How to Control Sugar Cravings
Need to eat sugar is triggered by our body. This is body’s naturally tendency to tell you that blood sugar levels are dropping and need to be replenished. Over a period of time this physiological reaction becomes psychological and we start to mistake this desire as need. This is when most of the trouble begins that traditionally transforms into weight gain and then eventually lifestyle diseases like high blood sugar & diabetes type 2. Sugar cravings can be controlled and managed with some effort.
Sugar Cubes (Cr/freedigital)
Sugar is a carbohydrate and quickly breaks down in our body providing energy and releases happy hormone serotonin which makes us feel good and reduces stress and anxiety. The sweet taste of sugar is liked by most people from birth and indulge in eating them for sugar cravings. Sugar is also known to release endorphins also known as “happy hormones” that is the reason why we also crave them when we are sad or generally stressed.
How do we control this urge? First we should start with understanding what is your daily sugar intake and what are the main sources of it. Let us explain this through an example of the common sugar foods consumed by us on a daily basis like a cup of tea/coffee, sweetened cereals like cornflakes, musselli aerated drinks or sweetened drinks like packaged juices & lemonade along with one or two desserts/chocolates through the day.
Here is a quick list of a calories per serving:
Sugar coated cereals- 127 kcal (3/4 cup)
Tea spn of sugar- 20 kcal
100 ml aerated drink/soda- 37 kcal
1 chocolate- (plain Bar , 49 g of chocolate) 250 Kcal
Packaged juice-110 kcal (250 ml)
Energy drinks-152 Kcal (350 ml/one can)
All this roughly mounts upto 700 calories if you have one of each of these things listed. Incase you are looking to lose weight than you just require 2 tea spoons of sugar in a day. Besides processed sugar doesnt have any health benefits . Read here to know how it affects our health. Read more
Are you Eating Empty Calories ?
All foods give us energy (or calories) but are all foods nutritious?
Calories can come from fats, carbohydrates, proteins. But for optimum functioning of the body, our body requires micro nutrients such as vitamins & minerals and anti-oxidants required for good body metabolism, tissue repair and optimum regulation of bodily functions.
‘Empty calories’ are calories from foods that are high in calories but low in nutritional values. It lacks the health promoting nutrients essential for healthy living.
You can use Fitho’s calorie counter to search for any specific food and calculate its calories and see its full nutrition facts.
Empty Calories = High Calories but Low Nutrition
Empty calories are bad because they only give you calories and usually, a high amount of sugar. Foods that contain empty calories are Read more
