Sugar Addiction - Beat Sugar Cravings Fast

If you can't say no to candy, cookies and soda, you may be one of millions of people who are addicted to sugar. For some people, sugar acts like a drug in the body, and like any other drug, can cause an initial high followed by withdrawal symptoms.

Symptoms of sugar addiction include:

• powerful cravings for sugar, refined carbohydrates or alcohol
• mood swings
• anxiety
• depression
• irritability or anger
• fatigue
• headaches
• dizziness
• feeling better after eating sugar

It's not just lack of willpower - it really is an addiction
Studies have shown that sugar has a similar effect to cocaine, morphine and other drugs of addiction. Eating large amounts of sugar releases a brain chemical called dopamine that makes you feel alert, energized, motivated and enthusiastic. But over time, sugar reduces the brain's sensitivity to dopamine and you start to become addicted to sugar - you need more dopamine just to feel normal and without a sugar hit to boost your dopamine production, you feel sluggish, tired, foggy and irritable.

If you're addicted to sugar, it's important to cut sugar out of your diet completely to give your brain a chance to recover, but going without your morning sugar hit might seem unachievable. You may be wondering how you can possibly get through the day without sugar, and how you will deal with the constant cravings.
Fortunately, a program of vitamins, minerals and amino acids can quickly stabilize blood sugar, eliminate cravings and overcome withdrawal symptoms.

Many studies have shown that chromium stabilizes blood sugar levels and reduces cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates. In one study, blood sugar fell by nearly 30 percent in participants who took 1,000 micrograms of chromium picolinate per day. Sugar, alcohol and white flour all reduce the absorption of chromium in the body and this creates a vicious cycle - high sugar intake causes chromium deficiency, which contributes to blood sugar problems and exacerbates cravings for sugar. Chromium supplements can build up chromium levels and interrupt the vicious cycle.

L-Glutamine is an amino acid (a building block of protein) that the brain can use for fuel when blood sugar is low. It also helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. 2 tsp taken three times a day between meals is usually enough to eliminate cravings, but if you do still get cravings, try sprinkling a little glutamine powder underneath your tongue and letting it dissolve - your cravings will disappear almost instantly.

Research has shown that 3000 mcg per day of a B vitamin called biotin helps eliminate cravings and stabilize blood sugar in people with both low blood sugar and high blood sugar. In addition, zinc, vitamin E, several other B vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids can all help maintain blood sugar and reduce cravings.

Once you've dealt with the cravings, you will find it much easier to change to a healthy diet - avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates, eat plenty of protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and moderate amounts of complex carbohydrates. Protein should be eaten at every meal as it helps maintain blood sugar levels by stimulating the release of glucagon, a hormone that balances the action of insulin. Fresh fruit and vegetables provide a good supply of the vitamins and minerals needed to keep blood sugar stable.

It's important to avoid all forms of sugar, including so-called "healthy" alternatives such as brown sugar, honey and dried fruit. Don't be tempted to cheat - your brain is sensitive to sugar and having "just one" cookie or soda can be enough to set off cravings, trigger a sugar binge and start the cycle of craving and bingeing again.

You'll be surprised by how different you will feel after a few weeks of no sugar. Many people describe a sense of calm and balance, lifting of depression or anxiety, increased energy and better health, not to mention weight loss and an end to constantly feeling hungry. Next time you feel the urge for a sugar hit, reach for your l-glutamine instead and overcome your addiction to sugar.

Read more about sugar addiction or find out about other physical causes of depression.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_L_Henderson

How to Defeat Sugar Cravings for Weight Loss?

When I was starting my fat loss journey, I found it extremely difficult to give up on certain items, mainly sweet ones. I really enjoyed chocolate and ice-cream, and dropping eating them was an extremely difficult task for me. In the middle of my weight loss process I would think how much I wanted sweets. Luckily, I managed to succeed not to completely give in. So, what do YOU need to do to drop those sweet cravings?

After all, eating sugary snacks just makes you crave even more sugary snacks. Eating lots of simple carbohydrates -- without eating proteins or fats that is - can quickly satisfy hunger and give your body a short-term energy boost, but they also make you feel hungry again quickly and avoiding the feeling of hunger really helps with weight loss.

Sometimes eating a fruit is enough to defeat a sugar craving before you reach for something "tastier". We naturally crave sweet things; our tongue has sweet receptors that make sweet a natural flavor profile to make up our diet. The only "bad" thing about those cravings is that often we allow ourselves to go for refined sugars and sweets and that really weigh us down instead of offering us the benefits of beauty, nutrition, essential vitamins, and fiber. It also is detrimental to weight loss.

If you're a sugar addict like me, I'd urge you to break the habit too and, trust me, you'll feel so much better and stronger as well as in control of your moods as a result, while additionally frequently including a finer skin, a better digestive system, much fewer headaches and fast weight loss. Be prepared, however, for your body to start behaving differently when it's suddenly deprived of the sugar hits that it had access to earlier and, hence, become used to - its initial response, for instance, may be to provide you with negative feelings, such as tiredness, making it best to start your sugar "detoxication" during the weekend, when you can give in to your sudden urge to sleep.

Protein-packed foods, such as fish, seafood, chicken, eggs, lentils, pulses, and lean red meat, also ward off sugar urges, so if you have a lunch that consists of a good-sized portion of protein as well as with some vegetables and salad and a some wholegrain, you will see that your mind dwells less on the subject of sweet foods than if you'd had lots of bread, pasta, rice, or potatoes with only a tiny amount of protein. Weight loss is much easier if you don't have too many sugar cravings.

When you want something sweet, it also can be a reflection of your mental state more than an actual physical. You might be trying to self-heal your emotional pain and negative experiences by putting a "sweet band-aid" over it. Needless to say that it is it going to get to the heart of the problem as the problem will remain and you'll just keep craving sugar and hinder your weight loss.

As you know, chocolate is only a temporary anti-depressant for when you're feeling lonely, sad or unloved. This, coupled with often experience of negative feelings, will lead you towards more troubles with truffles instead of taking care of the really important issues. You would not be making any progress and you may even find yourself more depressed because your clothes no longer fit as well as they used to. Trying to figure out what's going on in your own head and making the appropriate psychological changes, and usage of dark chocolate only as a special treat that you truly enjoy rather than medication, is what really enables you to achieve weight loss.

Also, studies tend to show that when you're do not get enough, you tend to be more likely to reach for high-fat or sugary foods. By making sure you have a lot of sleep, you'll be better able to make high quality food choices and your weight loss process will become more effective.

If the sugar cravings are so strong that they won't go away even after you've ignored them for a some time, eaten something healthy and nutritional, or tried to take care of the mental reason for your craving with positive things such as exercise, meditation, or some other sort of relaxation, it's OKAY to give in to the cravings on occasion. Treats in moderation are part of life and we should not avoid them completely.
Moderation is the key of sustaining everything, including weight loss.

If you want to lose weight and need more information on how to successfully do it, I strongly recommend on visiting this blog: http://weightlossnutritioninfo.blogspot.com/ There are a lot of information about how lose it quickly and keep it off forever.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Fulton

How To Stop Sugar Cravings - Understanding The Root Causes For Better Health

Those of us that crave sugar know just how addictive sweet foods are and how they can lead to weight gain and low self esteem as we continue to eat and eat even though we do not feel hungry. This craving for saccharin food has a number of different sources, some physical and some psychological and understanding these causes is key to understanding how to stop sugar cravings.

There are two physical reasons for sugar cravings:

• Adrenaline When our body needs energy it secretes a hormone called adrenaline which boosts our awareness, reaction speed and other functions to deal with an emergency. This was a defense mechanism when we relied on our fight or flight instincts but that we rarely use in today's society. We do however trigger the need for energy in other ways primarily being stress. Stress caused by dealing with work situations or relationships also release adrenalin even though we perhaps do not need such energy hits. The downside to this is that these stressful situations drain the body of energy and it leads to a need for a quick energy hit such as sugar. In a high stress environment this can happen many times leading to a vicious cycle of sugar cravings and addiction. 

• Serotonin The hormone serotonin is the feel good part of our bodily system. Sugars release short bursts of serotonin making us feel good for a while but it quickly fades, this can be dangerous when our body has low serotonin levels as the short high we get from a sugar hit does not change the naturally low levels which lead to more and more hits of sugar to feel good again. Hormonal imbalanced and poor nutrition are the main culprits when it comes to serotonin levels and changing your diet and exercise to fix your metabolism is the only real cure. 

There is also a psychological aspect to sugar addiction. Sometimes this is started by a physical craving listed above but can become a habit to eat sugar and while there is no physical craving there is a mental craving as it feels comforting even if your serotonin levels are high. Usually eating sugar is then a response to some problem in your life or it has become a structure of your life. Always eating desserts can leads to this being a habit after every meal or even snack for instance. Sometimes it may be a response to being bored and the small sugary high you get alleviates this for a moment and still others may be triggered by advertising or by situations that have a pavlovic effect on us.

So, on how to stop sugar cravings we still do not have a definite answer as it can be a multitude of things. However making sure you fix your diet and exercise regime so that you increase your serotonin levels is essential to this. Also if you are living or working in a high stress environment you need to find ways of lowering that stress so you do not release so much energy in situations that do not require it. Lastly if your think your cravings are more psychologically based you need to find some other more healthy and constructive outlet to replace this habit.

Feeling low because of your cravings?

Sick of putting on weight because of your sugar addiction?

Need a proven solution on how to overcome sugar cravings?

If so click below for more information.
http://www.kick-addiction.com/Sugar-Cravings.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Porteous