Sugar Cravings!

chez_lotr

Hey all, I have a ridiculous sweet tooth and often get sugar cravings what are your tips for not giving in?

lalacroft25

Im going cold turkey with junk food and drink with sugar in. Its hard work lol

jamessteelapim

Sugar is addictive as nicotine. Why do you think they put it in all that junk food. It is to sell as much of their product as they can. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, 10 years ago, and have weaned myself off sugar completely. I still have a chocolate as an odd treat.
I use MFP to count my sugar intake, just like you count calories. Sugary items taste revoltingly sweet to me now.
In the medical profession, sugar is known as the "hidden killer", for all ages, including children. Do not try to go cold turkey, just gradually reduce your sugar intake, using MFP

_mr_b

I think we all get it to a degree, sometimes you just need something sweet!

I guess the best thing you can do is manage it and avoid the highs and lows, try cutting out the foods with excessive sugars in and try substituting chocolate bars etc with better sugars like fruit.

I cut down from 2 sugars in hot drinks to none which makes a big difference when you drink as much tea as me still have the odd KitKat though.

soniee

The good news is, like any other addiction you have, the less you have it then eventually the less you want it. Sugar is a big evil. Watch out for it naturally too like in fruit. Choose veg over fruit if possible.

I have 1 or 2 squares of dark chocolate 70% after dinner if I'm still wanting something sweet and that works . Alternatively i make an organic hot chocolate with almond milk, adding and 2 buttons of kokoa product-get it from ocado -it's totally delish . Dark choc is actually good for you in small amounts.

Good luck

soniee

much_ado

I find the best way to deal with sugar cravings is to reduce all the added sugars in things.

Its easy to still eat the meals you love, you just have to be creative.

I use red onion rather than brown when I cook, I read somewhere a while a go that it was good to combat sugar cravings.

Swap Soy sauce for Tamari

use banana to sweeten things. I make banana pancakes (banana and egg only), rice pudding sweetened with banana.

I make flat breads with natural yoghurt and self raising flour rather than buy bread that has sugar added to react with the yeast. You can drizzle them with garlic butter to serve with pasta, or throw together natural yoghurt, mint and cumin to make a dip to serve as part of a homemade indian take away. Rice, veggies, cumin and garam masla make a great filling savory rice to accompany.

Whole Earth Peanut butter is fantastic. Lots of protein no added sugar. I use this in no added sugar power bars rather than buying sugar laden cereal bars. Also good with apples for a snack. and there is a fab recipe for peanut butter chicken.

I've even found sugar free stock cubes, for soups, gravys etc.

warm milk with cinnamon is great if you feel the need for something sweet.

Getting creative in the kitchen and cooking from scratch so that you know what you are putting in everything is the best way to start reducing the overall sugar intake. This will prevent the blood sugar peaks and troughs that cause the sugar craving. Then you can treat yourself with a cake or chocolate just for the treat rather than the fact you *need* it!

jamessteelapim

Many good ideas out there for weaning off sugar.

I burn off a large amount of sugar through regular cardio workouts. I can have the odd piece of dark chocolate, as a treat, when I have burned off enough sugar.

It is the hidden sugars you have to watch out for, such as semi skimmed milk (now replaced with almond milk), certain breads and baked products, and all fruits, including bananas. You see tennis players eating bananas, to replace the sugars and sodium that they burn off and sweat out during a match. Unless you are playing a high level 5 sets of tennis, best to cut out the bananas, and replace with a carrot!