Sweet poison: 10 practical tips to help get rid of cravings for sweets

Each of us has our own little weaknesses, but sometimes there comes a time when they grow into a big problem. There is nothing criminal in eating one or two sweets or drinking tea with a spoonful of honey, but when there is really a regular bust with sweets and you start to feel dependent on sweets and cakes, you need to take action.

Sweets are not something that our body cannot do without, so you can say goodbye to a bad habit forever by using these ten practical tips.

It has been noticed that those of us who start our day with a balanced meal want sweets less throughout the day. This is explained by the fact that skipping breakfast reduces the level of glucose in the blood, which we try to put in order by snacking on sweets. Include eggs, vegetables, nuts, lean meat, whole grains, legumes and other foods that maintain an even level of insulin in the morning list.

This mineral really helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, helping to curb uncontrolled cravings for sweets. Therefore, if you constantly want to have a snack with cookies, chocolate or some other sweet snack, you may have a lack of chromium in your body. To fix this, add more broccoli, mushrooms, whole grains and cereals, natural grape juice, asparagus and other foods rich in chromium to your diet.

Dysbiosis can be one of the reasons for uncontrolled cravings for sweets. Colonies of pathogenic microflora of bacteria and yeast fungi literally feed on sugar. The use of probiotic foods rich in beneficial bacteria helps to normalize the balance of the intestinal microflora, so include natural yogurt and kefir in your daily diet.

If you are ready for drastic measures, try this technique: completely give up eating sweets for a week or two and watch what is happening. Usually the first two or three days are the hardest, and the body will persistently demand its portion of the sweet "drug". However, if you overcome these urges, then after a while you will find that the craving has become more manageable — which is what you wanted to achieve.

Caffeine can do a disservice by causing a sharp drop in blood sugar levels. Therefore, after a morning coffee with a donut, most likely, in an hour you will have a desire to eat a whole box of these donuts. Replace coffee with herbal tea, fruit juice or smoothies — fructose does not cause sharp rises and falls in blood sugar, and healthy fiber will help prolong the feeling of satiety, filling the stomach.

If the desire to eat something sweet does not leave, try to have a snack not with candy or ice cream, but with a portion of dried fruits or juicy fruit like an apple or orange. The natural sweetness of these foods will satisfy the psychological urge, while fiber will help stabilize blood sugar levels. This is the main difference from refined carbohydrates, which cause an abrupt fluctuation in blood sugar levels.

A simple healthy habit of starting your morning with a glass of water will not only help to achieve the necessary level of moisture in the body, but also gently prepare the digestive organs for work. As a result, even after the heaviest breakfast, the stomach will quickly cope with its task, and the craving for sweets will be under control. Do not forget that the minimum required is 8 glasses of water. Herbal tea would also be a good choice.

If you have a balanced amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in your diet, then very soon you will forget about the uncontrollable urge to eat sweets. The right decision is to include more beans, lentils, yogurt, lean meat, celery, cabbage, whole grains, hummus, leafy greens, grapes and nuts in your menu.

Feel free to add a small portion of butter rich in saturated fatty acids to the main course: cocoa butter, cream and pumpkin oil will be a healthy choice. Contrary to popular belief, such ingredients contain substances that nourish the whole body, and help naturally suppress cravings for sweets.

Exercise helps to produce the hormone of happiness — endorphin. Remember your feelings after finishing a good workout: you are full of energy and experiencing emotional uplift. A short walk after lunch will give a similar effect. It has also been noticed that exercising encourages you to eat healthier, so physical activity has many more advantages than you might think.