Curb Sugar Cravings

Halloween is just a few weeks away, which is evident by the abundance of candy every where you look.  From the grocery and drug store aisles, to your coworker's desk, to your doctor's office - Sugar is everywhere! With its tempting, sweet allure, and its adorable packaging, how could you say no? I know I have trouble resisting! My sweet tooth is insatiable sometimes.

Did you know that sugar qualifies as an addictive substance? There are two reasons for this:

1. Eating even a small amount creates a desire for more.

2. Quitting suddenly causes withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, mood swings, cravings and fatigue.

Most of us know that sugar is bad for us. Plain and simple. It rots our teeth, it causes our energy to spike and crash and it makes us fat. 

So how do we curb those nasty sugar cravings?

The most effective way to curb your sugar cravings is to not give in to them to begin with. Sure this may be easier said than done, but when you're armed with alternative options any time you feel that sugar twitch, you have a much higher likelihood for success.  

Five easy ways to reduce sugar consumption:

1. Swap out sugar-covered cereals with an item that has five ingredients or less; keep sugar fewer than 10g or less. Replace pre-packaged oatmeal with rolled or steel cut oats that you flavor yourself. Check out this easy recipe for oats on the go.

2. When you pack a lunch, focus on whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. Fill up on the good stuff at dinner so that you don't have room for dessert.

3. If you do opt for dessert, skip the ice cream and serve icy snacks like homemade fruit sorbets and frozen bananas, or a fun fruit, like pomegranate. Eating a date or two is a great way to get a natural sweet boost; just don't go overboard as the sugar content is still high.

4. Replace sugary sport drinks, soda, and refined juices with water, fresh juice, unsweetened or naturally sweetened tea or nut milk.

5. Switch out candies, cookies, and cakes with wholesome snacks and fruits (apples with peanut butter, grapes, whole grain crackers, dried fruit leather, etc.), especially for Halloween. Having snacks that make you feel good will help with temptations for all the bad stuff surrounding you at the office or at parties. If you live in a tight knit community, try to get all your neighbors on board to hand out healthy alternatives to sweets and chocolates for the trick or treaters. 

How you can calculate your sugar consumption?

One small cube of sugar is equal to four grams. Grab a box of cereal, a fruit juice, or a box of cookies from your refrigerator or pantry. Find the amount of sugar in grams in this item, and divide that number by four. The number you see is the amount of sugar cubes for just one serving of that item. Most often, we consume more than one serving and those sugar cubes quickly add up. This method will allow you to see exactly how much sugar you are consuming on a daily basis.

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Nerdfitness.com has a very detailed post about sugar if you want to learn even more.