5 Tips to Beat Sugar

Finding Healthy Alternatives and Reducing Sugar Intake

Sugar is one of those tricky things. We have a natural craving for sugar from birth, it is one way to attract the infant to drink milk, yet too much sugar can harm our bodies, peak our glycemic index and lead towards diabetes and health problems. Issues come into play though with just how addictive sugar is and how many products add sugar. It becomes incredibly challenging to combat sugar in your diet when you have to resort to convenience food or when you eat out a lot. I know I also crave sugar when I am stressed out or as a “reward” after a hard day. There is hope though! We have several ways to help you kick your sugar habits!

1 - Watch your Drinks!

Drinks are the number one culprit for secret sugar. Always check the labels on prepackaged drinks. And don't think that your favorite coffee or tea from the local cafe is safe either. Unless you are getting a straight coffee or latte with no flavors, chances are the flavored syrups used to create that indulgent coffee are also loaded with sugar. Your best bet is to make your coffee and tea yourself, or ask for no sugar or syrups and add your own sweeteners. You can experiment with artificial or plant based sweeteners like monkfruit and stevia and see if you find a good mix. I also love flavored soda waters with no added sugars. I feel like between the carbonation and hint of flavor I am drinking something more “fun” than regular water.

2 - Beat Cravings with Berries and Honey

Though all sugar, be it from dairy, refined sugars or fruits, will affect your glycemic index, sugars with other nutrients that come along with them are great ways to get the cravings in check and get a little something extra. Berries such as raspberries, blackberries and strawberries all have low sugar contents and high amounts of fiber making them a great thing to run to when you are absolutely wanting sugar. Also, when it is time to sweeten your tea and coffee, instead of going for white sugar try honey or agave. Both syrups give added health benefits. If you get your honey from a local source it will provide natural allergy relief to what is in bloom in your area as well as well as antioxidants. Agave has a lower glycemic reaction than other sweeteners and is also a natural anti inflammatory. It is a close to impossible task to eliminate all sugar, but at least you can grab some other benefits with it.

3 - Eat Balanced Meals

We tend to crave sugar when we are very hungry or have skipped a meal. Because our body is craving nutrition, it will make us crave and over eat anything we consume at that point. Help avoid these intense binge sessions by keeping your meals or snacking up throughout the day. Don't let yourself get to the point of extreme hunger where you will make unwise decisions. Likewise, be sure to keep those meals and snacks nutritious, eating junk and filler food will not give you body what it craves and you will continue to be tempted.

4 - Stay Hydrated

Just as being hungry can make us overeat or eat too much sugar, so can being dehydrated. Dehydration can sneak up on you, especially if you are tired or have been drinking a lot of caffeinated beverages.  Being dehydrated doesn't always mean you are craving water, sometimes we are dehydrated and don't even feel thirsty. Combat your thirst by keeping water with you throughout the day and consuming a glass of water before and after your meals. An added bonus to water consumption before a meal is that you will eat less and feel satisfied sooner.

5 - Get Sleep

Our final advice for beating your sugar cravings is to stay rested. If you haven't already picked up on the theme here, your body needs to have all the fuel it needs to function properly. When your body is low on one of its resources it will begin to malfunction and cause cravings for simple carbs that will give immediate energy boosts instead of lasting nutrition. When you get a full night's sleep you are not only working at your top performance you are also less likely to over eat and make poor eating decisions.

As with any goal, the best thing is to start small and work your way up and not to be discouraged by setbacks. No success is ever permanent and no failure is ever the end if you keep working towards what you want. Start with these small habits and you will be surprised on how quickly you can turn your eating habits around. Reach out to us with any comments or questions at info@bullionite.com. Find more healthy tips at our blog https://www.bullionite.com/blog-index.