From children to the geriatric population, a major population of the world loves sweet. Rare is the sight of a person who doesn’t like sugar or sugary items. Can you recall the last time you have met someone that doesn’t consume sugar solely because they don’t like it and not because of any disease condition? It is rare right? Going without sugar benefits our health in many ways and this is something that we know is true like daylight but still decides to consume it. Many people have tried quitting sugar but ends up just consuming the double. Let’s know how can this be done step by step.
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NATURAL SUGAR VS ARTIFICIAL SUGAR
Fruits and vegetables contain sugars. These are natural sugars are not dangerous but the sugars that are artificial are a matter of concern. This is something we must limit and if beyond limit consumed, that is greater than 20g it is dangerous. We consume about 100g/day instead of 20g/day. An example of this scenario can be that, say we are consuming a packed snack, will anybody of us even take the effort to turn the pack around and look casually into the amount of added sugar mentioned there? A definite no unless you are planning to cut down sugar from your diet.
WHAT TO AVOID?
- Sugar
- Honey: Availability of natural honey has reduced. It has been replaced with artificial or adulterated honey. Honey contain lots of sugar and must be avoided.
- Soda: It contains 10-12 teaspoons of sugar. It is a must to avoid this. Pepsi, Coca-Cola also comes under this category.
- Bakery Items: All sweet items bought from a bakery is loaded with artificial sugar be it donut or whatever item you name it.
- Chocolates, Ice-creams, Biscuits.
- Ketchup: Contains artificial sugar in an increased amount.
- Jaggery: Increased consumption must be avoided. It has the same fate as honey meaning pure jaggery is less available in market since it can be adulterated.
- Packed Juices: These are like the storage house of artificial sugar so it must be avoided at any cost.
DISEASES / PROBLEMS CAUSED BY SUGAR
- Diabetes
- Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NAHS)
- Myocardial Infarction (MI)
- PCOS
- Stroke
- Weight Gain
- Inflammation
- Cancer
- Joint pain
- Face wrinkles and acne.
- Depression
- Tooth ache
- Always crave for more.
- Decreased quality of sleep: Increased sugar intake inhibit melatonin. This hormone helps us to sleep.
BENEFITS GAINED UPON CUTTING SUGAR FOR A PERIOD OF TIME
No benefits can be seen if it is followed for just 2-3 days and then stopped or going inconsistent with the plan. Stick to the idea, follow it for at least a month. The results can be :
- More energy
- Decreased inflammation
- Decreased or a change in joint pain
- Healthy skin
- Reversing of fatty liver to a healthy one
- Weight loss
- Mood elevation, decreased chance for depression
- A healthy improvement in blood glucose levels.
- Improved oral health
- Decrease the risk of cancer
- Prevents MI, Stroke
- A 10-20% decrease in cholesterol levels.
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HOW TO GET INTO THIS?
What generally happens is that when we consume sugar it stimulates a hormone called dopamine that makes us happy. So while consuming sugar this dopamine is stimulated and eventually it will need higher dose of sugar to get stimulated. So we end up increasing the amount of sugar intake. Now speaking of how to make this happen we can do some things.
- Openly declare that you are a going to quit sugar intake. This plays a psychological role as well. Say you have declared to your family, friends or even in social media you have posted that you will be quitting sugar and promised to upload the picture of a new you within a month or so… Now what happens is that even if you fail to keep your hands away from sugar and decide to consume some your family or friends remind you of the decision that you’ve made and if you are lucky enough you might be having that one sibling or friend who doesn’t leave any chance to tease or annoy you. So at least for the sake of your pride you will end up sticking to the plan.
Controlling Cravings
- The moment you crave for a chocolate or ice-cream, go get an apple, orange, watermelon, mango or any other fruit. This helps with reducing the craving within 2-3 weeks.
- Consume foods containing protein. This helps us to stay full for quite a long time and also has an effect in decreasing the craving within 1-2 weeks.
- Most importantly we must be able to differentiate between hunger and craving. Remember that any food item can calm a hungry stomach but that doesn’t work with cravings. Inhibit the craving by choosing any method said above.
- Take out all the sugary sweet items that you own. Give it to someone else or don’t keep it within your vicinity or house.
- The RRR Technique: Remind yourself every time that you have stopped sugar intake. Try and make this a routine. Set a reward for yourself if you have followed this for a month. Like vising a place, shopping your favourite item.
White poison a.k.a sugar, quitting it is a challenge and any challenge will need will power to succeed in it. This isn’t as easy as it seems. It is hard for first 5 days or a week but gets easy as it progress. The amount of benefits that we can see and feel within ourselves is a motivation to continue it further, but to get there we must try hard and remember nothing is impossible. Impossible itself says I’m possible.
Written by Gayathri Gopinadh