Dieting can be a real hassle! Cutting your favorite desserts, exercising, and resisting the urge to eat everything in the grocery store check out like is a constant exhaustion! But why? Why is this battle against will so tough to overcome? The truth is, there isn’t one answer to this question! Sugar has been kicking our asses for years and we won’t win the battle until we can understand our bodies demand for sugar, and how to consume it!
First, you crave sugar because you are hooked(most of the time)! Refined sugar has addictive properties that us sugar addicts aren’t even aware of! The blood sugar spike that we all experience is a high of its own. When we were kids it would cause a surge of energy that would have your Dads hair falling out. As adults however, we have built up a tolerance to the white gold, so the blood sugar spike only makes us perk up a little(our hearts still feel it though).
Fact is we are almost all sugar addicts! Try a week without refined sugar! You will experience all the symptoms of withdrawal, and if you can refrain from eating it for three weeks or more you will get a buzz that would send you through a wall, followed by a big crash when you reintroduce refined sugar! My advice-get off the white, but only the white sugar- we need sugar in our lives which brings me to my next point.
Second you are craving sugar(on some occasions) because you deprive yourself of essential sugar when “cleaning up” your diet. The fear of white sugar has caused us to cast judgement upon all sugars, but the fact is our body needs sugar to function optimally! Sugar provides fuel for movement, improves immunity to disease, and is crucial in mental clarity.
When you deprive your body of complex carbs(sugar), the body in return sends a demand for the food source to the brain. The disconnect for us occurs when we reach for the donuts or sugary drinks instead of eating a piece of fruit or blending a smoothie. Point being- when you crave sugar, eat it, but again, avoid the white, and choose fruit instead! It will be hard at first but you can do it!
Finally your body craves sugar because you are an active human(hopefully)! Perhaps you have noticed your sugar cravings to increase after working out. When you exercise at a high intensity you deplete your glycogen stores(which is what your body breaks sugar into, through chemical processes)! Our bodies utilize sugar for movement, like a car utilizes gasoline. Once that supply is gone, our body lets us know about it by, again sending a signal to the brain to consume sugar!
This craving shouldn’t be ignored but, nourished with a protein smoothie, or a delicious protein-heavy vegetable stir fry! If you attempt to ignore this craving and avoid sugars, it is more likely than not that you will fall upon a bag of skittle or some other type of vice food and thus depleting the gains you worked so hard for prior to eating! Whats the point!?
To conclude Here’s a little secret my Mother told me long ago that works in all facets of life-“Everything in moderation”! You are craving sugar because its freaking normal to crave sugar! Our bodies need sugar to function optimally, its up to you to limit how much and what type you consume. The war against refined sugar has caused a fear of all sugars, but sugars in the form of complex carbohydrates fuel and nourish the body. Depriving the body of all sugars only means short term progress and will leave you scatter brained, so keep it in moderation and use will power to eliminate white sugar from your diet!
As always, please reach out if you are curious to learn more!
