Do you:
- Have excess fat around your belly?
- Have trouble managing your weight, even on low-fat diets?
- Experience strong cravings for sugar or other carbs?
- Have blood sugar levels that are a little high?
- Tend to eat when you’re not hungry?
If so, keep reading you may be shortening your life expectancy by eating too much sugar.
For the past few decades, we’ve been told fat is bad. We’ve believed that fat is responsible for an epidemic of obesity and problem. We’re now learning that sugar is what is really causing destroying our health.
Current research has found that sugar, no matter its form, plays a much larger role than fat in obesity and chronic problem, not just in the US, but also around the world.
Sugar is not only a major culprit in heart problem, dementia, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and depression, but even acne, impotence, and infertility.
If that’s not enough to convince you to cut back on the sweet poison, here’s more. Sugar is highly addictive, eight times more addictive than cocaine.
Sugar addiction is not merely a psychological eating disorder, it’s based in hormones and neurotransmitters that drive cravings and cause overeating.
By following a few healthy steps, you can reverse many of these problems with a diet of addiction-busting foods.
Here’s how I ditched my sugar cravings and lost 10 lbs. without dieting.
With this healthy approach, you will beat cravings without tasteless, boring food, or feeling deprived. Instead, you’ll enjoy plenty of delicious fare.
1. Go Cold Turkey
For at least the next ten days, do your best to avoid anything from a box, package, or can that has a list of unpronounceable ingredients, and eat plenty of fresh, whole food.
2. Drink Plenty of Pure Water
Drinking sugar is worse than eating because it bypasses much of the digestive tract and goes directly to the liver.
When you do this, you turn off your liver’s fat storage and redirect all those calories into belly fat.
What’s more, hormones that signal feelings of fullness aren’t released, so you end up consuming many more calories through the day and crave even more sugar and carbs.
Hydrate with plenty of clean, clear water. Green vegetable juice is acceptable, as are unsweetened teas and coffee.
Hint: Drink our Mediterranean-style green tea. Put cinnamon and tea in boiling water for 5-10 min. Stir in lemon juice, raw honey, and cayenne if you wish.
Just three to four cups a day is an easy amount to kick-start your metabolism and curb your craving attacks.
3. Power Up With Protein
Protein, especially for breakfast, is key to maintaining blood sugar and insulin levels, and to reducing cravings. Consider starting your day with whole, farm-fresh eggs from free-range chickens.
Hint: Boost your fiber intake by tossing in 1/2 cup of chopped red peppers. You’ll get more than 100% of your daily vitamin C needs.
The rest of the day, enjoy a 4-6 ounce serving of nuts, seeds, or poultry at every meal and snack.
4. Enjoy the Right Carbs
Vegetables contain carbs, but these carbs are the kind that pack lots of nutrition, without negatively affecting your blood sugar.
Eat as much as you want, whenever you like.
Hint: Consuming Vinegar before a meal containing carbs may lower blood sugar spikes. Simply eat this salad with a vinegar-based dressing for lunch or dinner.
The following foods can be finely grated, chopped, or minced and mixed together:
- 1 or 2 Tomatoes
- 1 or 2 Carrots
- 1-2 Cup(s) Spinach or Lettuce
5. Eat Enough Fat
Remember it’s sugar, not fat, that makes you fat. Fat helps fill you up, regulates your blood sugar, and fuels the cells.
Be sure to include a bit of fat along with your protein at every meal.
Good sources are nuts, seeds, avocados, fish, and, of course, extra virgin olive oil.
6. Destress
Stress throws your hormones out of balance. When you’re stressed, your body is flooded with the hormone cortisol, which increases hunger, leads to belly fat, and contributes to type 2 diabetes.
Reducing stress is as simple as taking a few deep breaths.
Try this: Close your eyes and inhale for a count of five, and exhale for a count of five.
Do this five times before every meal, and see how you feel.
7. Have a Snooze
Sleep deprivation influences appetite hormones and increases cravings.
Fight the urge to overeat by making sure you get plenty of sleep each night.
Hint: Before going to sleep, mix Greek yogurt with raw honey and a sliced banana. They’ll help you sleep better and wake up rested.
