Do You Crave Sugar?
Karen Morris
With our new 30 day challenge well and truly underway, I’ve been getting A LOT of questions about how to reduce sugar intake. For those who are new to the blog (welcome!) here is a little re-cap on what’s involved with this new challenge, and why cutting sugar is such an important part of it!
To recap, this new challenge involves
• 8 glasses of water a day
• 10k steps a day
• No sugar
If you haven’t already, head over to Facebook and follow Herbs Online Shop for daily inspiration. If you’re wanting to join the challenge it is not too late, simply search ‘HerbsOnlineShop 30 Day Challenge’ Members Group in Facebook and you can join a network of supportive members.
Now, onto cutting sugar!
Sugar is one of the most addictive substances we can consume but when we crave it, it usually means one of few things. The first, you may have gut absorptions issues and your body could be lacking in a certain vitamin or mineral such as magnesium, or, you are very stressed and are in fight and flight response, or, you’ve been consuming enough sugar to have developed a bit of an addiction.
So, lets talk about sugar addiction. If you have a sweet tooth and sugar is a staple part of your diet, you might find you crave it every day. If you cut sugar out of your diet for three weeks, you will begin to discover those sugar cravings only hit when your body needs a boost of carbohydrates and/or a top up of essential nutrients. Carbohydrates are broken down in the body as sugars, so if you have adopted a low carb diet, you will find sugar cravings can hit pretty intensely every few days or weeks. The simple solution to this is to enjoy some carbs that you might have omitted from your diet, such as potatoes or sweet potatoes. Usually, an intense sugar craving can be eradicated with about 250 – 300g of sweet potato or 6 – 7 rice cakes. You could also reach for a banana, an apple or enjoy some steamed rice with a stir-fry. The key to removing sugar from your diet completely is to start to listen to your body, when we are in tune with our body we can really understand what it is we actually need. If you put in the work to get to this point, where you really feel like you know what your body needs, you will discover you rarely if ever reach for conventional sugar. It will become natural to reach for the foods nature has provided for us when we need a boost in our nutrition.
There are some simple ways to develop this sense of self-awareness when it comes to your diet and your body. A keen sense of self-awareness is available to everyone, not just those who work in the fitness or health industry. Some of the ways you can do this are to write out what you eat. When you write down what you eat everyday, you begin to understand more about yourself and your food choices. Writing down what you eat allows you to reflect on your nutrition choices, become aware of incidental sugar intake throughout the day and take back control of your food choices. If you find yourself not wanting to write everything out, perhaps it is because subconsciously, you know there are things you are consuming throughout the day that are contributing to your weight gain or health complications. Some people use the app My FitnessPal to track their food, however I find simply writing it out in a diary is a great way to start if you’re just beginning.
If you are struggling with sugar addiction, the Gymnema Liquid Herb Extract from www.herbsonlineshop.com is a wonderful help and can substantially reduce sugar cravings in the body.
Please, as always, give me a call (for free) to discuss an individualized plan we can put in place for you to help keep you on track during this challenge? Everybody is different and you may need vitamin and mineral support or herbal support to help you achieve your personal goals.
For anyone already on a treatment plan from herbsonlineshop.com please feel free to contact me to discuss any questions you may have (02 9555 5117).
As always, please feel free to get in touch with me via the www.herbsonlineshop.com contact page and if you’re not already, why not follow the @herbsonlineshop Instagram account and Facebook page and group. I post daily about my clinic, my top health tips and information about custom herbs and supplements, just for you!