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Most of us crave sweets occasionally, especially around the holidays, but some crave them throughout the year and get a sweet tooth.
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Sweet Tooth- 16 Shocking Secrets to Combat Sweet Tooth
Sugar is delightful, and when derived from natural sources, it provides our bodies with much-needed energy. However, suppose you have a persistent sweet tooth that appeals to you several times daily. In that case, such desires can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, and other dangerous illnesses. Here are strategies to satisfy your sweet desire while still eating a balanced diet and learning to enjoy the taste of sugar responsibly.
1. Avoid High-Glycaemic-Index Foods
If you start your day with some white toast and orange juice, you are more likely to succumb to your sweet tooth later. A recent study found that high-carb or high-glycemic foods like white flour, popcorn, and potatoes can stimulate the same brain regions involved in substance addiction, resulting in an increased desire for carbohydrates and sugar.
2. Snack on Nutritious Foods
Instead of a bagel, consider starting your day with low-glycemic items like eggs, nuts, fruits, and veggies so your blood sugar doesn’t jump or drop too soon, causing you to crave sweets later. Fibre-rich foods can also help control your sweet tooth because they keep you full longer and stabilize your blood sugar. Fibre-rich foods include muesli, bananas, whole grains, and brown rice.
Fermented foods, such as yoghurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi, can also help you avoid the cookie jar due to their beneficial impact on your gut microbiota. According to research, the microbiota can modify serotonin levels and stress responses, reducing sugar demands.
3. Retrain Taste Buds Slowly
Abstinence from sugar may make you crave it even more, so try reducing your sugar intake gradually. For example, if you have a sweet tooth and regularly put three teaspoons of sugar in your morning cup of coffee, consider cutting it down to one teaspoon and then another teaspoon a week or two later. Continue until you’re acclimated to drinking it without any sugar.
If your taste buds are wailing, try a non-nutritive sweetener like aspartame, Stevia, or sucralose. Replace cookies, cakes, and pies with your favourite fresh fruit for dessert. Add cinnamon, vanilla extract, or ginger for flavour, or try dipping it in melted dark chocolate or basic yoghurt.
4. Stress Reduction
Stress can cause the hormone cortisol to accumulate in your body, raising your blood sugar and causing cravings. Find a stress-reduction technique that works best for you: meditation, exercise, aromatherapy, and engaging in a relaxing pastime are all excellent options.
5. Snack on a naturally sweet snack
When a craving happens, try something that will also provide fuel instead of reaching for the candy cabinet. Make a trail mix with almonds, dried fruit, and dark chocolate chips if you need a sugar boost and sustained energy.
6. Keep Hydrated
If you have a sweet tooth, staying hydrated has numerous advantages, and here’s another. “Drink plenty of water so you don’t confuse a craving with thirst. We frequently confuse thirst for hunger, so before you reach for the processed snack, try a bottle of water or flavoured seltzer and see how you feel.
7. Plan ahead of time
You prepare a healthy snack meal with carrots, hard-cooked eggs, celery, apples, and rice cakes with grapes and almonds. Here’s another incentive to prepare your meals. Preparing ahead will ensure that you eat something healthy. Having sugar-free treats on hand to quell the cravings helps. When you first start keto, you may experience cravings, but the cravings are gone once you are on keto.
8. Get enough rest
Researchers believe the quantity of sleep you get strongly correlates with a sweet tooth, even though it may appear unrelated. “It’s well-documented that people who are sleep-deprived crave sugary foods. Everyone has been there. You didn’t get a good night’s sleep, but you need to be productive the next day, so you rely on caffeine and sweets to keep you going. It works in the short term, but it leads to a poor diet and potential weight gain in the long term.
9. Salty meals
Although salt and sugar are opposed, consuming many salty foods might increase sugar cravings. “Salt is great for seasoning, but it is important to avoid super salty foods. They can cause a craving for sweet foods, so dinners out frequently result in wanting to head straight to the dessert menu. Before adding salt, season the cuisine with other spices.
10. Protein and Fiber
We all know how important protein is in our diet, but getting enough at each meal can help us avoid sweet tooths. “At every meal, consume protein and fibre!” “This is the most important tool you can have. Both protein and fibre help to slow down sugar, giving you greater control over your eating choices and making you less tempted to eat that cupcake!”
11. Get rid of the habit
The sweet tooth might be so intense that you believe your body needs sweets. Sugar demands are frequently conditioned responses. It’s either an ingrained habit for you to have a piece of chocolate or something sweet after a meal, so your body starts demanding it. Cravings can be emotional demands as well. Perhaps you’re stressed, depressed, or anxious and believe chocolate will help. Instead of thinking about sugar as something you need, consider it something you want but will attempt to avoid.
12. Effects of Emotions
Understanding why you crave sugar might be a big help in overcoming it. “Know your reason ‘why, Emotions, behaviours, and nutrient deficiencies can trigger cravings.” When you are craving ice cream, consider whether you are restless. Are you in a good mood? Sad? “Are you stressed?”. Asking these questions and figuring out why you need what you’re craving will also help you conquer the emotion in the future.
13. Apply the 85/15 rule
Ensure that 85% of your meals contain naturally healthy foods such as fresh produce, lean protein, and healthy fats. The remaining 15% can include some treats. If you make certain foods illegal, you will crave them even more. A small treat now and then never hurts. Then there is a very low chance of getting a sweet tooth.
14. Sweet Defeat Lozenge
Sweet Defeat is a natural lozenge that reduces sugar appetites in seconds. This tiny lozenge is all-natural and clinically proven to prevent sugar cravings before they begin. Doctors have been giving them to clients who get a sweet tooth regularly and have noticed a significant improvement.
15. Surrender to the urge
Many people believe that cravings like sweet tooth grow and grow until you give in. However, this is different. Instead, imagine your sugar needs as a wave that will become larger and stronger but finally lessen and vanish, just like a wave.
Giving your lips another distraction is another fantastic technique to keep sugar cravings at bay. Allow the need to pass by chewing sugar-free gum, sipping warm herbal tea, or simply doing something else. Allow enough time to pass while drinking or waiting for the piping hot tea for you to think through the craving. The majority of cravings last up to 30 minutes.
16. Use your sense of smell
The body is a strange thing. Simply smelling something sweet and decadent can frequently fool your brain into thinking you ate it. For example, if you are obsessed with candle scents like cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies. They make the entire house smell like you just baked some homemade goodies! And you won’t have to look far to find similar-smelling body washes, soaps, and lotions; this is how you can avoid the sweet tooth.
Why Do We Have a Sugar Craving?
We crave sweets for a variety of reasons. That appetite could be genetic. “Sweet is the first taste humans prefer from birth. “Carbohydrates cause the feel-good brain chemical serotonin to be released. Sugar is a carbohydrate; however, carbohydrates can also be found in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, including fibre and minerals your body requires. Endorphins generated by sugar calm and relax us and provide a natural “high”. Sweets are also delicious. And when you reward yourself with sweet treats, it reinforces your predilection, making you crave it even more. With all that going for it, how could we not have a sweet tooth?
The difficulty arises when we overindulge in sugary treats regularly, and it becomes a sweet tooth. This is easy to do when sugar is added to many processed meals, such as bread, yoghurt juices, and sauces. And Americans overdo it, averaging 17 teaspoons per day, according to the American Heart Association, which recommends limiting added sugars to 6 teaspoons per day for women and nine teaspoons per day for men. Before using any home or herbal remedy for sweet tooth consult your doctor.
