Written by Jacqueline Alwill, Accredited Nutritionist @brownpapernutrition
Are sugar cravings hitting you hard each day, and you want to stop them in their tracks? Let’s look at some of the common culprits contributing to sugar cravings and how you can say goodbye to those cravings for good.
1. Aim For 2 + 5 Every Day
You might feel like comparing bread made with flour to bread made with flour is like apples for apples, but it’s not quite that way. While both are made with wheat, it’s the way our bodies digest these breads that is quite different. White bread made with a polished, bleached and refined grain undergoes very rapid digestion. The carbohydrates from the white flour are broken down into sugars and released quickly into the bloodstream, raising blood sugar levels (which can also be compounded by what’s actually on your white bread too). Whole wheat, whole grain or ancient grain (spelt, kamut, buckwheat etc) bread, on the other hand, are rich in fiber that slows digestion and the release of sugar into the bloodstream, leaving us feeling fuller and more energized for longer.
2. Make Simple Swaps
Love an afternoon soda but find you’re STILL craving sugar after the sugary soda? Time to swap that crazy sugar-coated can for something real, guilt-free, satisfying, charged with goodness and without sugar. Meet Liquid Remedy Orange Splash Kombucha – your new fizzy friend that’s FULL OF FLAVOR and contains gut lovin’ live cultures to help support your gut. Neat right? You’ll find Liquid Remedy Kombucha in all your favorite flaves, including Raspberry Lemonade, Mixed Berry, Ginger Lemon and more local grocer. Try making the swap the next time you’re craving something sweet but want to make it right and give your gut some love!
3. Don’t Skip Meals
Ever thought you were doing the right thing by eating a small meal or skipping a meal to save on calories? Mmmmm, what about when you eat double or more at your next meal, though? Or skip lunch only to find your sugar cravings are cranking after dinner. Those cravings are behaving this way because you haven’t given your body the fuel it needs throughout the day. The result? The sugar fiend emerges. The lesson? Don’t skip meals. Your body and your blood sugar levels will thank you for it.
4. Fiber First
If you feel like you’ve ticked all the boxes so far and wondering why you’re still craving sugar after your meal, try shuffling the way you consume your meal around ever so slightly. Start the meal with your most fibrous component – hello, big bowl of salad. Follow this with your protein and fats BEFORE you eat your starchy carbs such as potatoes, rice, pasta etc. (these break down to sugars in our body). Consuming your fiber first helps to buffer and slow the breakdown and absorption of the starchy carbs and their sugars, resulting in a more even delivery of glucose to the bloodstream. PSA. If you’re really clever, have a Liquid Remedy Kombucha 20-30 minutes before your meal to reap the benefits!
5. Hit The Sack
You’ve likely experienced a day of feeling hungry for sugar after a night of poor quality or not enough sleep. Sleep is the low-hanging fruit for health, but we’re increasingly battling to reach out and grab it, so we find ourselves seeking out those energy-dense high-sugar foods and drinks to combat low energy. Not only that, but reduced sleep can affect the production of hormones, including those involved in regulating our hunger. Ghrelin, our appetite-stimulating hormone, rises with poor sleep, whilst leptin, our hormone responsible for helping us realize satiety, is lowered. The changes in how each is regulated are the perfect storm for hunting down sugar from the minute we wake.
6. Swap packet cookies/biscuits for a batch of home baked.
Sometimes it’s easy to open a packet of cookies and unintentionally eat more than just one. The sugar in packet cookies, combined with the refined flours and oils, generally means a bit of melt-in-your-mouth (minimal need for chewing and processing the cookies) moment, so it feels easy to eat many instead of just the one. Rather than fall into a repeat trap of cookies by the packet, make a batch of wholesome cookies which minimize unnecessary ingredients such as refined sugars, thickeners, stabilizers, and preservatives. With a base of almonds in these cookies, you’ll also up your intake of healthy fats, cool inflammation, support heart and brain health, and dim those sugar cravings.
