5 Ways To Help Break Your Sugar Habit

Your sweet tooth could lead to more than a few negative health risks, so it is helpful to reduce sugar in your diet as much as possible. Cutting out sugar has become an internet trend as people try 30-day no sugar challenges and record their progress. Although it is great for those of us that can do it, many of us fall back into old habits.

Not everyone wants to cut out sugar entirely, but changing your current habits can offer several long-term health benefits. Regardless of your goals, sugar can be tough to let go of, but Sweetkick is here to help. If you have difficulty minimizing the amount of sugar in your diet, consider a few strategies that can help you kick your sweet tooth and support your wellness.

What Are the Risks of Sugar Addiction?

Addiction may sound like a strong word, but sugar does an addictive effect on the brain and body while presenting several risks. When you eat sugar, it causes your brain to release dopamine, which is a chemical that is responsible for your brain’s reward system. Dopamine tells your brain, “Let’s do this again,” and it is this response that causes sugar to be so addictive. As a result, your sugar cravings are often because your brain wants a reward, not because you need food.

Prolonged excessive sugar intake can negatively affect your health and lead to potential complications down the road. Some side effects of high sugar intake include weight gain and obesity. Regular sugar intake can also cause a high and consistent increase in your blood sugar, which increases your body’s insulin production. Too much insulin production can lead to type 2 diabetes.

On the bright side, you can curb your sugar addiction with some willpower and some coping strategies.

How Can I Kick a Sugar Habit?

Many of us have wanted to quit sugar or reduce our sugar consumption before, and many of us have even unsuccessfully tried. Although it sounds like a great idea to cut out sugary snacks cold turkey, it is far easier said than done. Instead, you can start to change your habits in small ways. Although some people benefit from a complete detox, sugar does not have to be an all-or-nothing change for everyone.

A slow transition can also be good for you and your brain as it allows you to make conscious decisions about changing your current lifestyle. Try some of the following methods that may help you reduce your sugar intake.

1. Choose Healthier Snacks

We all get hungry between meals. Just because you are working to reduce your sugar intake, it does not mean that you should have to avoid snacking. However, it is important to make the right choice when you do. Your seemingly healthy granola bars may be deceiving you. Many “healthy” snacks are loaded with added sugar.

Snacking may be one of the biggest influences on your sugar habit without you realizing it. If you turn to sweet foods whenever you get hungry throughout the day, then your subconscious starts to associate hunger with sugar.

The next time you get a mid-day sugar craving, try turning to healthier, whole foods for snacks instead of a sweet treat. Some great options can be whole-grain crackers, carrot sticks, a piece of fruit, or even Sweetkick Clusters, which are made with nuts and seeds for delicious, healthy fat and protein.

Choosing healthier foods that are lower in sugar and carbs is also great for weight loss. By training your brain that “hunger” does not equal “sugar,” you can start to change your habits for the better and feel better in the process.

2. Read Ingredient Labels

An excellent way to reduce sugar intake is to choose replacements for some of your favorite sweet snacks and avoid added or hidden sugars. Unfortunately, it is not always that easy. As you search for snacks, you should keep in mind that added sugar is very often disguised under different names, which can lead you to take in sugar without even noticing.

Whether you are trying to or not, eating foods with sugar can cause you to crave it again. As you look at product labels, keep an eye out for any of the following ingredients that may serve as an alias for sugar:

• Fructose
• Corn Syrup
• Dextrose
• Maltose
• Glucose
• Sucrose

3. Consider Some Exercise

Again, sugar cravings are not always driven by hunger; they are often just your brain’s desire for a small reward. These food cravings often hit when you are bored or need a middle-of-the-day pick-me-up. It can be really easy to develop the habit of eating that candy bar or bowl of ice cream every day at 2 pm for a little boost.

In these situations, consider going for a quick walk around the office building, or if your schedule allows, you can even try a short trip to the gym. These options are great ways to get your blood flowing and help you feel more energized in the middle of the day. Not only can they help you replace your sugar habit, but the bit of exercise will also leave you feeling refreshed.

4. Use Alternative Sweeteners

When working to reduce your sugar intake, you do not have to stay away from sweet foods entirely. Sugar substitutes are a great way to sweeten your foods without negatively affecting your health in the process. Both natural and artificial sweeteners that do not contain sugar can make great alternatives as they give you some sweet craving relief without spiking your blood sugar levels.

Some of the most common alternative sweeteners to look for are:

• Monk fruit
• Allulose
• Stevia

Some people turn to sweeteners like honey or maple syrup in their diet, but these do not always make for the best substitutes since they can still affect your blood sugar levels.

You can use these alternative sweeteners to replace sugar in multiple ways, like adding them to your coffee or using them in baking recipes.

Be wary, though– alternative sweeteners can be as much as 200 times sweeter than sugar, which means that they can start to alter your perception of taste and make you less likely to enjoy less sweet but healthier foods.

5. Try Sweetkick

Sometimes you need more help when trying to kick your sugar habits. Fortunately,Sweetkick has several products to give you some extra tools. Sweetkick helps you fight back against sugar in two main ways — by curbing your sugar cravings and providing better alternatives to sugary foods.

To help curb your sugar cravings, Sweetkick offers several products that help change your perception of sugar altogether. For example, our Sugar Control Tablets help remove the taste of sweetness and prevent you from enjoying sugar. These peppermint tablets can change how your taste buds experience sugar, giving it a bland, unappealing taste to make it easier to say “No, thank you.”

Meanwhile, our Body Balance Powder Prebiotics and Herbal Balance Tea provide two great options for an afternoon pick-me-up so you do not even need to think about sugar.

Once you prevent those sugar cravings, you can enjoy healthier alternative snacks, like Sweetkick’s Clusters andMacro Shakes. Sweetkick strives to provide alternative options that are better for your health, which is why our replacements help support healthier blood sugar levels.

Kick your Sugar Habit

Everyone is different and may find success from using one method more than others. Either way, cutting out sugar is tough to do. On the bright side, you have some help along the way. Here at Sweetkick, we are passionate about helping people with a wide variety of goals make more positive decisions for their diet.

Whether you want to reduce your sugar intake a little or a lot, we have a wide selection of products that can help you kick your habits. From our mints to our snacks, we have a variety of options to help meet different lifestyle needs. Exploreour complete collection of products to find what works best for you!

Sources:

Daily bingeing on sugar repeatedly releases dopamine in the accumbens shell | PubMed Central

How to spot — and avoid — added sugar | Harvard Health

Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes | Mayo Clinic