Sweet tooth–this is probably one of the most difficult things to get rid of for someone who has it almost all his life. Can you relate to this? Surely, you don’t stop looking for and eating lots of sweets all the time. Most likely too, you’re already experiencing some signs of high blood sugar levels. Or worse, you possibly have prediabetes already, a sign or indication that it can progress into type 2 diabetes or T2D).
If this happens, don’t panic. You can still do something to fight diabetes or at least prevent it from worsening. Start by curbing your sweet tooth. It’s definitely quite a challenge, a real struggle, especially if you don’t last a day without eating sugary foods.
Most of us crave sweets a lot of time, and this indeed can be seriously hard to control. But the good news is that IT IS SO POSSIBLE! Read on, and you will discover the secrets to dealing with a sweet tooth.
Why You Should Start with Your Sweet Tooth Curbing Right Away
Will you ever resist chocolates, cakes and all the sweets you can imagine? As an initial reaction, you’d probably say, “NO!” But consider these food cravings’ long-term impact. You’d surely think twice, thrice, or even many times before you answer.
Sugar in your breakfast coffee, soda for snacks, and ice cream for dessert after dinner–these all contribute to non-nutritious calories your body is absorbing each time you eat and drink them.
Sugar may also be present in not-so-sweet foods such as bread, salad dressing, salty snacks, salad dressing, and yogurt, among others. This means you may be consuming lots of added sugar. According to the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States, Americans usually consume “17 teaspoonsful of added sugar every day.” This is equivalent to an ample “71 grams and 270 calories.”
10 Tips in Stopping Sweet Tooth from being Active
It may be a struggle, but you can definitely ‘deactivate’ your sweet tooth. All it takes are determination and discipline to make it happen. Here are the Top 10 tips you may find interesting and worth considering:
1. Keep a bar of dark chocolate always present inside your fridge. Have at least a square so that when your taste buds start craving for sweets again, you have something to munch on–guilt-free! If you’re craving for some chips for our snack, dried fruits are perfect alternatives.
2. Look for recipes featuring sugar-free sweet treats. You’ll find a lot of recipes with refined sugar-free ingredients. Pinterest is an excellent source of healthy, specifically, sugar-free recipes.
3. Fight cravings with apples and peanut butter. This is one of the most useful tips you can try. Adding a small amount of cinnamon can help stop sugar cravings.
4. Another frequenter to have in your kitchen or pantry is a healthy granola bar. You can buy this from a nearby store. Or, if you have the time, you can make your granola. Pinterest has several healthy granola recipes you can follow.
5. Who says you cannot totally eat sweets? Of course, you can! Just be sure they are healthier sweet snacks and not junk food. Protein bars are great additions to the dark chocolates, apples, and granola bars already mentioned.
Eat, Drink and Exercise to lower high sugar levels
The next five tips include proper meal preparation, what you should drink, and the exercise you need for weight loss and fight against cravings.
6. When you plan or prepare your meal of the week, include a ‘bliss ball’ in your to-eat list. These balls are prepared with artificial sweeteners making the goodies taste like real sweet treats.
7. If you’re serious about curbing your sweet tooth, drink kombucha! This has a lot of health benefits, and controlling craving for sweets is one of them. This beverage is already sweet so you surely won’t want another round of sweet consumption after drinking it.
8. Enjoy sweets but do not indulge. Attending a special occasion means exposure to festive eats too, and these include cakes and other baked goods. A slice of cake won’t cause you any harm, so eat a small piece and celebrate.
9. Eat and enjoy dessert and not sugary snacks. There is an array of fermented foods you can indulge in. Miso, Kefir [a milk drink], and Kimchi are perfect choices to deactivate your sweet tooth.
10. Walk the sugars away! Do you always feel that urge to searching for some sweets from the vending machine? Instead of doing so, why not get up on your feet and walk? A 15-minute walk will make you forget all that craving!
The takeaway of sweet tooth curbing
Deactivating your sweet tooth does not necessarily end your indulgence in good-tasting food. In fact, there are still lots of sweet-tasting food you can enjoy without putting your health at risk. Thanks to the artificial or substitute sweeteners that still make the goodies sweet even if they are supposedly sugar-free.
There are even more and more coffee shops and grocery stores advocating for a healthy lifestyle. They are now offering the same variety of food you used to enjoy with your sweet tooth–only with different (health-friendlier) ingredients. All you have to do is check the menu and label for your nutrition guide. And, with these secrets-cum-tips you discovered, you’ll always be ready for that sweet tooth curbing challenge.
Start planning your unsweetened meals by considering these helpful tips. They are easy to follow and you’ll see the positive effects in no time. Good luck!
