Have you tried the kick the sugar habit countless times and failed? Worry not I can totally relate! Believe it or not, stopping sugar is much harder than it seems. Allow me to explain why:
Table sugar is actually well and truly addictive. That means that whether you know it or not, once your body gets used to it, it subconsciously asks you for more. Some studies have even suggested that sugar is as addictive as cocaine! See, sugar causes dopamine release and dopamine is that irresistible feel-good hormone. That’s why you feel life will be just fine after that piece of cake you are craving.
Sadly, not only is sugar addictive, but sugar intake is also a major risk factor for the 3 top killer lifestyle diseases: diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Sugar is essentially a free, universally accepted drug that does more damage than is understood. It has also been now well observed that the metabolic makeup of African people does not handle sugar well and that could be why the rates of type 2 diabetes are skyrocketing across Africa as our intake of sugar increases.
5 Simple ways to reduce your sugar intake:
- Replace sugar with natural sweetener – Human taste buds are naturally attuned to sweetness. The love for sweetness actually begins at the breast and you might be surprised to know that breast milk is quite sweet! Replace your sugar with honey or natural maple syrup for starters
- Cut our sugary drinks: Most of our sugar intake comes from drinks. Soda, juice boxes, and flavored water hide more sugar than you need for a week. Go for fresh fruit juice instead
- Check your breakfast cereals: these food items hide a lot of sugar e.g cornflakes. Go for oatmeal instead.
- Don’t allow yourself to get super hungry: when you get very hungry you automatically crave the sweetest food available. Eat 3 square meals and snacks if you must to avoid getting super hungry and reaching for those biscuits!
- Go for whole meal instead of white: Think wholemeal bread, brown rice, and brown ugali – wholemeal is better balanced with fiber and does not release massive amounts of sugar into your bloodstream.
The less processed the food the healthier it is!
Less sugar for more health!
