We’ve written many articles about sugar before: click here to see the list of them. A good preface to this is Why Sugar is Addictive.
And sugar addiction is a real issue plaguing most Americans today- it is hidden in even in our “savory” foods and leads to many health problems. Here are some questions to ask yourself to see if you are addicted to sugar:
1. Do you crave sweets or “comfort foods” like pasta or pizza when you are feeling upset, angry, or down?
2. Do you ever feel guilty about the amount of sugar or starchy carbs you eat?
3. Have you ever tried to cut back on the amount of sugar you eat and been unsuccessful, that the cravings your get are too strong?
4. Are you unable to finish a meal or celebrate an event or birthday without needing to eat something sweet?
5. Do you crash every day in the late afternoon and look for something sweet to eat or drink as a pick-me-up?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you are most likely addicted to sugar. The most effective way to rid yourself of your addiction is to do a sugar detox. Use these strategies to rid yourself of your sugar dependence for good and start feeling and looking better instantly!
• Get rid of any and all the artificial sweeteners (this includes diet soda). Artificial sweeteners are 200-700 times sweeter than regular sugar and cause an imbalance in your palate, causing you to need more sugar, real or fake, to be satisfied.
• Learn how to really read labels and spot the sugars! Manufacturers get sneaky and call sugars by a variety of names. Learn sugar’s clever disguises and make sure they aren’t in products that you wouldn’t expect them to be in like salad dressings and pasta sauce. Such names include glucose, high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, carob syrup, maltilol, among about 200 other names. Learn to recognize them!
• Avoid foods that will feed your cravings and cause you to eat even more sugar or starchy carbohydrates. These include foods made with white flour, starchy vegetables like corn, potatoes, and winter squash, and high glycemic fruits like bananas, pineapple, and watermelon. Instead eat green leafy vegetables and high fiber fruits like apples, blueberries, and citrus.
For more tips, read our article 20 Tips to Curb Sugar Craving and Kick the Addiction!
