Do you find it difficult to resist the temptation of sweet treats when you know they are within the arm’s reach? Or perhaps you struggle to stop with just one piece of mithai or gulab jamun? If that sounds familiar, you are not alone! Sugar is incredibly addictive. In fact, recent research has shown that has a similar impact on parts of the brain as certain drugs!
On a chemical level, eating sugar provides an instant reward by stimulating the release of serotonin into the body. This happy hormone makes us feel good, which in turn encourages us to eat more sugar more often, so we can recreate this ‘good feeling’.
Interestingly though, studies are now showing that glucose and fructose have a different impact on the brain. Even though foods sweetened with glucose will leave you feeling full after enough calories are consumed, those that are sweetened with fructose don’t have the same satiating effect. Which means you are more likely to keep eating and eating (or drinking and drinking) until it is all gone. The irony is that because fructose is derived from fruit it is advertised as being ‘healthy’!
The other interesting thing to observe when eating foods rich in refined sugars is that the spike in insulin is recognised by the body and if it occurs regularly enough it becomes anticipated. So if you eat a chocolate bar with your coffee break every day, after a few days your body actually anticipates the boost each day at the same time, making us feel those ‘sugar cravings’.
These ‘cravings’ can be quite difficult to overcome, especially if you find yourself surrounded by sweets. To satisfy your taste buds without harming your body, you can replace refined sugar in your kitchen with a natural sweetener like Nutriplus Natose Stevia. You can add it to your coffee, tea, or other beverages. You can even add it to cakes, brownies, and other Indian sweets.
Stevia has been used for centuries in South America as a bio-sweetener and for other medicinal uses such as to lower blood sugar. It is naturally very sweet and considered 100 to 200 times sweeter than sugar, but it doesn’t raise blood sugar levels like sugar and other artificial sweeteners do. Nutriplus Natose Stevia liquid concentrate is 100% natural and completely safe.
Treating yourself to what you love every now and then is good for your soul. If you have a sweet tooth, you no longer have to deprive yourself. All you need to do is make the healthy choice
At the same time, try not to form a regular routine of sweet eating, to help prevent those anticipatory cravings! That way you can best the temptation and have control over your food choices.
