Drinks

Ever wonder why a former alcohol drinker’s drug of choice is usually sugar after kicking the booze? If they don’t go for sugar they may become suddenly great drinkers of coffee, or be attracted to marijuana, or nicotine. That’s apparently not a coincidence. The result when they go for sugar-added drinks is a weight problem. But, for many people, it is not even easy to stop drinking alcohol. Many of us have wondered why one friend can stop after one glass of wine when you’ve had four and still want more. It is now becoming clear that there are biochemical deficiencies that may predispose a person to addiction and binge behaviour. Most commonly the cause is imbalances in feel-good brain chemicals (known as neurotransmitters), blood sugar fluctuations, nutrient deficiencies that contribute to anxiety/depression, or a combination of these factors. These physiological imbalances drive a person to seek outside substances to help themselves feel normal. Alcohol particularly can temporarily boost levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for good moods, restful sleep, and prevention of cravings. Findings indicate a single drinking session increases serotonin, making those low in this neurotransmitter particularly sensitive to alcohol’s mood-boosting effects. These folks will have more of a tendency to binge drink and/or use drugs to feel good because their brain isn’t providing them with the proper levels of neurotransmitters they need for a balanced mood.

Tips to Stop Eating Sugar – A Conclusion

You might feel on top of the world once the sugar high hits you, but coming down off that high only causes the cycle to repeat itself. Eat sugar, feel energized, crash, and do it all over again when another craving strikes. In other words, the happiness you feel from the sugar only sticks around for a short while before disappearing and leaving you wanting more. A Columbia University study found that women who eat a lot of added sugars have a higher likelihood of experiencing mood swings, anxiety, depression, and irritability. If you want more stable emotions without the awful withdrawal symptoms, taking sugar out of your diet will help you tremendously.

By now, you know that sugar is bad for you and that it’s generally smart to eat less sugar if you can. Case in point: eating too much of it ups your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. The problem is that the standard American diet is chock-full of the sweet stuff, so cutting back is a pretty big feat. While avoiding sugar completely is impossible and not a good health move. Fruits are healthy for so many reasons but happen to also contain sugar. The fact remains though that cutting back on added sugars (that is, sugar content that isn’t naturally occurring in your food) is always a good idea. But, we don’t mean replace them with fake sugars either, because they are not totally risk-free. It’s hard to eat less sugar but as we have described in our tips to stop eating sugar, in this article, there is a way and it can be done, and when you succeed, as many do, it is incredibly worthwhile.

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