Sugar addicted? Ten foods that will help you
Sugar addicted ; I know everything about it. For years I opted for a fairly healthy breakfast and lunch. But woe when it started to get close to four; then the licorice jar or a piece of chocolate in the back of my desk drawer started to wink at me and when I started it there was no stopping it. I’ve been a sugar junkie for over 25 years; especially at noon and in the evening. We all know by now that sugar and sweets are not healthy for us and many of us want to get rid of this addictive substance, but that is not easy. What can you help with that? I have listed ten foods for you. They have been a fantastic help for me. I hope it helps you too.
Is sugar just as addictive as cocaine?
Just to encourage you, if you are addicted to sugar, know that this is not a lack of willpower. It’s not that you don’t have a backbone or persistence. Stop tormenting yourself with these thoughts. Sugar and sweets are just as addictive as opium, marijuana and even cocaine. Who doubts the highly addictive effect of cocaine? No one. Sugar has a similar addictive effect on your brain to cocaine.
Sugar addicted: cold turkey or step by step kicking the habit?
There is a lot of different advice on how best to get rid of sweets. One advises cold turkey or (for a while) completely stop with sweets, another advices to do it step by step. Personally, I am in the middle: take it step by step, but do take significant steps. You don’t have to avoid sweets completely, your body just needs a little sweets, but choose the type of sweets that you allow. To start, stop eating ready-made pastries, cookies, sweets, yes also licorice (mostly sugar), sweet dairy desserts, ice cream, chocolate, sweet snacks and everything that is clearly high in sugars. If you take this step, you are already well on the right track.
Replace them with healthier things, which may also be sweet, but a healthier form of sweet, such as sweet fruit or, if necessary, homemade sweets without white sugar. The next step, phasing out, will then become easier because you will soon notice that your taste buds are coming to help you: they quickly signal that many processed products are extra sweetened and you will start to like them less and less. Be aware of this and increasingly make healthier, less sweet choices. What else can help you kick the habit from sweets? I have listed ten foods. In random order.
1. Coconut oil for a boost of extra energy (but only the best quality)
We often use sugars to quickly boost our energy levels. There are of course many more ways for this, such as taking a deep breath, quickly walking up and downstairs, getting some fresh air, etc. You can also use coconut oil for this. If you are going to largely omit sugars from your menu, add healthy fats; these become your new energy givers. Especially extra virgin, organic coconut oil (packaged in glass, not plastic!) Can give you a quick boost; its fats are immediately converted into energy and it tastes delicious. A double portion of energy? Then stir a spoonful of coconut oil into your coffee! This is called Bulletproof coffee.
2. Dried apricots for the dip around 4 pm
If your blood sugar level still fluctuates a lot (as a result of eating too much sweets for years), you can still suffer from an enormous craving for sweets for a while. Try to avoid pink cakes and other sweet nonsense from now on, and always have some dried apricots on hand. Choose the unsulphurised, dark brown, variant. Unsulphurised apricots are a form of sweetness that does not immediately raise your blood sugar level. Eat them with some raw nuts so that you get some healthy fats at the same time. Eat consciously, chew well, taste and enjoy. This sweet snack is full of healthy nutrients; that’s what your body can turn into energy.
3. Nuts, seeds and kernels: a healthy source of vegetable proteins
Eating protein is also a great way to counteract a high sugar craving. My preference is for vegetable proteins, because you get so much more other healthy nutrients. I just mentioned the raw nuts. Think of almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias and/or Brazil nuts. Also think of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and all kinds of seeds: sesame seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds. Always have some of these in stock and sprinkle them on your salad or eat them as a snack. Also choose a nut butter such as almond butter, cashew nut butter or pumpkin seed butter. These can be purchased in health food stores. You can make a delicious dressing with this, you can add it to a green smoothie or spread it on a (preferably gluten-free) sandwich. Note: peanuts are not nuts but legumes, which is not what I mean.
4. Cinnamon for stable blood sugar
You can partly replace sweets with a sweet spice such as cinnamon. Large amounts of cinnamon go through it with me. Cinnamon is known to help keep your blood sugar levels stable; in this way it helps to reduce your craving for sweets. The fewer blood sugar peaks, the fewer dips there will be and we experience that irrepressible need for sugars precisely in those dips. Those are the times when you feel that you need energy quickly. If your blood sugar level is stable, you will notice that your craving for sweets has decreased. Use cinnamon wherever you think it is good: over a bowl of fruit, an oatmeal breakfast, in a smoothie, over pieces of apple or banana or with your hot meal if it goes with the other spices.
5. Sweet potato (sweet potato); nutrition for your healthy gut bacteria.
Another sweet-tasting food that is, however, much healthier than most sweets. A sweet potato is a completely different product than a regular potato. Sweet potatoes are a source of inulin and inulin also helps to keep your blood sugar levels in balance. In addition, it gives you a longer feeling of satiety and the starch in sweet potato belongs to the category of resistant starch: this is a valuable food for your intestinal bacteria. Despite the fact that sweet potatoes taste really sweet, they do not cause your blood sugar to rise. They also contain a lot antioxidants and vitamin C. What more could you want? Regularly add sweet potatoes to your menu!
6. Avocados for a healthy, full feeling
Let’s go green because you can’t live on sweets alone. Your body needs a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, because ultimately the mitochondria make in all your body cells that is your energy. If you feel a need for food (sweets), your body often needs moisture or real food, which is saturated and contains healthy nutrients. Before you dive into that cookie jar around 4 a.m., drink a large glass of water at room temperature and spoon out half an avocado with some freshly ground pepper and salt. You can also use it with a (preferably gluten-free) cracker or rice cake. Avocados contain plenty of nourishing substances and healthy fats that make you saturated quickly. Still in the mood for something sweet? Toss an avocado in your blender with the juice of an orange and a spoonful of raw cocoa and some chunks of dried apricot. Blend and spoon slowly. Bet you no longer want cookies?
7. Spirulina; nutrition for your hungry brain
Even more green: the algae spirulina. If you regularly become restless at 10 o’clock in the evening and suffer from downpours, chances are that it is not your stomach but your brain that sends you on your way. Your brain needs a dopamine boost to counteract the fact that you get tired. It is of course best to go to bed on time. If that doesn’t work, make sure your brain does something dopamine gets. The raw material for dopamine is an amino acid called tyrosine, which you can find in spirulina, among other things. Spirulina is also called the 100% natural multivitamin. It is also an excellent source of easily absorbable proteins. Drink a large glass of water at room temperature and take a few spirulina tablets. Think of them as food, not as medicine, even if they are not that tasty.
8. Plenty of vegetables for your body tomorrow
Every nutritionist agrees; we should eat a lot more vegetables. Not just green, but in all colors of the rainbow. Each color has its own nutrients for us. Vegetables are full of substances that protect them as a plant against fungi, insects and diseases. Precisely these same substances also protect us against all kinds of diseases, fungi and viruses. All these substances together feed all our cells, which contain our energy factories. Your body is constantly changing; every second. It builds on what you eat today. Your body of tomorrow is on your plate today.
Be tough for once and at work casually eat such a beautiful red pointed pepper instead of an apple or banana. You can eat the seeds and throw away the stalk. Taste how sweet such a pointed pepper actually is and visualize the happy cells in your body, which you have given plenty of nutrition with this to give you a stronger and more beautiful body tomorrow.
9. Dark chocolate
If you have eaten such a red pointed pepper, you can end your healthy snagging with a piece of dark or raw chocolate. Who does not know the good feeling you get from chocolate? Chocolate contains tryptophan, which your body converts into serotonin; a fabric that gives you that nice feeling. Dark chocolate also contains magnesium, a calming agent that many women lack, especially when they are under stress. Remember that weaning from sweets is also a form of stress for your body. Dark chocolate also contains theobromine and caffeine, which give your brain a boost, as well as plenty of antioxidants. Choose raw cocoa or dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa. The darker the better. If you want to kick the habit of a chocolate addiction (recognizable!), Buy 90% or even 99% and grate this over your (fruit) breakfast in the morning. Very tasty! You can also use raw cocoa nibs very well, click here.
10. Eggs; especially for a sugar-free start to the day
If there is one thing that makes it difficult for yourself to get through the day sugar-free, it is to start with a sweet breakfast. Believe me; most breakfasts are too sweet for people with fluctuating blood sugar. Especially sandwiches. Bread reacts like sugar in your body. A good start to the day is therefore something with eggs. Make an omelet with some vegetables (something left over from yesterday?) Or a scrambled egg with lots of green herbs and some sweet potato, wild salmon or feta in it. Or try a bowl of warm oatmeal with pieces of avocado and a poached egg on top. Sprinkle with some (sesame) seeds. Really great! Eggs and sesame seeds, like spirulina, also contain tyrosine, which makes you feel good.
It’s not easy to get rid of sweets. Avoid as many processed foods as possible: 80% of them have sugar added. Stop playing the addictive game of food industry and get out. You will get a lot of health and energy in return.
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