Yeah, I know, I feel you objecting to this already!! But I love my fruit!!
One of the biggest questions I get is “how do I stop sugar cravings???” And the answer is…….it depends (dang!) There are multiple reasons we may have sugar cravings, so that’s not a “one size fits all” answer.
Blood Sugar Regulation
This is a crucial area to address not only for sugar cravings but for fat loss. If our blood sugars are swinging from high to low to high all day long, not only will we crave sugar but we’ll feel fatigued, have brain fog and this impacts our thyroid function. Regulating your blood sugar is a #1 in my book for long term health. Alzheimer’s is being called Type III Diabetes because of the connection to high blood sugars.
This is where fruit comes in. Fruit is wonderful food in its whole form, full of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. The problem is the majority of fruit is also high in fruit sugars. Sugar makes you fat!
From lowest to highest
- Strawberries – 1 cup 7 grams of sugar
- Guava
- Papaya
- Watermelon
- Grapefruit
- Nectarine
- Peaches
- Bananas
- Mango – one mango 45 grams of sugar!
So, as you can see, fruit can be “ok” and it can be a trigger for a big blood sugar surge!
Stress
When you are under stress you produce a hormone called Cortisol. Cortisol was designed to pull sugar stores (glycogen) out of your liver and muscles so you can run from that saber tooth tiger. Unfortunately, the type of stress we are under these days is a constant source, not an immediate danger source. This leads to sugar being flooded into the body constantly which creates “insulin resistance.” The cells get full of sugar and they change the lock for the insulin and it gets locked out of its sugar dump, so now it’s circulating around trying to find a place to put the sugar. What do you think it does??? It makes a new cell to dump the sugar in…..yep, a fat cell!
Adding more sugar to the diet, even in the form of fruit sugar, adds to this body burden of sugar storage. Even more challenging is we crave sugar when we are stressed!
Are You Addicted?
There was a study done with rats, sugar, and cocaine. The rats were given cocaine in a watering tube and sugar water in a watering tube. Want to guess which tube they drank from more? Yep, the sugar!
We know that our brains have “receptor sites” for sugar, drugs, alcohol, and neurotransmitters. The bummer is, the same receptor site for drugs and alcohol is the same receptor site for sugar. Yes, you can become addicted to sugar.
Always remember this, your brain is a protein and fat lover. When we crave sugar, often what the brain really wants is protein or fat. Julia Ross runs the most successful drug and alcohol rehab center in the U.S. using nutrition and isolate amino acids (protein). She has also written several books, The Mood Cure and The Diet Cure which both take a deep dive into the brain, addictions and the natural solutions to sugar cravings.
Sugar also depletes your brain of Serotonin, your “feel good” neurotransmitter. When you are low on Serotonin you crave more sugar! Just like an addiction, the more you use the more you want.
There is more but I won’t make this any longer. The body is a complex system, but remember this, you can live without any carbohydrates in the diet. The body can convert the little in protein to glucose and the little from vegetables to glucose. We have no minimum daily requirement for carbohydrates! Gasp!!
I teach you this and more during my 10 Day Detox which starts October 21st! I teach you which fruits and how many to eat each day, what you can do to “interrupt” your sugar monster and send him on his way, what foods balance your blood sugars and tips and tools to lowering stress!
Just in time to get your body “de-sensitized” to sugar before the holidays!
