Beat Sugar Cravings – Part 2
Who doesn’t know what it feels like to have an intense need for sugar. It usually presents itself as an overwhelming urge to eat some sugary food…and fast! The result is an extremely short-lived “high” and then a plunge into a feeling of “low”. Like all good things, overcoming it can be done but with a lot of work! Sugar cravings gameplans were discussed the last time we met. I also underlined the importance of doing so for people who have to deal with the effects of ADD/ADHD. This week’s article will continue this discussion by profiling some more excellent strategies for ‘beating the binge’!
Plan and record your ‘eating day’: Keeping a food journal in which you record what you intend to eat and what you actually ate can be an excellent way of gaining control of you dietary habits. Doing this for a few weeks will help you to determine the width of the gap between perception (how you think you are doing) and reality. You might even find out what causes you to crave those sugar moments. This strategy will work best if you keep an actual journal (perhaps in a small notebook that you always keep with you) rather than just composing mental lists.
Exercise regularly: Being told to exercise in order to soften the impact of sugar rushes may sound counterintuitive since it would seem ‘logical’ that the body would demand more sugar after exercising. Physical exercise can create an effect opposite of what you might expect just by making a few healthy changes in your diet.
Nix the “fake” sugar: Many think that if they consume “fake” sugar that they will overcome the need for sugar. Our tongue can be tricked into believing that we just had the “real” thing, but the remainder of your body is still waiting for its fix! You could discover that this hurts you in two ways as the body savors the sweetness and yearns for more and at the same time craving more and more until real sugar is consumed. Not everyone react to sweeteners in this way. You should however be aware of your own reaction and then modify your eating habits accordingly.
Monitor the effects of caffeine: Some people report sugar cravings immediately after drinking coffee or other caffeine laden drinks. Keeping a dietary journal will help you to determine whether this might be a problem in your case. If it is indeed the case you should obviously (hard as it might be!) try to scale back on caffeine as far as possible.
Create craving bombs: Implement new habits that get you focused on something else positive and draw your attention away from the strong craving. You are the only one to decide which habits are best for you and to implement them. You might try taking a stroll outside or doing a simple act such as brushing your teeth when you feel the beginnings of a craving episode. If this is impractical because of work circumstances you could focus on mental exercises (e.g. using mental images of closing the door on what your body is trying to force you to do).
Design a ‘craving unfriendly’ diet: Some types of foods and supplements have been proven to help reduce the incidence of cravings. These should never be the only thing you stand on though it can only help you if you bring them into your diet instead of becoming your diet. You might want to consider adding these items to your daily diet:
• Ginseng
• Green Tea
• High Potency B-Complex Vitamins (with biotin, L-glutamine and chromium)
• Gymnema – A herb that can be placed on the tongue to help ward off cravings.
You might think that trying to control your sugar cravings to such a degree is a little much, but rest assured that it has been proven that this plan of action in your daily managmenet of ADD/ADHD is vital for success. This can occur due to sudden increases in our sugar levels that go beyond our physical selfs and effects our mental and emotional states. Maintaining balanced blood sugar levels can therefore sometimes be synonymous with maintaining balanced mental performance! This is, however, far from the only benefit of healthy blood sugar levels. See what we have to discuss next week about the natural treatment for ADHD through avoiding sugar!
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