How to get rid of sugar addiction. How to get rid of addiction to sweet and starchy foods

Craving for sweets is one of the most insidious temptations. Rare lucky women can walk past the window of a candy store with their chin held high and refuse a candy or two for tea. However, sweet addiction does not always take the refined forms of a beautiful cupcake or a delicious chocolate bar: often the craving for sweets turns into a real sugar binge without measure and analysis. How to escape from this captivity?

Craving for sweets: no hiding, no hiding!

Over the past decades, sugar cravings have become a hot topic not only in everyday life, but also in science. Research data is truly frightening: scientists are increasingly comparing sugar lovers with drug addicts, warning that sweets not only give fleeting pleasure, but are also addictive, ultimately turning health into ruins.

Meanwhile, the industrial history of sugar is just over two hundred years. At the beginning of the 19th century, beet sugar production was established in Russia, and since then our diet has become sweeter and sweeter.

In the middle of the 19th century, the average European ate only two kilos of pure sugar per year, at the beginning of the 20th century this figure rose to 17 kg per year, and by the first years of the new millennium it was almost 40 kg per capita per year.

Today, there are many types of sugar on the market, differing in both “pedigree” and appearance. The most frequently (and, apparently, quite deservedly) “demonized” is white refined sugar, which is most widely used both in the food industry and in home cooking.

In fact, white store-bought sugar is pure sucrose, a chemical element refined with filters made from burnt bovine bones. The process of producing white sugar turns it into a sterile product in terms of dietary value, the uncontrolled use of which negatively affects the immune system, the intestinal microflora, the condition of the teeth, and the effective absorption of the most important trace elements.

Due to its ability to dissolve without residue in various substances and make food taste more attractive, refined sugar - covertly or openly - is becoming the main ingredient in many industrially prepared foods. Among them are not only confectionery and pastries, but also sodas, juices, sauces, fermented milk and dairy products, meat and offal products, all kinds of semi-finished products. Doctors attribute the modern "epidemic" of insulin resistance to the fact that our diet is oversaturated with fast-absorbing carbohydrates, among which sucrose is in the first place. Which leads to various heart diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes.

Sadly, often the product sold as brown cane sugar is just refined sugar coated in molasses, a by-product of sugar production. By itself, molasses has many advantages, including a high content of copper, but in the composition of such "disguised" sugar, it brings tangible benefits only to cunning sellers who use "ecological" brown color to increase the value of the product.

The original unrefined cane sugar, gently refined or not subjected to industrial cleaning at all, in addition to sucrose, contains many useful additions, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron. However, its calorie content is as high as that of white, and uncontrolled consumption of "natural" sugar does not at all insure either cravings for sweets or its sad consequences.

Sugar, are you the sweetest in the world?

Sucrose is a disaccharide, a simple carbohydrate. The body competently decomposes sucrose into glucose and fructose in just a few minutes, which enter the bloodstream. Perhaps everyone knows this effect - it is enough to eat a small candy to cheer up and “restart the brain”. Our body runs on glucose, it is a trouble-free and, in general, irreplaceable source of energy. The body ultimately obtains glucose from any carbohydrates (carbos), including slow-metabolizing ones, but simple carbs are called fast precisely because they cause an immediate increase in blood sugar levels and a powerful release of insulin.

The first recipient of glucose is the brain. Then it "reaches" the muscles, kidneys, and other organs. Insulin helps glucose "flow" into the cells, while the brain cells "burn" it immediately, receiving the necessary energy, and the cells of other internal organs act in one of the following ways: either convert the incoming glucose into glycogen (short-term reserves, which, if necessary, are consumed first when there is a shortage of energy from outside), or they split it, spending it on processes that are relevant for the cell. In the event that there is too much glucose, the cell does not face any tasks of growth, repair and transformation, and the glycogen depot is clogged, glucose is transformed into fat.

An unstoppable craving for sweets arises, among other things, due to the rapid absorption of sucrose. A sharp increase in the concentration of sugar in the blood and the release of insulin, which evacuates sugar from the bloodstream, cause the effect of "carbohydrate starvation": everything has been absorbed too quickly, more is needed! At the same time, unfortunately, the human body is not evolutionarily adapted to large doses of simple carbohydrates and is not able to independently understand that new energy is not really required. New "bright flashes" of sugar in the blood lead to new bouts of "sugar hunger", a vicious circle is formed. The first step towards sweet addiction has been taken...

At the end of 2013, the health department of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, came up with a surprise initiative to place stickers on products containing sugar, similar to those that smokers see today on cigarette packs.

According to Dutch officials, sugar is the most dangerous substance on the planet, and it is up to states to help their citizens come to their senses and think about the dangers to health. Also in the plans of the Amsterdam innovators is the introduction of a state excise tax on sugar in industrial food. They are confident that such a measure is economically justified, because food manufacturers know that eating sugar whets the appetite and are adding more and more sucrose to their products so that people eat more!

Craving for sweets for people with sugar sensitivity turns into a real danger: their self-esteem, performance and mood begin to depend directly on a timely chewed chocolate serving as a bridge of short pleasure between two abysses of despair. However, just a large amount of sugar with sugar sensitivity should be avoided, choosing slow-digesting sugars that can even out blood glucose levels and keep it stable throughout the day. A "dose" of endorphins and serotonin will help support physical activity. Take on the correction of the situation should be at the first suspicion. Otherwise, a person with heightened sensitivity to blood sugar levels will sit firmly on the “candy needle” and demonstrate all the signs of psychological and physical dependence on sweets.

Craving for sweet goes on a night hunt

The author of the famous diet, writes about the insidious mechanism by which cravings for sweets subjugate not only our secret dreams, but also metabolism. In his opinion, the paradox lies precisely in the fact that we are well aware of the harm of sweets, and this is also why we overestimate the joy of meeting with him, expecting an imaginary psychological relaxation that awaits after “loading” with sweets or a cake. This attitude is painfully familiar to those who are in constant struggle with being overweight and trying to severely limit the composition of their diet or its calorie content. “Now I’m eating delicious, and then I’ll sit on rice and water for two weeks,” unfortunately, this way of thinking often becomes a standard trap, because the “last times” follow one after another.

Aleksey Kovalkov draws attention: “sweet binges” become not only a serious psychological trauma (confidence in oneself and one’s abilities is collapsing), but also disrupt the functioning of the pancreas, stomach, and liver. The alternation of “pumping with sweets” and starvation leads to metabolic disorders and, ultimately, weight gain, despite the formally meager diet.

What to do? There is only one answer: work on yourself and look at the problem soberly as soon as the sugar fog clears. Dr. Kovalkov is sure that everyone can identify the main causes of breakdowns, their trigger, and learn to separate physiological hunger from emotional.

A varied emotional life, not limited to evening mental “chewing” of work stresses and family grievances, magically extinguishes the need for cookies with icing. And even better, a simple and beloved medicine copes with this - sleep!

Lack of sleep is a direct path to excess weight. This was reliably found out by the Canadian scientist Mir Kreiger. The conclusion of his study, which covered 40 thousand people of different sexes aged 32 to 49 years, is unequivocal - you should sleep at least 7 or even 9 hours a day. The systematic "lack" of sleep causes hormonal disorders that cannot be dealt with by dietary measures alone. The traditional evening leaning on sweets at the end of the working day plays an important role here: sugar activates brain and physical processes, which turns out to be very inopportune when a healthy schedule calls to bed.

If you rarely go to bed before midnight, this means that when you are awake, you find a period of production of the hormone ghrelin, coinciding with a decrease in the production of the hormone leptin. By themselves, these processes are physiological, however, it is assumed that they are going on while the "owner" of the organism is sleeping.

Ghrelin increases appetite, leptin - reduces. If the sleep is full, hormonal processes go through the stages of natural regulation in 8-9 hours, and in the morning a person is already able to have breakfast quite consciously and build his day accordingly. However, if the level of ghrelin began to rise, and you are still at the computer or in front of the TV, it is just right to expect trouble - that is, a ferocious desire to attack kitchen cabinets and chew something delicious. This explains the special craving for sweets at night.

The second peak of an attack of sweet addiction in “night dwellers” is recorded around 3-4 am: it is time for an increase in insulin levels, which entails, respectively, a drop in blood sugar levels and a new attack of irresistible cravings for sweets. Fighting the "eternal hormonal call" at night is really extremely difficult.

Therefore, the advice is simple: if you want to get rid of cravings for sweets, oversleep it!

7 steps to get rid of sugar addiction

In addition to working on yourself psychologically and controlling stress and rest, the following tricks will help you successfully fight sugar cravings.

• 1 Add more sources of protein to your diet - its satiating power and slow absorption help to cope with bouts of hunger and desire to grab something sweet. Of particular benefit will bring farm meat and poultry (raw materials grown in a free environment and not stuffed with hormones) and fish caught in natural ecologically clean reservoirs. Don't forget plant-based proteins too - legumes and nuts remain their non-toxic, easily digestible resource.
• 2 Visit an endocrinologist and gynecologist - an obsessive craving for sweets can be one of the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction or infection with candidiasis.
• 3 Get your doctor's consent to take B vitamins - they help the nervous system to withstand the daily stress of city life. Namely, stress often provokes cravings for sweets, including because it condones inadequate production of the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for fat stores and cravings for junk food.
• 4 Sugar substitutes will not help with sweet addiction - studies have shown that they, on the contrary, increase the desire to reach for a tidbit.
• 5 In order not to fall into the frustration caused by the rejection of your favorite sweets, treat yourself to dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa). The benefits of this delicacy are recognized by many nutritionists - the rich taste allows you to enjoy, the cocoa protein - to get enough of even a small amount, and the antioxidant properties benefit health. The natural sweetness of carob is also a healthy alternative to unhealthy sweets and contains no addictive substances.
• 6 To get rid of addiction to sweets - do not buy sweets!
• 7 Avoid fat-free foods - most often banal sugar is added to improve the taste, and this, as we already know, is a vicious circle - sugar leads to even more sugar.

Give me a pill for sugar cravings, but sweeter!

Of course, taking medications, including dietary supplements, is a measure in overcoming cravings for sweets, which should be approached with extreme caution. However, firstly, there are cases when drug therapy becomes the last hope, and secondly, information is never superfluous. Most importantly, do not take any medications or supplements without the knowledge of your doctor! Be sure to agree on the possibility of prescribing, dosage and make sure that there are no side effects and individual intolerance at the face-to-face visit.

Chromium-based preparations have long been used in the "treatment" of cravings for sweets. Chromium is one of the biogenic substances, that is, it is part of the tissues of various representatives of the world of wildlife. In its pure form, chromium is toxic, and hexavalent compounds are also carcinogenic, but the human body constantly needs microscopic mineral intake: it is important for hematopoiesis, fat-carbohydrate metabolism and protein absorption.

Chromium and sugar in the human body are inversely related: eating sweets “washes out” chromium, which, in turn, suppresses sugar cravings.

Chromium picolinate has a bright scarlet color due to the fact that in its composition the metal is oxidized by picolinic acid, which, according to biochemists, simplifies the process of assimilation of chromium by the human body. It is this substance that is often prescribed to reduce cravings for sweets.

Another drug used as a medical “crutch” for sweet addiction is especially well known to athletes and those who, alas, are forced to follow a special diet for gastritis. L-glutamine (glutamine) is a multifunctional amino acid found naturally in animal and vegetable proteins. The therapeutic effect of glutamine was recognized about 40 years ago, and all this time the drug has been successfully used as an adjuvant in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract due to its ability to reduce inflammation and accelerate the healing of a wide variety of injuries.

However, gradually, in the course of clinical practice, other useful properties of the amino acid, including unexpected ones, were found out. Glutamine was successfully tested and began to be used for the treatment of alcohol dependence. This effect inspired doctors to try glutamine in the "sweet business", and the result was not long in coming: the amino acid also had a calming effect on cells that crave sweets.

Products containing glutamine: beef, lamb, chicken and geese meat, hard cheese, cottage cheese, soybeans, chicken eggs, sea bass, peas.

The benefits of glutamine in getting rid of cravings for sweets are also increased by its ability to stabilize muscle tissue and cleanse the excretory organs of fat processing products. In addition, when taken in its pure form, glutamine is a rich source of available energy derived from a non-carbohydrate source. This amino acid is involved in the formation of key neurotransmitters, helping the brain and nervous system to be fixed in a harmonious position regarding arousal and rest. We can say that glutamine re-learns the body, exhausted and loosened by stress and addictions, to function as it should, biochemically helping to make a useful and correct decision to get rid of addiction.

All kinds of sweets: sweets, chocolates, cakes and marshmallows are loved by many people. They are not only pleasant to the taste, but also allow you to get a feeling of joy and euphoria for a while. This happens due to the secretion of a special hormone by the brain - endorphin. Addiction to sweets is also a serious ailment, which not everyone can overcome.

It can form at any age, and in order to get rid of it, it will be necessary to understand the causes of the problem. Do not consider yourself addicted if sometimes you want to eat a piece of cake or a couple of sweets. A truly addicted person cannot control and limit their desires. The fight against them invariably ends in defeat and another serving of cake.

Reasons for the love of sweets

Any person can become addicted to sweets, the reasons for this are the state of psychological and physiological health.

One of the reasons is the psycho-emotional state. A person eats problems with sweets. Various anxieties, experiences, conflicts and quarrels make him reach for the next chocolates and cookies.

People cope with food with boredom, irritation, bad mood. When eating delicious, the hormone endorphin is released, fleeting happiness sets in, which does not solve the problem, but only aggravates it.

Some people have a genetic predisposition to sweets. In the absence of the latter, a semblance of drug withdrawal occurs and the person experiences stress, becomes irritable and nervous.

However, cravings for sweets can be caused not only by psychological, but also by physiological reasons. Thus, the lack of certain vitamins and minerals in the body leads to excessive consumption of sweets.

Getting rid of sugar addiction

Constantly listen to yourself if there is a desire to eat sweets after another conflict or experience the joy of candy. Do not allow a lack of vitamins in the body, take them in pills and do not forget about vegetables and fruits. Dairy products: kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt, cottage cheese will help both overcome and prevent sweet addiction.

Include complex carbohydrates in your daily diet: brown rice, buckwheat, oatmeal. The body can do without sweets, assimilating healthy sugars from the right foods. When switching to proper nutrition, energy will be taken from fat reserves.

Active exercise can help prevent weight gain and overcome sugar cravings. Especially in the fresh air, they contribute to the production of serotonin.

How to get rid of sugar cravings? Learn to negotiate with the body. 30 minutes before meals, you can put a piece of dark chocolate under the tongue. This will allow the hormone to be produced in the brain and not only stop the addiction to delicious food, but also reduce the number of servings at dinner.

You can even fool your brain - chew the candy and spit it out, such a trick will allow you to experience the same pleasure as if you had eaten it.

Drink teas without sugar, give preference to fruit varieties or add fruits and berries to them. Remember that coffee increases sugar cravings, so limit it to one cup a day.

Eat less fatty foods, it increases cravings for sweets. Replace goodies with more healthy products: dried fruits, biscuits, bread, carrots.

The use of sweets beyond measure not only contributes to weight gain, but also disrupts the functioning of all organs. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and liver develop. It also reduces immunity.

However, this does not mean that you need to completely exclude all sweets, sometimes you can pamper your body, but there should be a measure in everything.

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You may not attach much importance to sugar addiction. It would seem, what's the problem? Sweets are available on every corner, and it's not that difficult to get a fresh dose if the mood starts to turn sour. But it is still too naive to underestimate: teeth deteriorate, it is more difficult to monitor weight, mood swings affect relationships with others. You've probably heard of diabetes too.

On the other hand, most are accustomed to sugar as something natural: from childhood, adults give the child sweets to calm down or just smile. There are lucky ones who, at the same time, remain indifferent to sweets. But many, having grown up and got rid of parental restrictions, allow themselves as many sweets as they can absorb.

No matter how strong your addiction, you should not give up on yourself. There are several ways to painlessly reduce sugar cravings.

1. Get More Protein With Your First Meal

Studies have shown that a protein breakfast reduces sugar cravings throughout the day. Lean protein sources such as Greek yogurt, unsweetened peanut butter, eggs, and low-fat cheese reduce ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and increase satiety-signaling pancreatic polypeptide. This data was confirmed by the University of Missouri: using MRI, it was shown that those who ate a protein breakfast later experienced less cravings for sweets. Even if a piece does not fit into your throat in the morning, still give preference to protein foods at the first meal.

2. Never go hungry

Got carried away with work and decided to postpone lunch? In vain. Skipping a meal is a surefire way to trigger sugar cravings and overeat for the rest of the day. Stick to a five-meal pattern (three main meals and two snacks) that will keep your blood glucose levels stable. If possible, try also to maintain a balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates so that the levels of insulin and blood glucose do not jump during the day. Then you won't be drawn to sweets.

3. Consider non-obvious sugar

Many seemingly harmless foods actually contain a lot of sugar: ketchup, sauces, some seasonings. The only way to avoid such products is to read the ingredients. It is better to refrain from such food additives altogether. They often have a lot of harmful components in addition to sugar.

4. Develop your taste

In continuation of the previous point - the following advice: develop your taste and learn to enjoy the products.

svariophoto/Depositphotos.com

Sliced ​​tomato with fresh basil leaves drizzled with linseed oil, lightly salted and peppered avocado, cheese plate, after all! Personally, I am delighted with such dishes. Although three years ago, the first thing I thought about when I wanted to eat was chocolate or ice cream. It's a matter of habit.

Experiment with spices: cinnamon and ginger suppress sugar cravings. Delight your taste buds with more refined additions than mayonnaise and ketchup - take at least balsamic vinegar and try different vegetable oils. Think about whether milk is really not sweet enough? Lactose is called milk sugar for a reason.

5. Get more sleep

The hormones ghrelin, leptin, and insulin play a crucial role in sugar cravings. Bring them back to normal, and you will stop falling into unconsciousness in search of cookies. At the same time, with excess weight, there will be fewer problems. Research at the University of Chicago showed that a few sleepless nights are enough for leptin levels to drop by 18%, and ghrelin levels to rise by a third - total cravings for sweets increase by almost one and a half times. In addition, sleep deprivation reduces your ability to resist temptation. Therefore, sleep will help you in the fight against sugar addiction.

6. Get moving

A sedentary lifestyle increases appetite. On the other hand, physical activity without sugar improves mood. The next time you want to make another cupcake, it's best to do some simple exercise or just go for a walk.

7. Identify What Really Worries You

Cravings for sweets are strongly associated with emotional discomfort. You may have been addicted to sweets as a teenager, when you were unable to deal with feelings of alienation or resentment. But now you have grown up! Find an outlet for negative emotions, and do not seize them with candy. Yes, it's not easy to change a reflex that you've maintained for years. But probably. The next time you get irritated and reach for a chocolate bar, stop for a moment, close your eyes, be aware of how you feel, focus on and relax. Now it will be a little easier to resist the next portion of sweets.

8. Reveal sweet traps

Analyze your day and determine at what time and in what places you are most receptive to sweet temptations. Perhaps your office has unlimited access to cookies? Sorry. Read this article to colleagues and offer to replace sweets with fruits. Perhaps you can't resist buying chocolate bars at the supermarket after a hard day's work? Today, give in to temptation for the last time, but buy an extra pack of nuts and put them in your bag. Tomorrow, before you go to the store, freeze the worm.

olgamanukyan/Depositphotos.com

9. Look for healthy rewards

Instead of indulging yourself in sweets, reward yourself with a more valuable treat. Often, sugar cravings occur when you are bored or lonely. Make your list of sugar-free rewards and keep it handy in case you get discouraged. Think about what you could do in those 10-20 minutes while waiting for another piece of cake in a coffee shop: listen to your favorite music, make a sketch, call a friend, scratch a cat, take a nap ...

The main rule is that awards must be of a non-food nature.

10. Avoid calcium deficiency

Some research suggests that sugar cravings may be due to a lack of calcium in the body. If you have other signs of it (brittle hair and nails, tooth sensitivity, fatigue), drink a course of a calcium-containing drug in combination with vitamin D. And think about the weak points that lead to imbalance.

11. Record what you eat

Research has shown that keeping a food diary can help you lose weight, in particular reducing your consumption of sweets. But it is necessary to do it correctly, namely, to record not what has already been eaten, but what you are going to eat. The easiest way to do this is with . It is not at all necessary to post the result on Instagram. The process itself is important: while you choose the angle, you give yourself a few extra seconds to think about whether you made the best choice of dish.

12. Relax with a cup of tea and a book

Not only is sweet stress relief not the healthiest, it's also not the most effective. The University of Sussex found that tea is a much better stress reliever. The music is even more relaxing. But the most effective way is to read! Therefore, develop a habit: if you feel annoyed, make a cup of tea (preferably with chamomile) and read a book. Reading is a far better distraction than chewing.

13. Drink plenty of fluids

Dehydration is often mistaken for hunger or sugar cravings. Fatigue, restlessness, decreased concentration, and even a moody mood can be the result of a lack of water in the body. Reaching for chocolate? Set it aside for 15 minutes and drink a glass of water first.

14. Arrange Aromatherapy

Pleasant smells can help you calm down and deal with strong emotions on your own. Instead of reflexively reaching for sweets, inhale the scent of lavender, orange, or cardamom. These smells will help you relax and switch your attention to the olfactory organs. At the same time, you can develop a new reflex that leads to calmness.

15. Enjoy life

Take a moment to think about your schedule. Are there enough things in it that really make you happy? The more healthy sources of joy in your life, the less you will crave sweets. Learn to enjoy the moment, whether it's dinner with the family or a walk from work to home. Smile more often and feel the sweetness of every moment of your life. Then the craving for sweets itself will decrease.

Helped us:

Evgeny Arzamastsev
Dietitian of the Center for Aesthetic Medicine Margarita Koroleva

The World Health Organization estimates that a typical Russian eats about 100 grams of sugar per day. Despite the fact that more or less painlessly, the human body can process no more than 50 g of a sweet additive. And modern scientific research stubbornly links excess sugar on the menu with such serious diseases as diabetes, hypertension, strokes and heart attacks, and colon cancer. This list alone is enough to forget about soda and buns forever. But there is a nuance.

Stories about the dangers of sugar, alas, cannot force the sweet tooth to refuse candy. American biologists have long proposed equating sweet poison with alcohol and tobacco. and start honestly calling it a drug. Not for the sake of outrageousness: the mechanism of our brain's reaction to sugar is not much different from the addictions that develop, say, with each new glass of champagne.

One of the many experiments on this topic is indicative. Scientists from Princeton University fed rats daily with sugar, gradually increasing the dose. Everyone was happy. But one day, terrible for rodents, people completely excluded sweets from the menu. What do you think? The animals became restless, irritable and aggressive and, if they could, would certainly complain of a headache and a desire to bite. In general, the poor rats survived a typical withdrawal without the coveted dose.

But back to people. Most of us have swallowed our first sweet drug before we could speak intelligibly, and for decades maintained a bad attachment by buying "something for tea." We can't just stop eating sugar, no matter how strong-willed people are., ask any narcologist. But we can gradually (this is a key condition for success) reduce the amount of sweets in our own diet to a minimum or even to zero.

WH experts have formulated a few rules for those who intend to give up desserts one day. Get a plan of action.

1. Get enough sleep. Yes, it's that simple. The human body interprets lack of sleep as a stressful situation - and sends out hormones that regulate appetite. One sleepless night is enough for you to eat more than 200 extra kilocalories the next day, and priority will be given to fast carbohydrates, that is, sugar. A well-rested person is less drawn to cakes - proven in Harvard.
2. Analyze your diet. An irresistible craving for sweets often manifests itself as a symptom of a lack of chromium, zinc or magnesium (or maybe all at once). Only a blood test can determine this for sure, but just in case, check how regularly the products from the list at the end of the article appear on your plate.
3. Eat protein. This is a way to keep your blood glucose and insulin levels stable and therefore less cravings for sweets. Ideally, protein should be ingested at every meal, but definitely at breakfast. By proteins, we mean not only meat and fish, but also nuts, seeds, eggs, legumes.
4. Eat small and often. Thoughts of tossing cookies don't even occur to people whose sugar levels don't fluctuate dramatically throughout the day. Try to eat every 2-2.5 hours (of course, distributing its volume so that by the end of the month it does not resemble a ball in shape) - and you will notice that when you do not have to experience acute attacks of hunger, it is easier to pass by pastry shops.
5. Keep sweets out of sight. If there is a piece of cake in the refrigerator and gingerbread in the drawer, the temptation to eat them will defeat any vows. So it's simple: do not buy what is not useful to you. And for times when you're used to eating sweets (coffee breaks with co-workers, meetings with friends, morning tea), keep healthier alternatives to chocolate and croissants on hand. It can be seasonal fruits and berries, honey, dried fruits.
6. Move. Regular physical activity is a good way to deal with daily stress, which is often responsible for our emotional attachment to chocolate and jam.
7. Add healthy fats. They are extremely important for the hormonal stability of the body and help you feel full longer. Healthy unsaturated fats are found in avocados, nuts and seeds, and olive oil.
8. Cook at home. To reduce the amount of sugar that enters the body, you will have to limit industrially processed foods as much as possible. Sweeteners are now even added to dumplings and pickles, and the only way to avoid excess is to personally regulate the amount of sugar in your food. Here is a simple example: in the composition of cutlets bought in cooking, syrup or something like that will almost certainly be; in a piece of meat that you yourself turn into cutlets at home - no.
9. Stop drinking calories. Any form of liquid sugar is worse than solid food with it. Sugary drinks carry the drug straight to your liver without even trying to create the illusion of fullness. Therefore, having drunk lemonade in between, you provoke yourself to eat more and more fast carbohydrates.
10. Add spices Cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom naturally sweeten food, help regulate blood sugar and control your addiction.

Sweets are a source of so-called simple or fast carbohydrates. This directly reflects their action in the body: sweets are immediately and completely absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, glucose quickly enters the bloodstream and is distributed to all organs. Most often, you want to sweeten all sorts of problems with such goodies: overwork, stress, hunger and a decrease in blood glucose levels. At the same time, sweet quickly relieves hunger, gives a surge of vital energy.

When eating sweets, the body receives not only energy: endorphins are produced in the brain - substances that bring peace and tranquility to a pregnant woman. I want to repeat this feeling of emotional peace, and therefore, when a woman’s mood worsens, subconsciously her hand reaches for a sweet to repeat the pleasant sensations of serenity and joy. This is how you become addicted to sweets.

In addition, dependence on sweets can also indicate a lack of pleasure mediators in the body - dopamine and serotonin. This is due to the fact that the intake of glucose in the composition of sweets leads to the release of insulin into the blood, which stimulates the formation of these pleasure mediators from the amino acids tryptophan and phenylalanine.

Thanks to dopamine, a pregnant woman has an activity and a sense of security. A decrease in the level of dopamine causes a deterioration in memory and concentration, a decrease in vital energy, a woman ceases to enjoy life and becomes susceptible to fear, anxiety, etc. A lack of dopamine in the corresponding areas of the brain leads to a loss of initiative (to “sitting and dreaming”), a more serious deficiency leads to a complete inability to take an active action.

Serotonin is involved in the regulation of mood, suppresses anxiety, affects sexual desire and appetite. With its deficiency, phobias, sleep and memory disturbances, as well as disorders of the cardiovascular and endocrine functions can be observed. Low levels of serotonin can lead the expectant mother to a depressed mood, anxiety, decreased energy, migraines, sleep disorders, fear and anxiety, feelings of tension and irritation. To avoid such anxiety states, we often seek to sweeten our lives. act here as a sedative and antidepressant.

Sometimes cravings for sweets and cakes can indicate an unbalanced diet, in particular, when there are very few simple carbohydrates (for example, sucrose and glucose) in the diet. So the body asks to replenish them in the easiest and fastest way, over time it turns into a real addiction to sweets.

Also, the desire to constantly eat sweets can be due to a lack of chromium in the body. The main function of chromium is to maintain normal blood glucose levels. It is involved in carbohydrate metabolism by increasing the permeability of cell walls to glucose. Also, this microelement increases the sensitivity of cell receptors to insulin, the pancreatic hormone responsible for carbohydrate metabolism. The more sweets, the more chromium is excreted from the body, and, closing the vicious circle, you want more tasty treats. Therefore, a sufficient content of chromium in the body helps to reduce cravings for sweets and speed up metabolism.

Sweets: harmful or useful?

Benefit. Is it possible to argue that sweets are an absolute evil and it is advisable to refuse them altogether? Of course not, these products, like any others, are needed by our body, but it is important to remember that everything is good in moderation. In addition to the fact that sweets affect mood, carbohydrates, when combined with proteins and fats, are necessary for the formation of hormones and enzymes, as well as for building cell membranes and connective tissue. In addition, carbohydrates are involved in the synthesis of immunoglobulins, supporting the immune defense of the expectant mother. Carbohydrates are also necessary for the normal functioning of the central nervous system, the cells of which are very sensitive to a lack of glucose in the blood. Simple carbohydrates are a fast source of energy. This quality is important when a woman needs to quickly restore her strength after intense physical and mental stress.

The lack of sweets can lead to a violation of the metabolism of fats and proteins, as a result of which harmful products of incomplete oxidation of fatty acids and some amino acids accumulate in the blood and metabolic processes are disrupted. With a strong deficiency of sweets, a pregnant woman may experience weakness, drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, hunger, nausea, sweating, trembling in the hands (so-called hypoglycemia).

Harm. Systematic excessive consumption of sugar and other easily digestible fast carbohydrates contributes to the manifestation of latent type 2 diabetes mellitus due to overload and then depletion of pancreatic cells that produce insulin necessary for glucose uptake. Also, an excess of simple sugars can be converted into fats, causing obesity and fatty liver.

A sweet environment promotes the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, yeast-like fungi and disrupts the normal bifidoflora in the intestine and can lead to thrush in the vagina. Also, due to the abundance of sweets, the skin suffers.

In addition, the abuse of sweets contributes to the development of caries, disruption of excitatory and inhibitory processes in the nervous system, supports inflammatory processes, and contributes to the allergization of the body of both mother and child.

Remember that with diabetes, obesity, allergies, skin diseases, inflammatory processes, it is necessary to strictly limit the use of sweets.

How to deal with sweets addiction

Step one. The "enemy" must be known by sight

Awareness of the problem is the first step towards freedom from sweet excesses. In order to understand that you are abusing confectionery, start keeping a food diary indicating the sweets eaten - in this case it will be easier to control the quantity and quality of "sugar pleasure". You can conduct it only for yourself, or you can use social networks, which will allow you to share your problems with many other expectant mothers: exchange impressions, find tips and recommendations, make friends, and, without leaving home, get new positive emotions.

Step two. Love for sweets is not "chopped off the shoulder"

If you have an addiction, you should not immediately and radically forbid yourself to eat sweets. This path is fraught with breakdowns and can lead to stress. It is best to reconsider your sweet addictions and replace harmful sweets with healthy ones.

Step three. Find alternative ways to improve your mood

To increase the level of endorphin in a “savory” way, you need to be physically active (walking in the fresh air, doing what you can in the country, swimming) and try to get positive emotions (communication with children and animals, reading, music). This will help compensate for the body's need for hormones of pleasure and distract from sweets.

Try to get enough sleep. The fact is that lack of sleep leads to constant fatigue and stress, which intuitively makes you want to eat sweets. Among other things, as a result of lack of sleep, hormonal disorders appear, which entail an increase in appetite.

Step four. Share sweets by the piece

Mental perception has a peculiarity: the brain does not count the grams eaten, but the piece amount of sweets. That is why a bar of chocolate should not be laid out in front of you in its entirety, but after separating the daily dose - 5-6 slices. Marmalade and marshmallows are also better divided into small pieces. Gradually, you will notice that the hand is less and less reaching for an extra tidbit.

Step five. Eat antidepressant products

To increase the level of serotonin, it is necessary to follow a diet rich in the amino acid tryptophan, B vitamins, zinc, omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids. Tryptophan is found in meat, eggs, cheese, bananas, tomatoes, milk, yogurt. And for the correct conversion of the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin, you additionally need rye bread from wholemeal flour, buckwheat, oatmeal, wheat germ, seeds, eggs (sources of B vitamins), as well as sea fish, nuts, seeds, avocados, unrefined vegetable oil (sources omega-3 fatty acids).

To increase the amount of dopamine in the body that affects mood, you should increase the content of the amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine in the diet, which are used to build it. Beets, soy, meat, almonds, cereals, and eggs are high in dopamine precursor amino acids.

The formation of dopamine is also facilitated by a sufficient amount of folic acid, which is rich in green vegetables and herbs: lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, green onions, parsley, dill.

As a source of chromium, which will help reduce cravings for sweets, it is advisable to regularly consume tomatoes, green onions, broccoli, radishes, grapes, plums, beans, beans, peas, chicken, turkey, beef, tuna, herring, mackerel, crucian carp, carp, shrimp, squid, cheese.

Are there healthy sweets?

If during pregnancy you want sweets, do not deny yourself, the main thing is that the dessert is healthy. Dried fruits, fruit cocktails and salads, candied fruits and berries, fruit jelly, marmalade, marshmallows and dark chocolate can be recommended as healthy sweets.

bitter chocolate

is chocolate without added milk, with a minimum amount of sugar (or without it), containing at least 35% cocoa beans. However, the highest quality and most useful will be chocolate, in which the content of cocoa beans is not lower than 70%.

What's the use? The benefits of chocolate are due precisely to the composition of cocoa beans. It contains theobromine, which relaxes the muscles of the bronchi, blood vessels (mainly the vessels of the brain, skin and kidneys), improves renal blood flow. And this means that with bronchitis with a cough, with kidney diseases and with headaches associated with vasospasm, a piece of dark chocolate is very indicated. In addition, theobromine, normalizing respiratory function, promotes blood oxygenation, and also stimulates cardiac activity. With mental stress, chocolate theobromine will have a psychostimulating effect - it will increase attention and memory.

Dark chocolate also contains flavonoids, which are similar to those found in red grapes. They are good for the heart and blood vessels: according to a study by the German Institute of Dietetics in Potsdam, regular consumption of 6 g of chocolate per day leads to a 39% reduction in the risk of stroke and myocardial infarction and a decrease in blood pressure by an average of 1 mm Hg. Art. This is due to the fact that flavonoids have a beneficial effect on the function of platelets, preventing them from "sticking together" and preventing the appearance of dangerous blood clots in the vessels of the brain and heart. In addition, flavonoids neutralize the action of free radicals, protect cells from destruction, and therefore prevent premature aging of the body, save from the development of atherosclerosis. Also, flavonoids are able to normalize the functioning of the immune system, slow down inflammatory processes and prevent the formation of cancer cells.

In addition to cocoa products, chocolate contains soy lecithin, which is responsible for the uniform consistency of chocolate. Lecithin is a member of the group of phospholipids that are essential for building the membranes of all cells, especially the nervous system and brain tissues. The consequence of this is the positive effect of lecithin on memory, thinking, mental performance. In addition, lecithin prevents fatty degeneration of the liver and normalizes the functioning of the liver, and also has anti-atherosclerotic properties (lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood and prevents its deposition in the walls of blood vessels).

Thanks to lecithin, chocolate is classified as an aphrodisiac product, since lecithin normalizes the function of the gonads and has a positive effect on sexual activity.

Advice. Bitter chocolate should always be of a uniform dark color, with a shiny front side, clearly defined edges and a pattern on them, a uniform structure and solidity in a break. In addition, in good dark chocolate, foreign tastes and smells, a large number of bubbles, “graying”, deformation or graininess at a break are absolutely excluded.

Marmalade

Fruit jelly is the healthiest, as it combines the beneficial properties of pectin from fruit puree and agar (a substance from seaweed).

What's the use? Marmalade owes its usefulness to two substances: pectin and agar (agaroids). The maximum amount of pectin is found in apples and plums, which are used as raw materials for marmalade. Thanks to pectins in the intestines, heavy metals, radionuclides, and pesticides are bound and excreted from the body. In addition, pectin helps to reduce cholesterol in the body and is used for diseases associated with metabolic disorders, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas.

Agar contains a large amount of mineral salts, vitamins, polysaccharides, agaropectin and vegetable acids. Agar is not absorbed by the body, but it serves as food for beneficial microorganisms in the intestines, which protect it from the introduction of pathogens. In addition, agar helps to reduce cholesterol levels, normalizes blood glucose levels, reduces the increased acidity of gastric juice, stimulates intestinal motility, providing a mild laxative effect.

Advice. Choose marmalade in transparent packaging to see its quality. The shape of marmalade must be correct, without deformation; structure - transparent, vitreous; the contour is clear, when pressed, it quickly restores its shape. If marmalade has retracted sides and a crunch when broken, then these are signs of its too long storage. The surface of the marmalade is dry, non-sticky, the sugar sprinkling should not be melted, otherwise this indicates the storage of the product in humid conditions. If marmalade has a dense, hard consistency, then this indicates that it contains a lot of fruit puree. But the sugary and slightly elastic consistency shows that there is a lot of sugar in the product.

Zephyr and pastille

Marshmallow and marshmallow are confectionery products obtained by boiling fruit and berry puree and then beating it with sugar, egg white, agar, pectin, etc.

What's the use? The benefits of these confectionery products, like marmalade, are due to the agar, pectin, and egg white they contain - a source of essential amino acids for our body.

Advice. When choosing marshmallows and marshmallows, pay attention that their surface is dry, with a delicate crust, without rough hardening and syrup release, and on the cut - finely porous, without large voids. Quality marshmallows and marshmallows should break easily. It is better to choose white sweets (there are less food colors) and without a rich smell (only the smell of vanilla is welcome). Extraneous odors, sharp taste and smell of the essences used are not allowed. If marshmallows and marshmallows are too dry, hard and crumbly, then this means that they were stored incorrectly.

Sweets: how much can you?

Carbohydrates must be ingested by a pregnant woman within reasonable limits. The total amount of carbohydrates per day should be 350–450 g (including fruits, vegetables, cereals), but sweets should not exceed 40–50 g. This amount of sugars is found in 5–6 teaspoons of sugar, 4–5 teaspoons honey or jam, 5 caramels, 50–60 g marmalade or marshmallows and 5–6 pieces of chocolate. Only from this list, you can choose one thing and eat during the day or combine, but at the same time reduce the amount: for example, 2 teaspoons of honey per day and 2-3 pieces of chocolate.