Do You Ask Yourself “Why Do I Crave Sugar?”
October 28th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
You can answer the question “why do I crave sugar?” with the obvious answer that to look at it, smell it and taste it is pleasurable. Most sugary confections are attractive to the eye and the palate. Almost everybody knows what their most favorite colors, textures, flavors and temperatures are in sugary confections.
Eating sugar even causes a temporary mood elevation, which adds to the pleasure of eating sugar. The brain finds sugar to be useful as a quick energy boost so it gives us all these signals of pleasure in exchange for providing sugar to the body. It is no wonder that sugar is one of the top craved foods. Instead of asking, “Why do I crave sugar”, your brain may be asking “why not?”.
Sugars are popular with almost everyone. Many celebrations have their own sweet treats that are associated with that time of year. We are bombarded with text and images that are all about sugary foods. Everyday, you can see advertising about sugary confections on commercials, signs, and the Internet. It is not just the corner store that carries sugary treats; you can find confections at the check out line or in the different aisles of many kinds of stores including movie rental stores, grocery stores, department stores, hardware stores and other stores.
Loss of Vitamin Bs
Eating too much sugar can deplete vitamin Bs from our body. When you do not have enough vitamin Bs in your body, you can feel tired and for a quick energy boost, you may crave sugary foods. The two factors can create a circular pattern in your behavior towards foods that are high in sugar. Natural unprocessed and highly nutritional foods can give your body a longer lasting energy boost so you will not crave the quick energy boosts of sugar. Nutritional supplements and a healthy diet can help you if this is your situation and you are asking the question “why to I crave sugar?”.
Medical Conditions A craving for sugary foods can also be a symptom of medical conditions. It is important that you visit your doctor if you have developed a craving for sugar so that you can rule out any medical condition that could be the cause for the sugar craving. This is particularly important if your cravings for sugar started suddenly. Intolerance to carbohydrates (also called insulin resistance), nutritional deficiency and other medical conditions can cause a craving for sugar.
Coping with Stress
Sometimes sugary treats are used as a comfort food. A typical situation may be that you am having relationship problems and are not coping well with the situation and when you feel frustrated about it, you may turn to a bowl or two of ice cream and then turn around and feel guilty about eating the ice cream and finally end up eating more ice cream and feeling depressed about it all. It can turn into a vicious circle of avoiding the stress issues, overeating and gaining weight. This cycle is compounded by the fact that eating sugary treats can make us crave more of them.
Boredom and availability of sugary treats can cause you to crave sugar. You may eat a sugar-laden soda or a piece of cake simply because the treat is there and it tastes good.
Ask yourself the question “why do I crave sugar” when you are reaching for that candy bar or other sweet calorie laden treat. When you know the answer to the question “why do I crave sugar”, you can begin to address the sugar craving effectively.
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So, What Is Food Addiction, Anyway?
October 27th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
In order to best answer the question, “What is food addiction?” we need to define what an addiction is. And addiction is what your world revolves around, to the exclusion of anything and everything else. You wake up thinking about it and go to sleep dreaming about it. Most of your day is planning or carrying out your addiction. You loose interest in almost everything else in life, including your family. Addictions happen to almost anybody of any sex, race, religion, IQ rating, political affiliation or economic bracket. So, in answering, “What is food addiction?” food has become the revolving point of your world.
But You Need Food
Yes, you do need food in order to survive, just as you need oxygen in order to survive. Addicts that make headlines tend to be hooked on substances not necessary to survival – tobacco, drugs, video games, shopping, whatever. You need food to survive. But eating every day does not make you a food addict. Getting hungry more than once a day does not make you a food addict. So, what is food addiction?
Food addiction is when most of your thoughts, money and daily activities have to do with food. Hunger happens in a body to remind it to eat. When you are really having a good time at something – sleeping, sex, horseback riding, attending a concert – you are having too good a time to think of food. Most people in the modern world of refrigerators and supermarkets only think of eating when hungry, and not make it a 24/7 obsession.
But This Scientist Says There Is No Such Thing
Yes, there are many scientists, when asked, “What is food addiction?” will answer, “An urban legend, nothing more.” Some say you are not addicted to food, but the sugar or fat in the food. Either way, food is going down your gob more than it was meant to. Overeating leads to many health complications, including increased chance for heart attacks, diabetes and backaches.
Only you can answer “What is food addiction?” and “Am I addicted to food?” If you turn to food every time you are bored, depressed or upset and even eat when you are quite full, you may have a problem. If you start eating in private and hate eating in front of others, you may have a problem. If you can’t fit out of the door, then you DEFINITELY have a problem. Help is available from your doctor, from groups like Overeaters Anonymous and online support groups.
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Sugar Cravings: Get Rid Of It Before It Rids It Of You
October 26th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
There are certainly many mind-boggling statistics concerning sugar cravings and it would come as quite a surprise to you to know that an average American takes in as much as nearly one hundred sixty pounds of sugar in a year which is more than twenty-five percent more than what it was thirty years ago. What makes matters worse is that most people find it very difficult to control their sugar intake though there are some nutritionists that have come up with effective ways to cut down sugar cravings.
Additive Properties
Sugar is supposed to contain some properties that are addictive and when the sugar content is reduced it can cause certain withdrawal symptoms and there is a lot of fat content in it as well. So, the next time you eat more sugar than is recommended you will not only put on weight which is a health risk in it, but are also running the risk of having your teeth decay earlier than is proper. So, if you want to know how to beat sugar cravings you may need to avoid skipping meals, eat only natural sugars, try out substitutes for sugar and also brush and gargle after a meal. It also helps if you forego buying sugary foods and taking a walk is another good solution to curbing your sugar cravings.
According to researchers that have studied sugar cravings, it is not a true addiction though it is quite similar to cocaine addiction and even obesity. And so, if you are like many other people that want to beat their sugar cravings, try using honey, barley malt or even fructose instead of sugar though some would suggest that there is no better means to control sugar cravings than to forego it completely. Nevertheless, as long as you are careful enough to take a balanced and nutritious diet, the odd spoonful of sugar is not going to do you any harm.
There are some other useful tips as well as to how to avoid sugar cravings and they include not using sugar as a means of distraction, and also waiting for a short period of time to see whether the cravings persist or disappears. Thus, eating appropriately and at the right time will help in overcoming sugar cravings while there is also a need to become well informed about sugar so that you realize that it is not an evil nor is it your friend either – it is really a load of calories and you won’t find any real virtues about it either, which means that though its not going to do you much good, it is also not so bad that you need to avoid it like the plague.
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Sugar Cravings In Horses
October 25th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
It used to be traditional to give your faithful steed a sugar lump. Some horses and ponies, especially if they are taken care of by children, will develop cravings sugar cravings, whether it is for the pure sugar or for sweet candy, such as peppermints that horses can become intensely fond of. Although sugar cravings seem innocent enough in horses, they can lead to serious health and behavior problems.
You Horse Eats Enough Sugar Already
The horse spent millions of years grazing all day in order to get the calories they needed to live. In modern times, horses usually have to work and live with humans. That means they eat at the humans’ convenience, and not their own. Your horse probably eats concentrated feed as well as hay. This feed gives your horse the nutrition and strength in order to pull a plow or carry a rider. It usually has molasses or sugar already in it. You really don’t need to add to the strength of your horse’s sugar cravings by feeding him candy or sugar as a treat.
Behavior Problems
Sugar cravings in horses can become so strong that they will not wait for the master or mistress to proffer the treat. If they know where the treats are stored (and they will, because they can smell it), they will eventually just chomp down on your pocket – whether it is still attached to you or not. This can lead to a lot of blood, sweat and tears for both horse and sugar-carrier. This can be especially frightening and dangerous for children or small adults paired with a gigantic horse.
Tooth Decay
Unlike people – or dogs and cats – horses don’t brush their teeth. Sugar takes it’s toll on horse teeth the same as it does on your dog’s or cat’s teeth (or yours, for that matter). Horses rely on their teeth more than other animals. If they can’t grind their food, the food is swallowed whole or in big chunks. This can lead not only to colic but a host of other health conditions related to poor nutrition. A horse with sugar cravings satisfied today may lead to a horse who can’t eat tomorrow.
What’s To Be Done?
The best way to get rid of your horse’s sugar cravings is not to give him any sugar or candy in the first place. Then you won’t get the begging and the fuss. But if your horse has already developed sugar cravings, you must be strong. You can’t give in to him. Treat with apples or carrot instead. Don’t eat any sugary treat in front of him. And put up a sign on his stall warning all others not to give him any sugar.
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Sugar Addiction Can Lead To Many Debilitating Conditions
October 24th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
The word sugar generally gives rise to thoughts that sugar is something that is full of carbohydrates, will dissolve in water, has no color and does not smell either and is made up of crystals even at room temperature, and if you are thinking in such a manner then you will have hit the nail on its head. The importance of sugar can be understood if one considers the fact that it supplies about thirteen percent of the energy that the body gets from the food it ingests.
No Deviation From The Path Of Eating Only Healthy Food
So, if you want to remain healthy and not become a victim to sugar addiction, you must remember that carbohydrates that you consume should be consumed in moderation and also from natural sources of food like fresh vegetables and also maybe cooked vegetables, and it should be balanced with proteins from sources such as soy products. If you were to deviate from this path of healthy food intake, chances are that you won’t be able to help yourself live a healthy life and what’s worse, could end up with a sugar addiction problem.
Most people would more than likely are already having sugar addiction and the addict will find any number of excuses to rationalize his or her addiction. Being so common in the advanced countries of the Western hemisphere, sugar addiction is a major part of its culture with almost everybody consuming more sugar than is recommended? A typical way of reasoning by a sugar addict would be that sure he or she realizes that he/she is taking sugar, but surely not enough to call it sugar addiction.
And, to make matters worse, sugar addiction leads to many debilitating conditions amongst which are diabetes, hypoglycemia, chronic constipation and stomach upsets, arthritis, headaches, obesity and many more other equally serious illnesses. Suffice to say that any sugarholic would figure somewhere in the list of many degenerative diseases and sugar addiction will cause a person to lose his or her body’s ability to metabolize sugar properly, and thus will be putting his or her life at risk of many different serious illnesses and diseases.
The seriousness of the problem is well illustrated if we stop to consider that refined sugar provides twenty percent of calories and that works out to about fifty-nine kilos each year that is indeed gigantic and a serious reason to be concerned about sugar addiction which will greatly upset the body. So, you need to tread the path of sugar consumption with great care otherwise you are not going to live healthy or live for too long either.
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You Are Not Your Specific Food Cravings
October 23rd, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Sometimes, when you realize that you’re smack-dab in the middle of a tough problem, you feel as if you are God’s practical joke. You feel caught in a Catch-22 with specific food cravings, for example. Other poor sods are addicted to drugs or drink – no, you never touched the stuff and yet you still became an addict – to food. And, sadly, not just any food will do. No – that would make life too easy. Your specific food cravings are very finicky. It just seems a lot easier to eat the darn specific food you crave rather than deal with the jitters and restless thoughts by denying yourself. You know you’re eating junk, but it makes you feel better. What can you do?
Quite A Lot, Actually
You are experiencing specific food cravings because your body has developed a dependency on certain things in food – such as fat, salt or sugar. Perhaps you were only given ice cream on holidays and family celebrations. Over the years, your unconscious has associated happiness with ice cream. Therefore, you have specific food cravings – in this case, for ice cream.
Even when you eat something else, even cookies or cake, your still have these nagging specific food cravings for ice cream. You might not even be hungry – but darn it, your body is still screaming for ice cream. You can’t concentrate. You can’t sleep. You may even feel stuffed to the gills. But darn it – your body is screaming ICE CREAM. You have to give in and eat ice cream in order to get on with your life…until the next ice cream craving.
You are not doomed to be hooked on ice cream or whatever specific food cravings have a hold of you now. You owe it to your family, your body and your self-confidence to kick these specific food cravings. Say you are hooked on ice cream. What happens if you get diabetes? Are you going to continue eating ice cream? And what if there’s a natural disaster in summer and all the power is knocked out for weeks. You need to survive, not worry about if you’re ever going to eat ice cream ever again.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
You have learned a habit. Your body has – unconsciously or not – equated happiness with ice cream. You don’t have to go cold turkey. You need to cut down on the food you crave. The first two weeks are the worst. You get over that, and it gets easier to tell the specific food cravings what to go do to yourself. Drink more water. Eat more fiber. Indulge in a hobby, or clean the house. Stay busy those weeks. Try new foods. Your taste buds will be trained to change.
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